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Social media

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Three Tips for Communicating in Uncertain Times

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We are in uncertain times. Your customers, employees, partners, the media and other important constituents are looking to you for helpful information. Unfortunately, a lot of the communication shared in uncertain times ends up confusing and frustrating these groups even more.  

As we witness the stock market lows, travel bans, event cancellations and more businesses asking employees to work from home, here are three tips to help guide your communication.

Tip #1: Stick with what you know — be direct and don’t share hunches and guestimates.

Tip #2: Show up with your Emotional Intelligence (EI) so you can respond thoughtfully and not react to challenging communication.

Tip #3: Appreciate the feedback you receive — it’s a gift — even the negative feedback helps you to learn and grow.

Here’s my video discussing these tips in more detail and how they can help you.

It’s time to FEEL First in your communication. I’ve been working on my passion project, the FEEL Model, gathering research about the type of communication that builds relationships and creates stronger bonds. In uncertain times, FEEL (facing Fears, engaging with Empathy, Using Ethics and unleashing Love) can make a difference. As the Coronavirus spreads and new cases are reported in the U.S. and globally, effective, meaningful and valuable communication requires a FEEL First approach.

Check out the tips and please share yours too. Together, we can lead with compassion and understanding, and offer helpful and accurate information to the people who matter the most to us professionally and personally in our lives.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Green Chameleon on Unsplash

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Effectively Engage and Build Your Community Through Podcasting

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A Guest Post by Christy Maguire, Graduate Student at American University, PR Expanded Blog Contest Winner

Podcasting is the quickest growing communications medium, and it seems like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. Research shows that there are more than 750 million podcasts and that 22% of Americans over age 12 have listened to a podcast in the past week. It’s a crowded field to be sure, but it also offers an excellent, and even underused, opportunity for businesses to increase engagement with its community. It’s an intimate medium that builds trust and authority, offers inclusiveness and provides both information and inspiration.

Think of your community when podcasting
instead of focusing solely on promotion.
Image Credit: Pixabay

Universities, nonprofits, museums, law firms, associations, and small businesses have branched out into podcasting – expanding their online presence in ways that serve their business and community. Now is the perfect time to begin. Earlier this year, Google began including direct podcast links in its search results, providing an immediate opportunity for potential listeners to discover and sample podcasts.

While podcasting is a great tool for optimizing SEO and visibility, these shouldn’t always be the main focus. Businesses can get too caught up in using podcasting solely for promotion, without looking closely at building engagement and loyalty. Don’t forget that engagement can also be measured. Have you increased website traffic, comments, reviews, membership, feedback, and event participation through your podcast? Have customers mentioned your podcast on social media, in blog posts, or through referrals?

Whether your business already has a podcast, or you are considering starting one, there are several factors to take into consideration to increase engagement:

1. Invite Feedback

  • Issue a Call to Action

At the end of every podcast episode, issue a call to action. The best calls to action invite your listeners back to your website to further interact with your content, obtain their email address or offer a freebie.  

  • Invite Listener Questions

Get listeners involved by inviting them to ask questions of future guests. This is not only an excellent way to promote a future guest or episode but encourages loyalty by making listeners feel like part of the process. A growing trend is to ask listeners to call in to leave a question, which can be directly embedded into an episode. Google Voice is easy to set up and convert into usable audio.

  • Welcome Comments

Basecamp, a project management software company, encourages feedback by making each show a separate blog page with a comments section. They recently aired an episode around their new logo, which generated a mix of reactions. The company even did a blog post about how important feedback was to them by detailing their inspiration for past episodes, indicating that much of it came from listeners, coworkers, businesses and PR firms.

  • Make it Easy to Connect

Some constituencies may not be familiar with podcasting, so teach them how to use the technology. For populations who may not be acquainted with podcasts, the most straightforward way to tune in is to embed a podcast player directly in a blog post.

Establish a social media account on a platform that has the best reach for your audience, and tell your listeners where they can find you. The Smithsonian has its own social media accounts, but they established a separate Twitter account for their main podcast, Sidedoor Podcast, allowing listeners to share, comment on and engage with the content.

