What's the key to great communications — and where do podcasts fit in?

Consulting Guru, Chell Smith, talks leadership, communication and podcasts.

Want to know how to communicate effectively with any group of any size? Meet Consulting guru, Chell Smith! Chell has grown successful global Consulting businesses at EY, Capgemini and Cognizant. 

I sat down with Chell to talk about how to get your message heard across both internal and external communications — and where podcasts fit in. Read on for the nine key takeaways from our interview.

1. The only problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred! 

As a consultant, communication is all that you do. You’re helping to transfer your experience, your insight and your knowledge to your clients. What I’ve learned is that the challenges of communication are always the same, whether you’re speaking one-to-one or one-to-many. The first thing to understand is that no one can absorb a complex message in one hearing. It takes many iterations. Repeatedly introducing the challenge and introducing the concepts. There’s a reason you see adverts over and over again. Once you understand that, it changes the whole game. 

The challenge for any leader is to communicate a message multiple times without being perceived as repetitive or harping. And to do that requires a combination of varying the language and varying the medium. 

 2. Be crisp, clear and concise 

Whether you're doing a consulting engagement, talking to your team or trying to sell to a new client, you need a crisp, clear way to articulate the issue you want to address. It takes work to get below the surface and find the essence of what you want to say, but the more succinct you can be, the more likely you are to get your message across.

This is vital at the CEO, senior executive level, because here you’re dealing with people who have a lot on their plate and not a lot of patience. But over the years I’ve found that it’s true whoever you’re talking to in an organisation. The difference is that below senior executive level you have the opportunity to be a little more social and a little more engaging in the way that you deliver the information.  

3. Stay authentic 

In any communication, in any medium, the most important element is to be authentic. To be yourself. Don't try and put on airs. People sense authenticity immediately – and they respond to it.  

If you're uncomfortable, if you're being guarded, it stops people believing what you're saying. Now they're going to question everything that you say. This is a human thing: it happens at every level. We all make that judgment.  

Take it to the world of politics. A few years ago, Mitt Romney was running against Barack Obama. You didn't need to agree with everything Barack Obama said to understand that he was being authentic, that this is what he really felt. Whereas Mitt Romney was hamstrung by a Republican platform that he didn’t believe and hadn’t acted on.

You could see that it wasn't authentic for him. I think that was a huge reason why he wasn't successful.

4. Know when to stay neutral... 

Leaders introduce change. But neuroscience teaches us that every change is threatening to people. It can be threatening in many different ways and in many different dimensions. As uncomfortable as people may be in their current situation, change is still threatening. There's just no way around it.  

So, when you are instigating change you have to articulate the current situation and the reason for the shift. But it’s critical that you do that without letting judgement – or the perception of judgment – creep into your voice. When people feel judged, they feel guilt. That prevents them from hearing or absorbing what you’re saying.  

The answer - when you’re describing the current situation and building the case for change - is just to state the facts. Keep the information factual and keep your voice neutral. Then people can hear you.  

This takes practice. When I’m preparing for this type of communication I’ll sit down and sketch my core message out on paper. But – as judgment is all in the perception of the listener – I’ll always run it by other people. I try and find four or five people that have very different perspectives, get their feedback and adjust.   

5. ...when to use emotion... 

Where you have the opportunity to bring emotion into a communication about change is when you start talking about the what's in it for me, for your audience. Why should they care about this? What does this mean to them? What are the opportunities that this opens up? 

6. ...and when to use humour 

Knowing when to use emotion feeds into another point, which is the importance of connecting with your audience. When people feel at ease, they’re able to listen.  

I try and connect with people through some kind of humour. I’ll say something about the situation we're in and it will often be self-deprecating. I want to show that I’m open and vulnerable.  

7. Ask questions 

People want to be listened to.  So I always make it clear that I really am here to listen, not just to talk. 

There are a lot of ways to do that. One I'm pretty fond of is starting with the question and asking for feedback from the audience. So, today we want to talk about cost of sales. You guys have been in this company a long time, give me some perspectives. What do you see around cost of sales? Is it an issue? Do you think you are best in class?  Open it up and solicit feedback.  

8. Use every communication tool you have 

People learn differently. People have different styles, some are more visual, some are more aural, some like to read. So, use all the tools at your fingertips. Meet with people in person; combine white papers and strategy documents with calls; webcasts; video; podcasting.  

