Communicating During Uncertain Times

The need for ongoing, effective communication from school districts is important even in the best of times. Most would agree this is hardly the best of times. With more questions than answers created by the Kansas Supreme Court's recent opinions in the Gannon school finance court case - and the looming deadline and potential of shutting schools down - parents, staff and students need to know what is going on.

How do we provide useful information when there are so many unknowns? The answer is to communicate, communicate, communicate. Reassure everyone that you are monitoring developments and will share what you know as soon as you know it.

That last part of the sentence is key: Share what you know when you know it. KanSPRA - the Kansas School Public Relations Association - developed a two-page communication plan after the May 10 Supreme Court oral arguments. It can be found here. The guide includes useful tips to quickly take control of any communication effort. One hour plus these three steps will be a great start toward allaying fears and providing reassurance.

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience(s)

The who...Students and their families, employees and your community are primary audiences. Others include local and state elected officials, vendors, etc. Each audience often needs different details, but they will all be looking to the local school district for information.

The how...Website updates, social media, e-mail and phone/text broadcasts are among some of the KanSPRA plan suggestions. This is an excellent time to make social media work for you. Facebook and Twitter are perfect for sharing quick updates and links.

The when and where...Remind your community where to find and receive information, such as your website, social media, sign-up for email updates, blogs, etc. Some of this depends on how you normally communicate news about your district. Regular communication is important, even if the news is simply a short update.

Step 2: Key Topics and Messages

Develop messages for students, families, staff and community based on what you currently know and how you are working to find answers. Here are a few suggestions from KanSPRA:

• We are actively monitoring the most reliable sources of information from Topeka as the Kansas Supreme Court and Legislature work toward a solution.
• We are planning on business as usual and having school next year.
• Planning is a common practice for our district and is based on the best information we have at any time. We plan for a wide variety of emergencies and crises all year long. This includes a plan for the potential of a shutdown, if that should happen.
• If our district’s plans for this summer or fall change, we’ll let you know first. Here’s how you’ll hear this news: (Include where they can go to find the current and correct information about your local district.)

Step 3: A Call to Action

During uncertain times it often helps to give people something to do. KanSPRA suggests a “call to action” as a way to give the public a proactive role in their future.

• Focus on a Get Out the Vote campaign. Several organizations, including KanSPRA, KASB and USA Kansas, have a number of resources schools and communities can use.
• Empower students, employees, families and patrons by reminding them of the importance of their active involvement. “You can take action and make a difference!”
• Provide links to local legislative representatives and the Governor's office and ask your community to voice their opinions.

The two-page communication plan developed by representatives of the Kansas School Public Relations Association includes a number of additional communication tips. Kristin Magette, APR, KanSPRA president and director of communications for Eudora USD 491, Martin Weishaar, APR, KanSPRA president-elect and director of communications for Auburn-Washburn USD 437, Tammy Dodderidge, communications manager for Kansas City USD 500, and Carol Pitts created suggested strategies to use as the uncertainties surrounding school finance in Kansas continue.

Challenge Brings Great Opportunity

While this time of uncertainty is stressful on everyone involved, proactive and frequent communication will strengthen the bond and deepen the trust between you and your school patrons.

Bonus Tips for School Superintendents

A key audience is your board of education. In crisis communication (which is very similar to this kind of communication planning) it is easy to overlook your closest internal audiences because of the number of requests from staff and media. Make it a point to update your board of education twice a day - once in the morning and once in the evening.

A blog is a great tool for you to share information and details about what is happening in your local district. There are a number of free blog hosting sites and it takes very little time to get up and running. Once you have the blog created it is very easy to update, then share the link via Facebook and Twitter.

Using a "Frequently Asked Questions" format on a webpage or a blog is a quick and easy-to-update format. It will save time in writing responses and you can edit the answers as more information becomes available.

Additional strategies are available by contacting Carol Pitts cpitts@kasb.org 785-273-3600.

Can you tell a story in six words?

The twitter feed at right follows the hashtag #kasbcon, and if you look through the tweets you’ll read a story about the 2014 KASB Annual Conference. All those different perspectives create quite a story about an event! Of course this twitter feed only captures the tweets that used the special hashtag. There were undoubtedly others!