2. Be Creative

Podcasting is personal. The medium offers a chance for your business to tell your customers how to engage with content, build your brand and tell stories. We can’t always predict what will resonate, so it’s important to not stick to a formula or rigid guidelines. Harvard Business Review offers a discussion guide for each podcast episode of Women at Work signaling that this content is intended to be discussed widely, similar to a book or article.

Trader Joe’s podcast, Inside Trader Joe’s, is fun and is filled with puns, which is perfectly aligned with its reputation. The company planned for just five episodesbut continued after gaining a quick following by customers who wanted more. 

Nonprofit Save the Children did a six-episode drama series called Anywhere But Home based on true stories of children’s harrowing, yet inspiring journeys. Stories offer hope and connection on a level that direct appeals do not.

3. Leverage Relationships and Build Partnerships

  • Invite Guest Hosts and Feature Client Stories

A simple way to build relationships with top executives, clients, and members is to invite them to guest host an episode on a relevant issue or to share their business story.

Membership organizations have an excellent opportunity to spotlight their members. By doing so, organizations create opportunities for its members to network and connect, immediately drawing them in and illustrating the organization’s usefulness. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s podcast, The Bloodline With LLS, covers a range of topics, including information and resources, but also has diagnosis stories offering hope and connection to those living with blood cancers.

Clothing retailer Rebecca Minkoff hosts a popular podcast called Superwomen. Every week she interviews female CEOs, business leaders, and artists, not only promoting the brand’s values of supporting women-led businesses but sharing their platform with potential partners.

  • Collaborate with Targeted Partners

The lifestyle brand goop has a successful podcast and recently partnered with the clothing brand Banana Republic on a limited series called “Women on Top.” These conversations featuring boundary-breaking women promote their joint efforts to discuss issues around women empowerment. Loyalists of both companies are introduced around shared values.

  • Host Live Events

Listeners like, and are beginning to expect, live podcast events. This affords businesses the opportunity to interact with its community in real-time. There are two ways to do this. The first option is to tape a live podcast event, which could be held at a summit or conference. Be sure to advertise this before the event. The second option is to use audio from conferences, meetings, and panels to engage those who are unable to attend, widening your reach.

There are no hard and fast rules for engagement, though consistency is key. Podcasts can be as short as 5 minutes but would be better suited to daily or biweekly episodes. Longer and more complex shows might only air once a month. They can be limited to a short series or be tailored around a special event. Be sure that it’s on a schedule that allows your business to take full advantage of engaging your community in a meaningful way. Experiment, enjoy and tweak as necessary.

Christy Maguire, Graduate Student, American University

Christy Maguire produces and hosts the podcast Forties Stories, which amplifies the voices of 40-something women and promotes connection and compassion – one story at a time. She is currently a graduate student in American University’s Strategic Communications program. Connect with her on Twitter @_christymaguire.

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Quality Photography Isn’t Just for Big Budget Campaigns

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A Guest Post By Emma MacKenzie, American University Graduate Student & PR Expanded Blog Contest Winner

High-quality images are key to most marketing and communications campaigns, but it can be expensive to hire photographers. How can a small organization with limited resources produce quality images? This was a question I had to answer at a very small nonprofit in rural Uganda where the annual operating budget for my department was about $10,000.00.

For me, the only answer to this question was to be the organization’s official photographer. My pictures were used in our social media, on our website, and in promotional materials sent to donors. I had to bring my A-game and produce pictures as close to professional quality as I could. I did this using three key elements: good equipment, education, and editing software. These elements came together in four quick tips that I used as a photographer.

This image has been taken and edited to focus your eye on the child’s face. Edited with Snapseed. Image Credit: Emma MacKenzie, Nikon DSLR

Equipment

The right camera can make a world of difference, especially for someone who has limited experience with photography. A good quality DSLR camera can be very expensive, but if your organization needs to have a constant flow of pictures, consider it an investment. If you take proper care of a DSLR camera it will last for years.