“It was clear that we needed something more concise for people to wrap their heads around. That was when we settled on podcasts. ”

— Chell Smith

I've had really good luck with podcasting. What I like about the medium in particular is that people can listen to podcasts anywhere. They can be on the way home or out on a run. That accessibility is huge. And I’ve found that with a short podcast – 10 minutes – people will both listen and re-listen. So, you can give your audience bite-sized chunks of information that are relevant to them and you can meet them where they are.  

9. Make it a conversation 

When you can make communication conversational, it’s much easier to listen to and to absorb. This is another space in which podcasts play to an advantage.  

At Cognizant we had a new concept we were bringing to market about how organisations needed to operate in the face of rapid technological change. It was an approach that we knew would challenge organisational norms: crossing fiefdoms, challenging people’s territory and turf and responsibilities – all of those things that aren’t easy to challenge. 

So, after sourcing feedback, we started communicating. We did a series of white papers. We did internal sessions. We did webcasts with clients to introduce them. It still didn't feel like we were getting though the full uptick, particularly internally. It was clear that we needed something more concise for people to wrap their heads around. That was when we settled on podcasts. 

We started with an introductory episode that introduced the concepts and the research. Then we did a series of industry-based podcasts. If you're in Insurance, listen to this one. If  you're in Life Sciences, listen to this one. That allowed people to select what mattered to them, while absorbing more detail and more context.

The thing that I got the best feedback from was the fact that we did these as a Q&A. I was the moderator, interviewing the people driving the concept. So, the podcasts had the authenticity of being a conversation – which meant we got our message heard.  

Want to learn more? At Message Heard, we make podcasts that help your brand reach new audiences. Find out how we can help you by getting in touch.

Branded Podcasts: 3 Ways To Harness The Power of Pods

In our last two articles, we explored the power of podcasting and the most common mistakes companies make. Today, we lay out the three key ways organisations can utilise podcasts: brand and audience building, targeted sales, internal engagement.  

If you’re on the go, listen to an audio version of the article here:

Whoever you’re looking to engage, podcasts offer an answer. It’s a versatile medium with innate qualities which can be easily adapted to fulfill different organisational goals.

Podcasts create space for storytelling - which lends itself perfectly to achieving marketing objectives around brand and audience building. Remember: they are a property for you to build on.

Podcasts can also be used in a more targeted way: snackable (i.e. short) podcasts make a persuasive sales tool, perfect for bringing exclusive thought-leadership to the ears of those hard to reach budget-holders.

And, increasingly, large or highly distributed organisations are using podcasting to revitalise corporate communications - allowing them to engage with their employees in a direct, personal way.

Building Brand and Audience

Producing your own podcast is an unparalleled opportunity for long-term audience development and brand building. As we explored in the previous articles, more and more big name brands, from across industries, have adopted this tool: McDonalds, Dell, Tinder, General Electric, eBay, LinkedIn, the list goes on.

And it’s not hard to see why - the 2019 Infinite Dial Report showed 70% of listeners don’t do any other activity whilst listening to a podcast. That undivided attention is hard to come by in our distracted world.

As a medium, audio also offers a personal connection between the narrator and the audience - and a direct line to people who have proactively engaged with the content. As Niharika Shah, head of brand marketing and advertising at Prudential put it, “Podcasts are a marketer’s dream when it comes to getting people’s undivided attention… It lends itself well to storytelling, and consumer adoption has been at high levels.” By adopting an advertorial style and working with professional journalists and producers, brands are able to create the personal, emotive style of content that has been proven to hook listeners.

Fast Company even called branded podcasts “the ads people want to listen too”. When you create the content rather than just sponsor it, you become the convener of the conversations happening around your business and in your industry. Listeners have also reported enjoying the absence of ad breaks in branded content which brought a particularly immersive listening experience.

Targeting High Value Sales

In B2B industries the challenge is getting the right people - the budget-holders and decision-makers - to engage with your ideas. These are traditionally some of the hardest people to reach, but podcasting offers an alternative avenue to traditional marketing materials such as white papers and webinars. According to Adobe's vice-president of experience marketing, the podcast version of their white papers receive 6 x the number of downloads compared to the PDF - and cost 10-15% of one of their videos.

At Message Heard, we’ve worked with companies to create podcasts intended to be listened to by only 20 people - the right 20 people - getting the right ideas into the right ears and thus driving high-value sales.

