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It’s spring, and the Sharons are finally on the same continent. Fresh from a month in Southeast Asia, my co-host Sharon Phillips was struck by the warmth and grace of the people she met in Thailand and Cambodia. Their ability to slow down and thoughtfully engage her in a conversation was a refreshing change of pace.

It’s also a good reminder of how often we Americans fall into the trap of “seat-of-the-pants” communication. Yes, we’re communicating, but are we also listening?

In this episode, we explore this topic, delving into:

• What it means to be a strong strategic communicator and why it’s so vital
• How to break the cycle of reactive, non-strategic communications
• How to speak the language of leadership (hint: KPIs are your friends)

And here’s another reason to pay attention to the role of internal communications in corporate America: 87% of IC directors expect budgets to increase this year. We share this and some other stats from the IC experts at Poppulo.

If you’ve set a goal to become a more strategic and more effective internal communicator, we hope you’ll listen in.

About Sharon McIntosh

Sharon is president of And Then Communications. With more than two decades of communications experience, she has a passion for creating and executing new ideas to drive employee engagement at companies both large and small. Most recently Sharon served as PepsiCo’s vice president of Global Internal Communications, overseeing the company’s efforts to connect with its more than 274,000 employees worldwide.

About Sharon Phillips

Sharon Phillips is principal of Sharon Phillips Communications, which focuses on employee engagement and corporate communications strategy and support. Prior to relaunching her consultancy in 2014, she served as director of Global Internal Communications at PepsiCo.