Glasgow Business . 47 www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com BIG TALKS Marjorie Calder Director, The BIG Partnership


Mean what you say – say what you mean


» The term ‘media training’ needs reassessed, says Marjorie Calder I


used to offer “Media Training”, helping people with messaging surrounding all manner of corporate behaviours, from brand articulation to redundancy


programmes and just about everything in between. We’d train people to speak credibly to


camera; to be animated on radio and to offer a killer quote for print use. But then the


restriction of “Media” in a training context became all but redundant several years ago. Tose skills went mainstream as soon as anyone with a camera or recording device (and that’s prety much everyone) could put any behaviour or uterance online within seconds. Te need to communicate clearly,


effectively and credibly is omnipresent and messaging therefore needs to be consistent. For example, a multimillion pound investment in brand building can be derailed in seconds by a YouTube video which contrasts or conflicts. And a social media campaign can negate carefully craſted advertising for a fraction of the cost. But the immensely good news is that


this means that authenticity is king, and spin is frankly silly. Successful communication expresses itself in ways its many audiences can understand, find persuasive and can identify with. And it’s got to be demonstrably real. Te challenge today is


much more about honing a message appropriate to different audiences or


stakeholders, and to the way they will receive it. A long, intellectual


argument, peppered with complex language, might be appropriate for a Sunday newspaper or an industry


conference. Te snappy soundbite might be happier in a tabloid or a tweet. But if either is delivered in a tone or


language which says “arrogant” or “glib” then the messaging has failed – and it WILL be noticed. Language is such a tricky thing and when


body language and interpretation is added to the mix, communication is simply fascinating, complex and wonderful. How a speaker holds their head or maintains eye contact can veneer a completely different impression to the same set of words. Te tone created by an arrangement of


words is perpetually beset with difficulty in the staccato world of online comms, and the length and colour of any example given to illustrate a point can either bring it to life or kill


”A multimillion pound investment in brand building can be derailed in seconds by a YouTube video which contrasts or conflicts”


it stone dead. Te loose word or obvious hesitation speaks volumes. Yet people still think communication is easy. Where the stakes are high, in terms of


brand, reputation and credibility, communication must be recognised as a science, and the skills of self-control, focus and clarity could not be more important. Many a grand plan has been derailed by emotion or by the speed of an unguarded, knee-jerk reaction. Tese principles hold equally true for a


conversation with your partner, to an email sent without due care, to the media interview which threatens commercial Armageddon – any and all of which can be amplified in a heartbeat through social sharing. So “Media Training” needs a new name. But “Professional coaching to ensure people


understand and can believe what you are saying, rather than merely puting something out there in the hope they’ll get it”, just isn’t catchy.


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