Currently, the most popular companies are Canon and Nikon, where a DSLR camera will cost between $400-$3,000. If your organization only needs a camera once a year, try renting equipment from a local camera shop.

Nikon D90 DSLR camera with a macro lens attached and an 18-105mm lens on the left. iPhone 7s in front. Image Credit: Emma MacKenzie, iPhone 8+

Your phone is another piece of photography equipment to choose wisely. Phone cameras are always improving with each new release and if you know how to use different functions on your camera app you can take truly beautiful pictures and videos with something you already own. This is especially helpful with the rise of Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Instagram Stories, and SnapChat.

Editing Tools

Editing is what takes a single picture from ho-hum to stunning. Adobe Photoshop is the big name when it comes to photo editing software, but it can be expensive for a small company.

Photoshop was designed with professional photographers in mind and can be daunting to a beginner. I took an introductory course on how to use Photoshop and it only scratched the surface of what the program can do. If your organization is able to cover the cost of photoshop I would highly recommend taking some classes on how to use this software.

In 2007 Adobe launched new software called Lightroom which offers editing and cloud storage at a much lower rate. They also have an app so you can switch from editing on your computer to your smartphone with ease and for only $9.99/month – which includes one terabyte of cloud storage.

Snapseed is Google’s answer to Lightroom and for the low, low price of free! It allows you to make edits or add filters to your pictures all from your smartphone. This is very helpful if you are taking the pictures on your phone and uploading them directly to social media. It is currently only available as a mobile app.

Quick Tips

Practice is what will ultimately make you a better photographer. By practicing in your spare time you will begin to learn how to work with light, picture composition, and angles. It is how I picked up my top four tips for a better picture.

Rule of Thirds: imagine you are dividing your image with two vertical lines and two horizontal lines all equally spaced apart. Line up the focal point of your picture along one of those lines. This makes the image asymmetrical and, as a result, more appealing to the eye. Below you can see that the palm tree aligns with the left vertical line and the right third of the picture is left empty.

Image Credit: Emma MacKenzie, iPhone 6s

Brightness + Contrast + Sharpen: when I need to do a quick edit to a picture I only touch these three tools in my editing software. A light touch on all three goes a long way to making a picture more vibrant.

Step away from the light: try not to take pictures in direct sunlight, the result can be very harsh or overexposed. Try to find some shade where you get a soft light.

The woman who is in focus of this image is under a porch roof so she is lit by natural, indirect sunlight. Everyone behind her is inside with low lighting that creates a natural vignette effect. Image Credit: Emma MacKenzie, Nikon DSLR

Don’t Zoom on your phone: while cameras on phones are improving, the zoom functions have their limits. The more you zoom, the more it lowers the quality of the image. If you need to zoom, try to get a telephoto clip-on lens attachments from a company like Olloclip

Achieving quality images is attainable for smaller organizations, it just takes a little research, finding the right products, and practicing. I managed to go from a leisure photographer to an in-house photographer for an NGO in the course of one year. By following the strategies listed above you can also develop your own photography skills to help your organization succeed!

I started with one DSLR camera with one lens and an Olloclip for my iPhone 6s. I have since added to my camera bag by upgrading my phone to an iPhone 8+ and purchasing a macro lens for my DSLR, a tripod, a studio lightbox, and a ring light. These are new tools and skills I can now take with me to my next role.

Emma MacKenzie is a graduate student at American University in Washington, DC.

Featured Image Credit: By Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

Getting Millennial Attention

#Leaders Listen Up: #Millennials Share what Gets their Attention on Social Media

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Social media continues to capture time and attention. Here are some of the stats revealing how much people participate in social media; where they spend their time; what they like to do and how often.