What story are you telling about yourself? About your organization? You can search and find every tweet you’ve ever tweeted, so what is the story being told? (Just Google “find my tweets” and you’ll find several different ways to do this.) KASB’s annual conference in December keynote speaker Jim Spellos @jspellos challenged us to tweet our digital story in six words. That might seem impossible, but take a look at the twitter feed to see a few great examples! Social media is about the conversation, so use twitter to tell your story.

Be mindful of what you are tweeting and why. Think about the top three or four impressions you would want everyone to have about you or your organization, then match your messages to those themes. Make sure to include original tweets/thoughts along with retweets that reinforce those messages.

There is no shortage of tips and suggestions on how to get started. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Create a twitter account and start by following a few people and organizations. Click on their “Followers” and “Following” tab to get ideas, then follow a few more.
2. Start tweeting and retweeting. Just jump in! 
3. Tweet links or thoughts from a website or blog you find interesting. Almost all now have the twitter link embedded in their webpage so it makes it pretty easy to share.
4. Learn how to use a url-shortening service like bitly.com. It’s easy and will save you precious characters since you are limited to 140! 
5. Follow back anyone who follows you. 
6. Watch a Youtube tutorial or read through a couple of online tipsheets to learn how to use hashtags. (Youtube:  Basic or more Advanced)
7. Proofread your tweets before you post. 
8. Twitter’s 140 character limit forces brevity. Yes, you can abbrev. 2 gt 2 140. A perfectly acceptable practice. Watch others to learn a few of the most common abbreviations.
9. Check twitter at least twice a day and retweet or add something new to the conversation.
10. As you begin to gain skill, subscribe to a twitter analytic site such as Tweriod to learn the best times to tweet based on when your followers are most likely to be active on twitter.

So, time to jump in! 

Training

Leveraging the Power of Social Media Workshop
Feb. 3, 2014 Kansas Association of School Boards
Lead by Kevin Case @inmansuperc, Inman USD 448 Superintendent and author of #TwirtyDays-Opening Doors, Creating Possibilities and Realizing Potential.

Useful Resources

Kristen Magette, Eudora USD 491 Director of Communications
Blog: kristinmagette.com
@kmagette
Author of Embracing Social Media: A Practical Guide to Manage Risk and Leverage Opportunity

Socialmediatoday.com
@socialmedia2day

Thenextweb.com
@TheNextWeb

www.bulldogreporter.com
@BulldogReporter

Speak up!

A familiar buzz word these days – well, actually a buzz phrase – is ‘tell your story.’ But because we don't know where or how to start, it is easy to just move on to the next thing on our crowded 'to do' list and wait for someone to ask. 

If there was ever a time to speak up, it's now! News media, politicos, bloggers and tweeters, to name a few, are busy speaking on your behalf. There are 286 school districts in Kansas. That means there are 286 sides to the school funding story. Unless everyone contributes, the story that emerges from all this chatter will be incomplete. 

You have a huge advantage. You each have insider knowledge. You are the expert when it comes to how any change impacts your children, your classroom, your students, your school district or your community. Your community hears news reports and reads social media posts, but your perspective is critical in helping everyone gain perspective and form opinions. 

So, how best to speak up? Here are three simple steps:

1. Start with the WHAT: Provide just enough facts and numbers to give context to your story, but keep it simple. The big numbers are the 'news hook' to grab people's attention, but those same numbers can quickly cause someone to 'tune out' and miss your true message.

2. Then focus on the WHO:  You are the interpreter in the foreign land that is school finance in Kansas. Translate the dollars into people and programs that support students and academic achievement. 

-Who will feel the impact of the possible changes? 

-What is the public likely to see or not see?

-Where will opportunities be gained or lost?

-How do these changes connect to past cuts and future plans?

You don't have to answer every question. The important thing is to give your community a sense of what it all means for the children in your classrooms. 

3. The final step is simple: Just share what you know, even if you don't know much at this time. Issue a media release or statement. Read it at your next board meeting, share it with your staff, community leaders and parents, then use every tool you have at your disposal to push the information out into the community and across the state. At a bare minimum, share your story through:

-District print and/or email newsletter

-Website

-District or Superintendent's Blog (This is great reason to start one!)

-Twitter (Check out this great blog about the power of twitter: http://heimkasb.blogspot.com.

-Facebook

Remember, 286 sides to the story about the impact of the new school finance plan and policy changes. Make sure your part of the story is heard.

Give a Shout Out to Kenny G...AND Public Education!

