April 3, 2014

Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting Brilliant Ink’s Employee Experience research to a group of 70 internal communications and HR professionals at The Business Development Institute’s Internal Communications and Leadership Forum. The forum included presentations from several industry leaders and a lively panel discussion on the convergence of internal communications and social technologies.

March 21, 2014

Social media- you love it, hate it, obsess over it, or could care less about it. Either way, it continues to rapidly change and become increasingly embedded in most media we consume.

February 26, 2014

Earlier this week, I heard a story on NPR about “The Holstee Manifesto.” Apparently, this short but meaningful collection of motivational statements adorns the walls of dozens of tech companies and startups, from Google and AirBnb to Zappos and TED.

February 4, 2014

I've been doing a lot of interviewing lately for everything from corporate profiles, to newsletter success stories, to customer-facing web pages. While picking up the phone to quiz a complete stranger can still be daunting, over the years I've developed a few habits and tips that will (usually) make the process go smoothly and ensure that I get better quotes than the canned and approved business-speak that you sometimes hear in corporate settings Attitude is everything.

January 28, 2014

This past week I attended The Advanced Learning Institute’s Strategic Internal Communications Conference in sunny San Francisco. I loved talking shop with a bunch of new people and chatting about what we’re working on and challenges we face in our roles.

December 17, 2013

I was on jury duty last week. Apart from it being an interesting experience as a new citizen, it was a great lesson in the importance of how we choose to communicate and which stories we choose to tell.

November 18, 2013

Ok, so doing these seven things will result in some pretty poor employee experiences, but do some of these ring true with communication you've seen or maybe even written? Use language such as: the best, earth-shattering, life-changing in every email Write rambling sentences that don't convey messages Be uninspiring Never share the company strategy, corporate or financial issues Don't connect the dots between employee work and company strategy Have managers communicate only when they are giving bad news Discourage employees from participating in social media We've found in The Employee Experience Survey that employees need and value clear communications about what their companies are doing and the decisions that are being made, all of which strengthens their feelings of engagement.

October 15, 2013

Ricky Gervais may not be the first person you'd think of to glean valuable advice about how to communicate authentically. But a recent video interview with the comedian courtesy of Fast Company highlights some valuable lessons on how to write and communicate in meaningful ways.

October 1, 2013

Communication is one of those business areas that gets a lot of attention often after-the-fact of a disaster with comparatively little forward-momentum. Here are 5 changes that you can quickly and easily execute on.