  • There are approximately 6,000 tweets shared every second on Twitter. If you were to break the numbers down, there would be about 350,000 tweets sent per minute and approximately 500 million tweets per day. Can you imagine? That’s about 200 billion tweets per year, according to Internet Live Stats.
  • In November of 2018, the Hootsuite Blog stated that over 200 million people participated in Facebook Groups and there were about 150 million people who took advantage of Facebook Stories. 
  • In August of 2018, 99 Firms reported that Instagram supports approximately 100 million images and videos each day.
  • According to MerchDope, in June of 2019, there were approximately 300 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute.
Social Media Workshop in Princeton, NJ

The social media numbers continue to grow. At the same time, people are still watching network and cable television, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. They’re listening to the radio and tuning into podcasts. They’re also reading online publications, blogs and curating stories through news apps.
With all of the media available at your fingertips, if you wanted to get the attention of your customers and constituents, how would you show up and what would you share?

Let’s take a closer look at Millennials. They’re a growing population capturing approximately 50% of the U.S. workforce by 2020. With tremendous purchasing power, they are highly sought as a group when it comes to attracting and keeping their social media attention. But, what does this take?

I’ve been speaking with Millennials for the last six months, conducting one-on-one interviews as a part of my FEEL First before you communicate, Millennial passion project. Here’s what Millennial respondents told me about how business professionals and their “Leaders*” should communicate to get their attention.

  • Take a stand on the issue; if there’s something happening in the world or a particular country, let me know how you feel.
  • Advocate for something and show me you think beyond canned messages.  
  • Have more passion for the cause; leaders should always have a voice and right now it doesn’t feel authentic or connected.  
  • Watch out for the negative and outrageous; it gets more attention but it’s not positive or helpful. 
  • Understand me and my realm; be relatable to my world and what I experience on a daily basis. 
  • Give your unique take on something; whether you’re my supervisors or a public figure from one of the brands I like.
  • Use images that evoke memories and emotions and that show they understand who I am; through this understanding, you can present powerful words and photos.
  • Share personal community stories; go into the communities and get to know the social activists and well-known people who can create change.
  • Listen first … really listen; it’s hard to determine if leaders actually listen because retweeting is a form of listening but it appears everyone is just trying to get their content out and this is noise.
  • Communicate without remorse, and with a lot of bias and without supporting evidence; you’ll get attention but not my approval or loyalty.
  • Harness a particular social media platform whether you’re strong at Instagram, Twitter or Facebook Live. 
  • Move to action related to your mission, so it’s not just the words on social media.
  • Take the unpopular belief that’s relevant; sticky popular messages are not held by the majority of the people.
  • Show empathy and be vulnerable; if I see someone sharing struggles or tough points in their career this gets my attention.
  • Share videos with subtitles, which can be powerful and long posts have meaning too.
  • Give the behind the scenes and things I would not see anywhere else.
  • Try humor, which gets my attention, especially if you’re not someone who is necessarily humorous.
  • Use a writing style that’s personal or journal-style writing.
  • Catch my attention by using colors and imagery that’s fun; it gives me a feeling of happiness.
  • Do an interview, on a media outlet that’s informative or interesting, such as Bloomberg and CNBC.
  • Respond to people; no one ever expects the CEO of T-Mobile to respond.
FEEL First Workshop in New York City

What are you doing to capture and retain attention with the people that mean the most to you?

*The term “Leaders” was defined in the one-on-one interviews as professionals at the respondents’ companies, business professionals speaking on behalf of the companies and the brands they follow or care about, or their political and religious leaders.

Feature Image Credit: Photo by Igor Miske on Unsplash

Daisy Helping to Build the FEEL First Model

FEEL First Research: Millennials Don’t Like Leaders Who …

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My FEEL First research journey continues. I’m speaking with Millennials every week to learn what they expect from leaders, including their interactions with business executives from their companies or the brands that interest them to government officials online and at different communications touch points. The communication model I’m building is based on these informal one-on-one interviews, social media searches using the Talkwalker Quick Search platform, as well as 30 years in communications and relationship-building best practices. 

Although I have a few favorite research questions, there was one that yielded powerful results. I asked Millennials to fill in the blank for the following statement, “I don’t like leaders who…” They were told they could answer in a few words or a sentence. What I ended up with was much more than I had imagined.  Millennials had a lot to say about leaders they don’t like.

