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Episode #58 – David Murray urges comms pros to stop messaging, start listening in an “Effort to Understand”

November 30, 2021 by Sharon McIntosh and Sharon Phillips Leave a Comment

https://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/EE_Voice_episode_58.mp3

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In this episode, I’m joined by author,  communications expert and dear friend David Murray, who recently released his book, An Effort to Understand: Hearing One Another (and Ourselves) in a Nation Cracked in Half. David has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly and The Chicago Tribune and published several other books. He also leads the global Professional Speechwriters Association and the Executive Communication Council (ECC) and pens the daily blog “Writing Boots.”

In our conversation, we discuss how effective internal communications can foster empathy in oftentimes divided workplaces, as well as:

  • Why the book is dedicated to communicators: “This is the distillation of all the wisdom I’ve gotten from hanging around with [communicators] in bar rooms and out of bar rooms and at work in a hundred different ways,” he said. “So, this feels like it’s not my book, but really our book.” 
  • The criticality of internal communications: “There’s endless stuff for an internal communication group to be doing to help employees understand more profoundly what they’re doing in the world and what their organization is doing in the world,” David said. “And what an important thing to do to make people feel like full citizens of their country and of their corporation.” 
  • How an increased understanding of each other —  and willingness to listen — can help us best navigate differing opinions and find commonality despite individual social and political leanings: “To the extent that we can understand our fellow human beings, we can communicate with them better,” he said. “Or, we could at least understand their behavior better and deal with it.” 
  • What makes communications “scary”: “You don’t know what’s going to happen. That’s what makes it exciting.” 
  • The best path forward for internal and executive communications: “That’s how organizations communicate: Take things in, spit it back out and react to the humanity inside the organizations.”

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Filed Under: EE Voice Tagged With: An Effort to Understand, David Murray, executives, executive_communication, internal communications

Episode #57 – Tips from a Pro: Strategies to Boost Your IC Measurement

October 25, 2021 by Sharon McIntosh and Sharon Phillips Leave a Comment

https://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/EE_Voice_episode_57.mp3

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As we strive to foster communities of collaboration and transparency between company executives and their employees, one question persists: How do we make our findings measurable and actionable? 

“I think communications in general is hard to measure. It’s not as cut and dry as the sales of a product or the financials of a company… it’s pretty hard across the board,” says our most recent guest, George Sutcliffe, Global Communications Insights & Analytics Lead at Raytheon Technologies. 

A former lawyer, librarian and writer, George uses his keen attention to detail to drive measurement strategy and uncover insights that impact business outcomes. In our conversation, George touches on a variety of subjects that all point back to one of Sharon and my favorite topics: How to marry quantitative and qualitative employee feedback, put it to use, and show your employees (and your executives) that their feedback is being put to use. 
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Filed Under: EE Voice Tagged With: employee_communications, executive_communication, measurement

SPECIAL EPISODE #55: DAVID MURRAY & ROGER D’APRIX ON THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF INTERNAL COMMS

May 18, 2021 by Sharon McIntosh and Sharon Phillips 1 Comment

https://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/EE_Voice_episode_55.mp3

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In this special episode, Sharon and I join you as listeners to a far-reaching conversation between two communication powerhouses on the evolution of employee comms – and the hard road ahead.

Guest Host David Murray heads up the global Professional Speechwriters Association and the Executive Communication Council and writes the popular daily blog “Writing Boots.” An award-winning journalist, he’s just published his must-read book, An Effort to Understand: Hearing One Another (and Ourselves) in a Nation Cracked in Half.

Roger D’Aprix, often called “the father of internal communications,” has served on ROI Communication’s Board of Advisors since 2005, is an internationally known consultant, lecturer and author, an IABC Fellow and recipient of the 2014 President’s Award from the Communication Leadership Exchange. He is a best-selling author whose most recent book is Bosses: True Stories of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

This probing interview covers the realities that leaders in the workplace face, as David notes they have “barely just begun to explain all the stuff that needs to get across” despite believing they’ve talked it all out.
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Filed Under: EE Voice Tagged With: David Murray, executive_communication, internal communications, Leadership, Roger D'Aprix, senior leadership

Episode #48: Steve Crescenzo on becoming a strategic advisor during the pandemic

September 18, 2020 by Sharon McIntosh and Sharon Phillips Leave a Comment

https://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/EE_Voice_episode_48.mp3

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We love talking to Steve Crescenzo because where else can you gain practical, actionable comms advice through a conversation that includes a pet rabbit on the loose, (not) tolerating our spouses under COVID-19 quarantine, and leadership communications hostage videos? Steve and his wife and partner Cindy have had front row seats to the comms-coronavirus crisis response through their business, Crescenzo Communications. Steve joined the EE Voice podcast to talk about all they’ve learned – from the two things you must do to step up your internal comms leadership to the office culture shifts we’re witnessing that he predicts are irreversible.

Links referenced in the podcast:

  • Whitepaper: 7 steps to futureproof your internal communications strategy
  • Gallup study on the need for internal communications during the pandemic
  • Crescenzo Communications upcoming webinars (happy hour included!):
    • Employee Communication Master Class
    • Writing Master Class

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Filed Under: EE Voice Tagged With: COVID-19, executive_communication, internal_communications

Episode #39: EE Voice CLIP – How can I spice up my CEO’s end-of-year letter?

December 4, 2019 by Sharon McIntosh and Sharon Phillips Leave a Comment

https://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/EE_Voice_clip_1.mp3

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We thought we’d end the year with a little twist – a new, abbreviated format which we hope you’ll find easy to fit into your busy day. With EE Voice Clip we aim to answer — in under 8 minutes – a question that employee comms pros have on their minds. Sort of like a Quora for Comms.

Our first question we answer is: How can I spice up my CEO’s end-of-year letter. Sharon and I offer some ideas to consider – some creative, some more traditional. And all in six minutes.
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Filed Under: EE Voice Tagged With: executive_communication

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