I recently attended a Kenny G concert in Kansas City (AWESOME by the way), and during one of his breaks from mesmerizing mellowness he introduced the members of the band who travel with him.

Most of them have known each other since high school...that would be public high school in Seattle, Washington. They played in the jazz band and concert band together and their mentors and heroes – according to Kenny G - were public school teachers who encouraged them to dream that they would one day play their music on a stage in front of thousands of people.

I know! Awesome, right?

What happened next at the concert was a tad disappointing. There was only a polite smattering of applause at the mention of public education and public school teachers. No loud hoots or whistles, no ‘at-a-boy, Kenny G’ shout from the overflowing balconies. (Perhaps the fact that we were actually an hour into the incredibly calming concert may have affected the zealousness of the audience’s response.)

The vast majority of Kansans support their public schools. The vast majority of us graduated from public schools and many of us went on the public colleges and universities. I guess unless you are currently directly connected to education – as a student, teacher, parent, grandparent, board member  – it is easy NOT to be passionate about public education.

Yet critics of public education are certainly passionate, or at least vocal and persistent. So how do we change the polite applause to shouts and whistles in support public education...Kansas public education?

Frankly, we’ll only get passion if we bring it! Uncomfortable? Maybe, but is it something you truly believe in? Then bring it!

The ol’ adage “Just do it” seems to apply. If you know you’d like to do something, but just aren’t sure how or where to start, give me a call or send me an email. I would love to help!

Here are a few quick tips:

The public’s attention span can be very short! You should plan to state and restate (and restate and restate, etc.) your story.

• Use already established school district communications to inform the public.
• Place key issues or communication with legislators on all board and staff meeting agendas.
• Include information on key issues in district publications or special mailings to patrons.
• If this is an official district publication, be sure to present only facts and the school board’s position.

Use public and personal communications to share the message.

• Write a guest column or “letter to the editor” to newspapers in your area.
• Volunteer for public affairs radio/TV programs, call-in shows; or contribute to blogs on issues concerning the district and its positions. Volunteer to speak to community organizations.
• Prepare media releases and provide interviews with news outlets.

Build a network and connect with others.

• Set up regular meetings for school leaders and community members who want to work to support public education in your community and statewide.
• Create a formal school district advocacy team or network.
• Parents, senior citizens, health professionals, business people, clergy and law enforcement officials are just some of the members of your community affected by education policy changes. They can become a part of your team!

There are a number of groups who share concern about the future of Kansas. Seek out others who share your views and build coalitions. Here are just a few places to start:

Defend the American Dream | Kansas Public Schools

Game on for Kansas Schools

Kansas Families for Education

Save Olathe Schools Facebook Page

Derby Parent Advocacy Group for Education (PAGE) Facebook Page

Kansas Learning First Alliance

A Meme by Any Other Name

Look up the term ‘meme’ and you come up with a plethora of cultural and academic explanations about its meaning and use. Turns out it is much more than just a cute quip and a picture of an equally cute kitten.

What is clear is that a meme (rhymes with ‘team’) is a useful communication tool to convey information in an easily sharable format. Once created, it can be emailed, posted in blogs, shared on Facebook, tweeted, pinned and otherwise sent out on its viral merry way.

So how does one go about creating a meme? Here are a few basic rules:

1. Facebook likes square images, so create your meme in a square shape for optimum viewing. (If it isn’t square, then the whole image won’t show in the timeline, and anyone who wants to see the whole image will have to click on it. That’s not bad thing, but your goal is to make it accessible and easy to see and understand.)
2. Choose a graphic element, such as a chart or picture, and the basic fact you want to convey. Keep it short and succinct! You can also turn just a phrase or a few words into a sharable meme.
3. Size the headline or first main sentence type size somewhere between 24 points; the secondary information or explanation between 16 points; and try not to use any type smaller than 14 point.
4. If you are using Microsoft Word to create your meme, create a new document and customize the size to a square. Then set the margins at .3 or smaller. This will give you a good shape for your meme, and keep everything in a square with a minimal white space around it.
5. Once you have everything done (and proofread!), you will need to save the image as a jpg or similar format. There are a number of ways to do this, based on what the document is in when you started.
1. For a word document, save it as a pdf, then save the pdf as a jpg. (This is the quickest work-around – there are many other ways to do this.)
2. I encourage you to Google “turning a word document into a jpg” for other options. You might find something that works better for you.
3. You can also create your meme in other programs that allow graphics and text to be combined.