As a matter of fact, they elaborated far more on this question than any other. Why? Is it because their leaders are coming across as leaders who don’t meet their expectation? Or, is it because they’re seeing communication that lacks an open perspective or appears self-serving and disingenuous, especially on social media? I see it everyday … there’s very little listening with a low tolerance for opposing or differing opinions, not to mention communication that is self-absorbed and isn’t transparent. Do you see this too?

The Millennials I’ve interviewed are clear, and they know exactly what they don’t like about leaders today. Take a look at some of the partial responses to the statement, “I don’t like leaders who …”

  • Don’t follow anyone on social media, and they don’t post anything other than policies and products.
  • Have a bad attitude and their tone is passive aggressive.
  • Blow up your feed and you still don’t get the answers you need. 
  • Don’t have integrity and are full of hot air.
  • Communicate through multiple persons and a complicated chain of command.
  • Don’t know how to lead; they were just put into a leadership position and have no leadership skills.
  • Ignore the criticism you share; Millennials want their voices to be heard.
  • Talk more than they listen.
  • Are egotistical and self-centered.
  • Are unwilling to learn and who have a finite agenda in their communication.

Strategy and planning have always been the focus of my work in PR and marketing. I’ve created countless communication roadmaps for brands and professionals, to successfully prepare, launch and implement their campaigns with a goal to build relationships and to create business value.  

Today, my research uncovers an approach that must be applied first. Based on Millennial responses to my questions over the last six months and numerous social media searches, leaders and business professionals must FEEL First before they communicate. FEEL stands for: Facing Fears, engaging with Empathy, using Ethics and good judgment and unleashing the Love of their mission to genuinely connect and to build loyal and unbreakable bonds.  

What is the genesis of my passion project? It all began after my step daughter Noelle passed away. She was only 24 years old and she was an outstanding scholar and an amazing young woman with a giving heart and someone who would have done great things in this world. Noelle’s passing was heartbreaking and it really threw my family’s world upside down. I started to research Millennials and their communication habits. I wasn’t surprised to learn that Millennials value themselves based on their performance and image. I also quickly uncovered that Millennials were more stressed out and anxious than years past. Anxiety and depression statistics are at alarming levels and so are suicide rates. Did you know that suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in Americans from ages 10 to 34?  

From everything I’ve learned, it was time for me to step back to take a good look at the communication differences between generations; how people interact, the level of integrity, authenticity and the empathy in their relations. Are increasing communication touchpoints and a technology-driven world fueling stress and anxiety? Plus, when we communicate, how much do we really know about the people that we work so hard to build relationships with? As a communicator of 30 years, I want to make sure that any workshops, training, speaking and the courses I develop will always stress helpful, ethical, communication with EQ in the driver’s seat.

So what does all of this have to do with the development of the new communications model, FEEL First? Everything! Communication can make a situation better; it’s an opportunity to put on your emotional intelligence hat so you can listen and help people; an important first step to lending genuine support. When there’s good communication there’s more understanding and empathy; kindness and caring are also present. Most of all good communication is a time for openness and transparency and even vulnerability. Brené Brown, who is a researcher and storyteller, nailed this in her TED Talk. When you’re vulnerable you can build a real relationship. Plus, with good communication that exudes passion and pure enthusiasm you will attract inspired and motivated supporters.

However, today, we’re seeing far less good communication. Think about it. As you spend more time on your smartphones and engage in new technologies, are you noticing increased noise, frustration, and anger, whether it’s on social media, in the news, and within the four walls of your companies?

Of course, leaders have to be strong, take a stance, show confidence, be innovative and have a clear vision that people will follow. This must come through in all of their interactions. But, if you can’t balance your strength and IQ, with greater levels of Emotional Quotient (EQ) then your ability to build relationships, bond with your tribe and create blind loyalty will be limited. 

In an age of automation and Artificial Intelligence, it’s your emotional intelligence that separates you from the machine. Machines don’t have intuition, they don’t experience kindness and caring, they don’t know empathy and they don’t build relationships. Millennials are not shy about wanting their leaders to have more emotional intelligence. Here’s a FEEL First research blog post on this very topic. 

