Internal Communications Guide

The world of internal comms is changing. AI can write your first draft in seconds. It can summarise a 40-page strategy document into key messages. It can generate ten versions of a headline while you make a cup of tea. This is genuinely amazing. But for all that's changing, the fundamental stuff still applies. I guess that's why it's fundamental. ✅ Curiosity. ↪️ AI can generate content, but it can't ask "what problem are we actually solving?" and have a nuanced dialogue with a stakeholder to persuade them that they DO need a clear objective. ✅ Relationships. ↪️ The comms pro who's built trust with leaders over years will always have more influence than the one with the best prompts. ✅ Judgement. ↪️ AI can give you ten options. A human decides which one is right for this audience, at this moment, in this culture to achieve this objective. ✅ Empathy. ↪️ Understanding how employees are actually feeling, not just what the survey data says, is a deeply human skill. ✅ Nuance. ↪️ AI doesn't know that the CEO's last town hall landed badly, or that the employees in the Dublin office are still bruised from last year's restructure. Context is everything. ✅ Gut instinct. ↪️ Sometimes you just know a message isn't going to land, even if you can't fully explain why. You can't automate intuition. AI gives us better tools. But internal comms is still about people trying to reach other people; that part isn't changing. Master the fundamentals first, tinker with the tools second. –––– 🚫 Don’t let an algorithm decide what you read; join 9,490 readers who get my weekly internal comms tips straight to their inbox. ➡️ Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/ez3_eq4c

🎧 We’ve been experimenting with something new in internal comms… and it’s working! I’m currently running a pilot for a client where we embed short voice notes from leadership into their monthly internal comms email newsletters. No scripts, no studio polish, just leaders speaking directly to their teams instead of dense blocks of text. Our initial research showed that people were feeling disconnected from leadership, siloed, and often unsure why certain strategic decisions were being made. Increasingly, it’s the why people crave, not just the what. So we gave leaders a new way to tell their own stories via short, honest voice notes explaining their decisions in their own words. The tech setup is simple: a mic, a laptop, and a willingness to hit record, and the plan is that leaders will, from now on, be passing the mic around, depending on the business's priorities and who has a good story to tell. And it’s proving to be a real winner so far. I can’t share stats (they’re obvs confidential), but the buy-in from leadership has been fantastic. What’s been fascinating is how the tone changes when leaders speak naturally. Executives who seem distant in text suddenly sound warm, human, approachable, even funny. This is a real step change for employees used to overly corporate-sounding, text-based communication. This small shift makes a big difference. Hearing someone’s real voice, the tone, warmth, humour, and imperfection, builds connection and belonging in a way no written update ever could. It’s also backed by what we’re seeing globally: • Podcasts and audio formats continue to grow as trusted sources of information. Employees retain up to 15% more from what they hear than what they read (Edison Research). • 73% of employees say they’d rather listen to a company update than attend a meeting (uStudio). No surprises there! • And as inbox fatigue deepens, voice is cutting through where text can’t. It feels more honest, human, and memorable. Leaders in this pilot are discovering that speaking directly, not perfectly, brings a kind of authenticity that can’t be faked. It’s helping a large organisation sound smaller, warmer, and more connected. It’s early days, but it feels like the start of something important: using email not just to inform, but to connect. Has anyone else been experimenting with voice in internal comms? I’d love to hear what you’re seeing. #internalcommunications #employeeexperience #leadershipcommunications #audiocomms #digitalworkplace

Communication isn't what you say. It's what everyone hears. And not just what they hear passively. But what action your words inspire in them. If you're leading a team, remember: • 90% of your team didn't hear you the first time • 50% didn't hear you the third time • 10% never will Clear communication requires repetition. When you're sick of saying it, they start to hear it. Here's the pattern the best communicators follow: 1. Create Systems Don't rely on one-off conversations. Build processes that reinforce the message consistently. Different formats for different learners. 2. Embrace Repetition Clarity requires persistence, not perfection. Say it again. Then say it differently. Then say it again. 3. Verify Understanding Check what was heard, not what was said. Ask: "What did you take away from that?" Create feedback loops that close the gap. Here's how the world's best leaders put these patterns into practice: Satya Nadella's "Model-Coach-Care" ↳ Shows the way personally first ↳ Coaches others through the change ↳ Demonstrates genuine care for outcomes "Don't be a Know-It-All. Be a Learn-It-All." Ray Dalio's "Radical Transparency" ↳ Records every meeting at Bridgewater ↳ Makes them available to all employees ↳ Uses real-time feedback tools "Lead discussions by being assertive AND open-minded. At the same time." Andy Grove's "Disagree and Commit" ↳ Encouraged vigorous debate before decisions ↳ Required full alignment after decisions ↳ Made dissent safe, but execution non-negotiable "Let chaos reign, then rein in chaos." Steve Jobs's "Three-Story Rule" ↳ Every product launch told three stories maximum ↳ Repeated the same core message relentlessly ↳ Made complex ideas simple and memorable "Simple can be harder than complex." Reed Hastings's "Context Over Control" ↳ Netflix's culture deck shared widely for transparency ↳ Attracts the right people before they even apply ↳ Replaces rules with shared understanding "Don't tolerate brilliant jerks. The cost to teamwork is too high." The best leaders aren't the best speakers. They're the best at being understood. And they never stop until they are. 🔔 Follow Dave Kline for more leadership insights. ♻️ Share to help other leaders communicate with impact.