Below are a couple of examples of memes you can share today on your Facebook page or through email and twitter. Just click on the image, save it to your desktop, then place on you Facebook page or send a tweet. 

And get started today creating your own memes to share!

    

Nine Nifty Tips for a Communication Tune-Up

Whether you call it customer service or public relations, at the heart is good communication. These “Nine Nifty Tips” are a good review of what it takes to put people at ease and make them feel welcome in your office or school.

1. Be a good listener. Ask questions and concentrate on what the individual is really saying. Listen to word choice, tone of voice and most importantly how they feel. Beware of making assumptions by thinking you intuitively know what someone wants, thinks or feels.
2. People react with emotion, not logic. They are not always good at telling you exactly what they are looking for. Body language is a good indicator of attitude, but it can also easily be misread.
3. Make people feel important and appreciated when they visit or meet with you. Treat them as individuals. Use their name and find ways to compliment them, but be sincere. People value sincerity. It creates good feeling and trust. Most people are very sensitive and know whether or not you really care about them. Thank them every time you get a chance. Your words and actions should be congruent.
4. Help people understand your system. Take time to explain how your system works and how they can simplify interactions with you. For example, do you prefer a call or email, and what do they prefer in response? But be careful that your communication preferences don't reduce the human element of your organization.
5. Know how to apologize. When something goes wrong, apologize. Deal with problems immediately
6. Give more than expected. The support and involvement of parents and the community are key to student success, so think of ways to elevate the experience someone has when they interact with you above what they may experience elsewhere.
7. Return phone calls and emails as soon as possible. If you have promised to call someone back with information, but you don’t have the information yet, make the call anyway just to inform the person of the status. This is an easy way to build trust and show your commitment good communication.
8. Follow-up with a personal note if and when appropriate. This can be done via email, but a personally-written note that is mailed to their home or office will leave a lasting impression.
9. And lastly, appreciate the power of "Yes.” Always look for ways to help. When someone has a request (as long as it is reasonable) look for every way possible to tell them you can do it.

Need more information? Check out these tips for dealing with 'the crankies.'

Create the Perfect 140 Character Sound Bite

As a kid did you ever play that game where one person whispers something to the next, then that person passes the information along to the person on the other side of them, then THAT person whispers it to the next person, etc.? The information goes around the entire circle and then the last person says out loud what they heard…which is almost always NOT what the original message was about!

It was a game intended to teach a lesson about the dangers of gossip, but in many ways it was an early form of tweeting. Of course using today’s social media tools doesn't involve whispering, and doesn't take a whole gaggle of giggling preteens to garble the message. It just takes you, answering one question about a controversial issue without thinking through the strategic significance of your answer.

And the results? A ‘tweet’ that takes on a life of its own or a post on Facebook that opens up a free for all.

You are Never ‘Off the Record’

In today’s world there is no such thing as ‘off the record.’ In the past this was more about interactions with the media than it was about interactions at the grocery store in the chip and dip aisle. But widespread access to Twitter and Facebook now makes everyone a reporter of news – without the filter of an editor. And as for a ‘credible source’? That’s you! As an employee, volunteer, elected or appointed board member of any organization, you are viewed as being on the “inside” and therefore “in the know.”

So next time you find yourself afraid to go to the grocery store, church or the local Rotary Club meeting, spend a few minutes rehearsing how to answer the questions you don’t want to be asked. Take control of the message, then boldly go!

One of the most effective techniques you can use to help focus the messages is called “bridging.” Using a verbal bridge refocuses the conversation back to a key message, allows you to move away from controversial topics and end every answer to every questions with a prepared, strategic message.

Here are a few examples of verbal bridges:

• Actually, the real issue is…
• If we look at the big picture…
• The heart of the matter is…
• I think it would be more correct to say…
• That’s a great point because…

Keep your main points – the statements that come after the verbal bridge - to one or two easy to remember statements. Keep bridging back to those two points. You might feel like a broken record, but that’s okay. Repetition is a key to creating awareness and understanding.

And one final tip. Stop talking after you answer the specific question. Don’t expand on your answer, get trapped by conjecture or keep talking to fill awkward silences. Being prepared will give you the chance to add your perspective to the story, squash rumors and get ahead of the gossip.

After all, sound bites are no longer just for radio or TV. A tweet is really just a 140 character sound bite.