What’s my advice to leaders about their communication, based on how Millennials finished the statement, “I don’t like leaders who?“ In a nutshell, you have to FEEL First!

Millennials FEEL First

Are Leaders Expected to take a FEEL First Approach to Social Media?

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On June 13th, the #PRStudChat community gathered for a discussion on “Learning Leadership Skills.” Leading our discussion was Ken Jacobs, CEO of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching. Ken and our community of PR students, educators and pros shared their knowledge on how leadership is more than a fancy title, big office or a large salary. With leadership comes the responsibility to inspire and influence others to achieve their goals. Of course, communication plays a large part in a leaders’ success.

With a passion for communication that builds bridges and genuine relationships, one question during the chat session stood out in my mind. How can leaders communicate more effectively through social media?” 

The answer to the question, from Ken and our community members, varied. However, the overall sentiment reflected a tremendous opportunity for leaders, if they use social media the right way and they take a human approach.

Here are a few of the tweets reminding us that leaders can use social media for open and authentic conversations and to show that they care about the people they serve:

It’s clear from the #PRStudChat tweets to the many studies shared on social media about building loyalty among audiences (especially Millennials) that social community participation is important; it’s a way for leaders to engage and be more approachable and to help people and forge deeper connections with them.

Now, let’s take a more narrow focus on the Millennial generation. With respect to “what leaders should do” and what “Millennials require” my research and passion project reveals that leaders are falling short with their knowledge and use of social media. They are not fully taking advantage of the helpful and beneficial communications, in many cases.

For several months, I’ve been interviewing Millennials (born between the years of 1981 and 1996), for a passion project called FEEL First Before You Communicate. I wanted to uncover how Millennials were feeling about their leaders (at their companies, in business, religious and political leaders too) and the way they interacted with them, especially on social media. The responses were candid and had a surprising level of detail I didn’t anticipate regarding what Millennials required from these leaders on social media, as well as how they wanted to express themselves.

The preliminary results showed that Millennial expectations are not matching the real world scenario that is currently playing out in different social media communities, from business to politics. More than two-thirds of the Millennials interviewed stated that the levels of leadership sharing they’ve experienced are lacking authenticity, understanding, and what they would call “open perspectives,” which bring people together and build the bonds that last.

Now, take a look at some of the responses from the Millennials about expectations vs. what they are experiencing from the leaders in their lives.

  • I would expect a leader’s communication to be informed and not share their own personal views or biases.
  • I would expect leaders to understand how their audience likes to be communicated with and to strike the right general tone.
  • Sometimes leaders don’t come across as genuine … at least, I haven’t seen any consistent characteristics across fields.
  • Leaders should be relatable and I don’t think leaders come across as relatable today.
  • I expect their EQ to come through loud and clear … this resonates. In order to project genuine emotion … you can’t just regurgitate information.
  • I would expect leaders to be calm and knowledgeable. They should also be engaged with their work and their teams.
  • I would expect leaders to be strong and to lead by example, especially in a world where people post on social media. If you’re not leading by example then you are not a true leader.
  • Leaders should be “that every man” and go about change on behalf of others even if it’s not for their own benefit.

Here is the text analytics of all of the different responses clearly depicting how interview subjects were feeling about the following question:

What do you expect from your leaders on social media?

It’s fairly clear … Millennials want leaders who are more social (that is, who understand social media) and who engage with their audience, show emotion, connect with the community, have a positive demeanor, know it’s about their people, are genuine and who lead by example and with confidence.

Whether it’s Millennials or any group, what happens when expectations are not met? There is a disconnect and people are less inclined to be open or take the time to listen and understand. If they do engage, then communication is guarded and not on a level of real interest or from a place of genuine care.

Falling short of expectations on social media can also mean frustration and often results in tuning out the noise. Building genuine relationships takes emotional intelligence. Of course, when it comes to leadership skills, the Emotional Quotient or EQ, such as care, kindness, empathy, understanding, and compassion, has to meet the IQ side of the equation, with knowledge, vision, innovation, professionalism, and confidence, all working in harmony.