And remember, podcasts reach busy people, who are on the go, in a way that video and written content can’t: 64% of podcast consumers listen in their car, 49% whilst walking, 37% whilst at work and 37% on public transport. Audio consumption fits easily in our modern lives, rather than adding another thing to the to-do list.

Building Internal Engagement

Podcasts are also a promising new tool for companies looking to create a strong culture and reinvigorate their internal communications. According to the Wall Street Journal, one in roughly 30 companies in the S&P 500 produce a podcast that targets either their employees or external audiences, or a combination of the two.

“The facts told us every time we sent an email or a newsletter, no matter how wacky… our colleagues didn’t look at them...”, our client at a global tech services firm told us. “One of our objectives [for our podcasts] was around creating conversations that our colleagues can feel they are part of rather than just being talked at.”

So, what was the feedback from their series, you might be wondering? “A lot of people feel like they are part of the conversation. And when we’ve gone and asked if this is a medium that enriches our communication, the overwhelming response has been yes.”

This is the final instalment of our blog series looking at the power of podcasts for brands and business. You can read parts one and two here.

If you have any questions or are looking for production help please reach out to jake@message-heard.com.

The Most Common Branded Podcast Mistakes

If you’re on the go, listen to an audio version of the article here:

Branded podcast are powerful but people are getting it wrong. Here’s how.

So, you want to make a podcast? That’s great. All you need is a microphone, an echoey meeting room and a wannabe host with a motor-mouth.

Well, not quite….

I’ll rephrase the question - do you want to make podcasts that enhance your brand?

There is a reason why some of the most successful branded podcasts we spoke about last week - like McDonald’s, General Electric, eBay and Tinder - worked with professional production houses who have their own editorial podcasting credentials. It’s because, put plainly, podcasting is not as easy as it sounds.

The key symptoms of a brand that has indulged in brand-damaging audio are:

1. You don’t have a strategy or even a good reason to have a podcast;

2. There’s no story arc, and often no story at all;

3. It just sounds bad - tinny audio, grating voices, over-the-top production or no production whatsoever...

Any single one of these issues can be brand-damaging and, together, they’re an embarrassment. So, what should you do differently? Let’s break down the issues.

1. You haven’t got a strategy or even a good reason to have a podcast

In order to be successful, your podcast needs to be considered within the context of their wider marketing and communication strategy, not as a random, standalone item (or because someone important fancies having one).

Podcasts have unique qualities - it is an intimate medium, which lends itself to sustained relationships with the audience. It also reaches audiences where they can increasingly be found - on the go, and on their phones.

Establishing how, and why, to deploy these characteristics is the first step to creating a successful audio marketing strategy. One of our clients told us that they turned to podcasts when their data began to show their employees were no longer engaging with emails and newsletters; “It makes us think harder about how we synthesise what we want to say as we can’t hide behind powerpoint slides or videos.” (Global Tech Services Firm).

Three key Qs to ask yourself:

1. Why do you need another communication tool?

2. What do you want to achieve by having a podcast?

3. How can you own the conversation better than anyone else?

2. There’s no story arc, and often, no story at all

Before you begin, you need to work out what you are trying to say. Podcasts offer you so many different formats and styles by which to tell your story, it’s important to find one that matches the strategy behind your show.

The U.S. supermarket Trader Joe’s - a company which famously avoids traditional marketing and advertising - reveal the hidden stories behind their brand. In a light-hearted, personable manner, they detail how they source food from around the world and the lengths they go to check the quality of their produce. Alternatively, The Home Depot podcast targets their own employees; profiling execs who started out on the shop floor to showcase their “special sauce” - their culture.

With a clear story arc, your podcast can take ownership of stories and bring your listeners, whether internal or external, on a journey with you. Moreover, having a thorough and thoughtful approach will stop you from putting people behind the mic just to keep them happy.

Three key Qs to ask yourself:  

1. What stories do you want to tell?

2. What format would you like them to be in (i.e. in studio, on location, a mixture)?

3. How would you like your episodes to sound? (i.e. business professional, vibrant and young, etc)

3. It sounds bad

Sound quality is vital for engaging audiences. It’s not only important to use the best equipment, but you also need to work with producers who have a professional understanding of recording, editing, mixing and mastering. Having a mic - or even your own studio - is not enough.

Then there are all the other audible elements to consider that help bring your stories to life such as sound beds and scoring, archive clips, and jingles.