Control the Message

Many (and I’m talking many) years ago I participated in a media training workshop sponsored by ESSDACK in Hutchinson. It was presented by Richard Brundage and even..um…many (many) years later I still use the skills I gained.  

One of the best tips I learned was how to respond to the reporters’ questions, but then bridge to the information I needed to communicate. This actually is a great method to use in a variety of situations – a question and answer session at a meeting, a presentation before a board or group or a call from a concerned citizen about an issue or crisis.

 It is actually fairly simple. The goal is not to hide the truth, but to control the message.

1.      When faced with a difficult question or one that does not address your key message points, try this approach:

a.      A-Acknowledge the statement (Something like “That’s certainly an issue that is important to our school district…”)

b.      B-Bridge away from the original question to the one you really want to answer (“…and we are continuing to work on that issue…)

c.       C-Convert the question to the key message point or answer you want to give (“…but the real issue is…”)

2.      Especially during media interviews, stop talking after you have answered the specific question. Don’t expand on your answer or keep talking to fill the space. Rambling usually gets you in trouble.

3.      Unless it’s live, reporters almost never run their question, only your answers, so concentrate on giving the answers you want. And don’t repeat the question. Doing that can emphasize the interviewer’s point, not yours.

4.      During a radio or TV interview, don’t be afraid of silence. When they edit the piece they will edit those out. SO…take your time and again, give the answers you want to give.

5.      When called by a reporter, take their name and number and promise to get back to them in a specified amount of time. Go ahead and ask them what kind of information they are looking for. Then take a few moments and gather your thoughts. Jot down a few key points that you want to remember. Then call the reporter back. I had a reporter recently who even offered to call me back later. It was for a radio interview and they needed a good sound bite for a story. I appreciated the gesture!

Five easy steps, clarify your main points prior to speaking or responding, and remember you ABC’s: Acknowlege. Bridge. Convert.

It’s that simple!

Deliver an effective message?

You have the right message, an interested audience…now it’s time to make sure you present the information in the most effective way possible. Here are a few ‘how to’ points to get you started.

1.  Tell a compelling story – This creates relevance, resonance and responsiveness.

True story… I was sitting in the back row of a presentation not long ago and started noticing how engaged – or unengaged – my fellow audience members were. When the presenter said “I have to tell you a quick story about that…”  almost every person in the room refocused on the presenter. You could physically feel the energy level change in the room! For those few minutes, their attention was on the presentation, not on their iPad, smart phone or list of things to do once they got back to the office. (There are a number of great websites and blogs about what goes in to telling relevant stories. Use ‘The Google’ to research the topic!)

2.  Use of visual aids – Pictures, graphs and charts add impact to your message and move an audience from simply hearing what you have to say to seeing it represented. This increases retention of your message. I read not long ago that 83% of human learning occurs visually, 11% through hearing, 3.5% through smell, 1% through taste and 1.5% through touch.  (That adds up to 100% - I didn’t want you to have to do the math yourself.) 

Three days after an event, people typically retain 10% of what they heard from an oral presentation, 35% from a visual presentation and 65% from a visual and oral presentation.

(See what I did there?)

Keep the visuals simple and easy to understand. Whatever visual image you choose, it should amplify your message and key points. Don’t ask your audiences to read and listen at the same time. A chart or graph with too much information will take their attention away from what you are saying.

3.  Leave a printed document behind - Give participants something to take with them - a simple (but attractively-designed) brochure or handout with your key points emphasized. This helps remind them of the presentation and your key points. 

That's it! Three simple steps to better presentations!

Create a presentation (or plan a conversation) in 5 minutes?

It's a tried and true formula - and one that can be applied to all kinds of situations. Follow this quick diagram and you will have your next presentation for a workshop, seminar, staff meeting or that difficult one-on-one conference you have to have.

Here's how:

Step One: Define the presentation and brainstorm things you know about the topic.

Step Two: Fill in the circles. In circles one and five, place the topic name. The middle three circles will be filled with three different words/phases/themes from your brainstorming list. Your speech will be constructed in three parts:  Introduction: Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em.

            Body of Speech: Tell ‘em

            Conclusion: Tell ‘em what you told ‘em.

Step Three: Fill in the lines at the side of the circles. On these lines, put additional words/phases to expand on the themes in the circle. To fill out the body of your speech, use personal anecdotes or stories to illustrate your themes.

Use the form below to plan your comments!