The balance between the EQ and IQ and a communication approach that fills the gap for leaders to connect to build genuine relationships is the FEEL First model. It’s an approach that helps you to Face Fears by being more open, engage with Empathy and true understanding, use Ethics and good judgment in communication and to unleash the Love to match the enthusiasm shared by Millennials and younger generations who are devoted and deeply passionate about their causes.

The ability to FEEL First before you communicate is the difference between social media that resonates and creates energy and action, and the kind of communication noise that is quickly disregarded, addressed with anger or often blocked in social communities.

As a leader, are you meeting Millennial expectations and do you FEEL First before you communicate? You can take the FEEL First Test to score yourself … coming soon to the PR Expanded!!

Featured Image Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

FEEL First Model Deirdre Breakridge

Millennial Research Shapes the FEEL First Model

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In October 2018, I set out on a research journey to learn more about Millennial communication. I wanted to understand where they liked to express themselves and how they wanted to be recognized on social media. I also started to uncover the types of interactions Millennials expected from their “Leaders.” For the purposes of my one-on-one interviews, “Leaders” were defined as their own company leaders, business executives from familiar brands, or from the brands and the causes they cared about, and political leaders too.

One question was easy to analyze and the results didn’t surprise me. I asked 25 Millennials what advice they would give to leaders on social media. After analyzing their answers and using a tool to create a word cloud, certain words carried more weight and meaning. These included: TRY, UNDERSTAND, SOCIAL, MEDIA, NEED, CARE, GIVE, PEOPLE, RESPOND, MESSAGE, INTERACTIVE AND EMOTION. You can see the word cloud below.

Diving further into the interviews, the quotes from the Millennials answering this question were just as interesting. Here are a few of my favorite quotes offering advice to their leaders:

  • Be relatable and much more interactive with us.
  • If someone tweets to you, the least you could do is respond.
  • Be clear and concise; our generation is overloaded with far too much information.
  • The message doesn’t have to be perfect; this will make you more relatable and approachable.
  • Show you care about the people behind your organization and brand.
  • Operate your own social media, don’t let someone else; it seems a little shady.
  • Take the time to understand us or your audience in general.
  • Take the time to know us, especially on social media.
  • You need to learn how to communicate through social media.

Millennials are asking for leaders to be more human and genuine and to show up with the emotional intelligence when they answer questions or interact with them. The smartest leaders will take this information and work on how they communicate through social media. One way to close the gap between what Millennials expect and how their leaders currently communicate is to FEEL first. What does this mean?

Face Fears – making you more open to different perspectives and not share knee jerk communication

Engage with Empathy – Don’t just listen but listen actively and ask questions, understand people so they know you care. Think less about your messages and how you can help them.

Use your Ethics (and good judgment) – Always being accurate, truthful and fair in your interactions. It also means showing up as your authentic self.

Unleash the Love – If you don’t show your passion, energy, and enthusiasm then why would anyone want to join your cause.

Here’s a video discussing the research and a new FEEL First Test (a web app) which is coming soon.

FEEL First Model Leadership & Communication

Launching the FEEL First Before You Communicate MODEL [INFOGRAPHIC]

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Communication is at the heart of your business and every relationship you build. With book titles focused on the best ways to engage including, Decency Starts at the Top, by CEO and Chairman, Larry Weber of Racepoint Global and articles focusing on “Workplace Compassion: A Trend Driven by the Changing Workforce” your authenticity, integrity and empathy become front and center at every touchpoint.

Modern communicators have a responsibility to use communication as a way to build bridges between people and groups; sharing communication to help, uplift and ignite passion and positive momentum. It’s a do “good” and do “no harm” approach. But, with a noisy communication landscape, does communication from businesses professionals, who speak on behalf of their organizations, reach the public in a “do good” manner; in a way that instills trust, expresses kindness, and creates opportunities to build relationships?