To help you hear what good sounds like, check out this side by side comparison.

Now - perhaps the most controversial of all, is selecting the right voices for your podcast. There are sensitive factors that shape how the voices of any podcast get chosen, but you can’t let factors such as internal politics and the fragile egos of key stakeholders compromise the quality.

And remember, shows don’t have to be two talking heads. Some of the most successful podcasts uses voices from outside the brand - demonstrating the brands’ convening power by bringing together different perspectives.

Three key Qs to ask yourself:  

1. Do you have the right equipment, acoustics and know-how to record great audio?

2. What tone do you want your podcast to have?

3. Do you have the right voices for your show?

Next week, In our final instalment of this article series, we will explore three different forms of engagement that podcasting can drive, and how your customers can harness the power of pods.

If you have any questions or are looking for production help please reach out to jake@message-heard.com.

We’re also holding an event to help you develop your ideas. If you’re London based, please come along.

Pods are Powerful: Why Your Company Needs a Branded Podcasts

If you’re on the go, listen to an audio version of the article here:

In our oversubscribed, over-saturated, on-demand world, getting peoples’ attention has never been more challenging.

As the cut through of written content has declined, brands have increasingly turned to video. Video is great, however it is limited in scope, reach and can prove to be quite costly. For these reasons - and others we will explore - we’re seeing more brands embrace podcasts. And, thanks in part to the wider podcasting boom, there is a growing listening audience ready and waiting to embrace their content.

Increasingly, brands are recognising the value of professionally produced, editorial-style podcasts - using them as effective marketing mechanisms to enrich their brand and build their audiences, sophisticated sales tools for high value customers, or as beguiling instruments for employee engagement.

Since 2016, market giants such as eBay, Mastercard, McDonalds, MailChimp, General Electric and Netflix have all invested in producing their own podcasts. They have grown significant listenership, and reached the top of the podcast charts by blurring the lines between editorial and advertorial. Dell Technologies podcast, Trailblazers with Walter Isaacson, reached 1 million downloads in six months, with 50,000 subscribers awaiting new episodes.

Why branded podcasts work

In our engagement economy, it’s not hard to see why brands are turning to podcasts. 80% of all podcast episodes are listened to in their entirety, which is arguably the best consumption rate of any digital medium.

Additionally, research from Acast shows 76% of UK listeners have followed up on an ad or sponsor’s message that they heard on a podcast. These extraordinary rates of engagement speak to the intimate quality of audio content - where you have an unprecedented opportunity to speak directly and personally to an attentive, curious audience.

With 18.7% of young adults listening to podcasts on a weekly basis, there is also a unique opportunity for brands to tap into the cultural zeitgeist. The most successful shows aren’t vintage content marketing repackaged as an MP3 - they are editorial, human-centered stories that give intimate insight into your brand. As the Senior Vice President of Corporate Relations at McDonald’s put it “If you want to be a beloved brand, you need to start with what people love.”

Put simply, podcasting is a golden opportunity for brands to convene and take ownership of the most interesting stories and conversations happening in their industry.

McDonald’s cashed in on a pop culture phenomenon, fuelling the cult following of their discontinued Szechuan sauce - all told through true-crime style reporting. eBay told stories that appealed to small businesses, and in so doing made this target audience aware of a whole range of business tools that they offered. Meanwhile, General Electric went completely off-piste and made a fictional science-fiction podcast which happens to be one of the most successful branded podcasts ever, with more than 8 million downloads since its release.

The impact of podcasts for ‘I Can Be’

By adopting a conversational style, cutting out corporate-speak and opting for content that starts conversations rather than push-sells in an overt manner, you can get your message across to a targeted audience which is ready and willing to listen.

At Message Heard, we’ve worked with clients to deliver advertorial content for brands like Jungle Creations and I Can Be, an educational charity. Lamorna Byford, Project Director at I Can Be, shares the value of podcasts as a marketing tool: ‘The podcast brings to life the ethos of I Can Be in that it shows the energy and enthusiasm that each of our sessions have. It can be hard to communicate that in a photo or an email.

This is the first of a three part series on The Power of Pods. Keep an eye out for our next post about the most common audio content mistakes that companies make (other than not having a podcast at all!) - and three different forms of engagement that podcasting can drive.

If you’re interested in learning more we are also hosting an event in London, sign up here.