You may come in contact with leaders and business professionals every day. They are your own company executives or the senior executives who speak out on behalf of your favorite brands and social causes. Or, maybe they are the political leaders in your newsfeeds on social media. Regardless of the type of leader, do you think the communication they share is reaching, resonating and helping people, especially when it comes to younger generations? With  Millennials and Generation Z experiencing more depression and anxiety at alarming rates, are leaders today meeting the communication expectations of these groups, or any group they want to reach?

Now, it’s time to reign in the communication for some self-reflection. Ask yourself an important question. Do you really know what someone else is experiencing before you tweet, blog or post on Facebook? Are you using social media to get closer with people to build your own personal brand? The data you collect and analyze on social media is based on what people want to share with you, and how they want to be seen. Of course, there’s a highlight reel on social media. What you see on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or any platform does not always give you a clear picture of someone’s life, what is going on in their world or how they are truly feeling.

FEEL is the optimal word here and what others are feeling. Your communication can either help them, or it can quickly becomes a part of the “noise” that blocks the value, which affects the end goal of any interaction.

Whether it is you, or the leaders you know, there’s a better way to approach communications when the noise is overwhelming … it’s to FEEL first. If you don’t FEEL as a first step, which means to Face Fears, connect with Empathy, use Ethics and unleash the Love of your mission, then all of your planning may fall on deaf ears. Once you can FEEL, the strategy that you’ve developed will play out not only to connect you, but also to help you engage in a way that is valued and seen as more human and open, creating those longer lasting bonds.

After a devastating family tragedy last September, I embarked on a research journey. I started to speak with Millennials about communication preferences and began analyzing Women Worldwide interviews with guests focused on leadership and communication (using text analytics). My goal was to see if what Millennials preferred in their communication from leaders is what they were experiencing on social media. Were the characteristics they preferred drawing them closer to their leaders or pushing them farther away?

Then, when I teamed up with Talkwalker to use their search tool, the themes identified around leaders, communication and emotions and different communication qualities really came to the surface. The lightbulb went on! Seeing the results (in word cloud format) based on a sophisticated Boolean search (yes, Talkwalker helped me here) it appeared that the IQ side of leadership stood out more in conversations. With more than 50% positive sentiment, about 47% neutral and only 3% negative, words such as “knowledge,” “experience,” “confidence,” “strength,”  “professional” were the most prominent in discussions about leaders and communication, across blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms.

But what about the Emotional Quotient (EQ) side of the house? I was surprised that words such as “interpersonal,” “respect”, “feel,” “values,” “real,” and “commitment” took a back seat. What does this say about leaders and communication on social media, when the EQ or the soft skills were much less in the spotlight? You can take a look at a couple of graphics showing the text analytics to see for yourself.

Boolean Search on Leadership, Communication Qualities and Emotion Graphic !
Boolean Search on Leadership, Communication Qualities and Emotion Graphic 2

Keeping the initial research in mind, I’ve taken the first stab at a communication model that may help to close the gap between what Millennials and Gen Z want and the type of communication that’s lighting up social media and may not really be resonating with them. The components of the FEEL First model are as follows:

•    An audit process to get unstuck, which is the first step in understanding how you’ve been communicating in the past. This is usually a Fix it to Move Forward approach.

•    Finding the Passion Potential with any group, to make sure that what you believe is relevant to share will actually resonate and have the potential for further engagement with them.

•    Take the FEEL Test to help you engage more authentically with any audience [there are four parts focused on each piece of the FEEL acronym]

•    Address your FEEL weaknesses after scoring your test.

•    Apply the FEEL approach to social media, company team meetings, speaking engagements, and your media interviews.

•    Measure the FEEL model to see that you’re moving toward genuine communication and relationships that encourage fresh ideas, empathy for all parties, use good judgment in all interactions and unleash a passion that becomes the DNA or the fabric of your relationships.

The FEEL First Model

I’ll be building out the model in much more detail in the weeks ahead with exercises and different ways to advance your steps with the FEEL First Approach. All ideas and suggestions are welcomed!

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