As geopolitical risks continue to evolve and intensify, it is essential for communication leaders to adapt and respond effectively to these challenges.   Recent geopolitical crises have underscored the importance of proactive and strategic communication. According to the AXA Future Risks Report 2024, geopolitical instability is now the second most concerning risk for experts globally, up from third place in 2023. At the same time, disinformation and misinformation on these crises, mainly led by technology, are expanding their potential consequences. This progression highlights the growing impact of geopolitical events on businesses and the need for robust communication strategies. Here are some key insights and thoughts I wanted to share:   👉 Anticipate and Listen: Setting up an infrastructure for listening and scenario planning is crucial. By strengthening our social listening and predictive capacities, we can better anticipate crisis and understand the different perspectives that exist around geopolitical issues. As one Chief Communication Officer (CCO) mentioned in the latest European Communication Monitor (ECM) report, "We need to be prepared every day to react, and at the same time, we have to be very clear about the frames in which we want to react."   👉 Consolidate and Connect: Strengthening internal discussions and nurturing a network of communication experts with diplomatic skills is vital. In a decentralized company, this helps in ensuring that our communication as a Group is sensitive to the nuances of different geopolitical contexts. As another CCO pointed out, "You also need experienced communicators in different countries who not only have a view of their country but also understand that even in a global company there is a global view that is not necessarily congruent with the view of each country.”   👉 Navigate Ambiguity: In a fragmented and polarized world, managing corporate communications means carefully choosing what to say and how to say it. This involves balancing business perspectives with stakeholder expectations and navigating the contradictions that arise from intensifying geopolitical risks.   👉 Engage Proactively: The expectations of stakeholders, including consumers and employees, are evolving. There is an increased demand for companies to take a stand on geopolitical issues. As highlighted in the ECM report, 58.6% of CCOs agree that the geopolitical context has a very concrete impact on business, and companies need to consider this evolution.   On a more specific note, the AXA Future Risks Report 2024 also reveals that 91% of experts believe insurers have a crucial role in safeguarding against emerging risks. As Chief Communications Officer, this is something I truly believe in, and I am grateful to rely on a network of very professional heads of communications, in all AXA entities, to help us spread the word, build resilience and strengthen trust during uncertain times!

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been spending some time in hospital waiting rooms once again, as my mother underwent a hip replacement operation. Sitting in one nondescript corridor the other day, I noticed a small sign with a big message for the hospital staff: “Before you speak, THINK.” T – Is it True? H – Is it Helpful? I – Is it Important? N – Is it Necessary? K – Is it Kind? It struck me how perfectly this also applies to internal communication in organisations. It’s a neat way of focusing on what really matters. Internal Comms teams are often moving fast - sharing updates, cascading decisions, announcing changes. In all that speed, it’s easy to focus on delivery rather than impact. But the THINK framework is a powerful reminder that communication isn’t just about information; it’s about responsibility. Imagine if every email message, town hall, newsletter and announcement had to pass this test: ✔ True – Are we being clear and transparent? ✔ Helpful – Does this support people in understanding what they need to know? ✔ Important – Is this worth their time and attention? ✔ Necessary – Are we reducing noise or adding to it? ✔ Kind – Are we considering the human beings on the receiving end? Good internal comms isn’t just efficient - it’s thoughtful, empathetic and purposeful. Sometimes, it’s worth taking a moment to THINK before we communicate. #InternalComms #InternalCommunications #TeamPerformance #Think

People work must transform in four ways if it wants to evolve from DEI to FAIR. On Tuesday I explored how standalone initiatives need to transform into well-measured business investments and the work needs to transform from individual to environmental. Here are the last two transformations. 🌱 3. Strategies have to transform from "preaching to the choir" to "building coalition." An unspoken assumption of legacy DEI programs is often: the work is DONE BY people who "get it," and is TARGETED at people who "don't get it." And so we get rooms full of junior workers asking "how do we build leadership buy-in?", rooms full of women saying "how do we shape mens' behavior?" and rooms full of HR leaders asking "how do we influence sales?" This work must evolve to take stock of what we know from organizing and changemaking: without a coalition of the many and a movement carried by the shared belief that everyone wins, change gets stopped in its tracks. Insurgent cliques that seek to compel change from others without their involvement are at best pitied but ignored, and at worst shut down or silenced when they start becoming a nuisance. How do we do differently? 🎯 Shift from cohorts to content — reorganizing groups based not on identity alone, but shared commitment to a cause (h/t Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow). 🎯 Build unlikely connection across typical workplace boundaries to create stronger community. 🎯 Find common ground between workers' varied experiences, from shared values to shared challenges. 🌱 4. Communications have to transform from zero-sum to win-win. Yesterday's people work sometimes felt like a game of musical chairs: a fight for limited resources, with any advantage to one group coming at the cost of every other. There's a fixed number of winners and losers. If there's any game we should play instead, it's human knot: a collaborative effort to solve problems and create shared value, where everyone wins by growing the pie. Today's work must evolve to relentlessly focus on the shared value created when we solve shared problems. It will require that we find the bravery to point at longstanding issues that disadvantage all of us — especially those already at the margins — and give everyone a role in solving those issues for the benefit of the group. But the way we talk about this work must change. 🎯 Language of fear, control, and shame has to go. Appeal to people's desire to learn, repair, and help, rather than their fear of punishment or exclusion. 🎯 Identify and communicate even unexpected benefits to majority groups. Make "everyone wins" feel real. 🎯 Share what good things are staying the same even as other things change. Assauge people's anxiety that they will lose what they have. 🎯 Celebrate success. Participation should feel intrinsically rewarding for everyone in it! Have you started seeing these transformations in your own workplace? How might you better enable them as your people work evolves?

I met a sales team that tracks 27 different metrics. But none of them matter. They measure: - Calls made - Emails sent - Meetings booked - Demos delivered - Talk-to-listen ratio - Response time - Pipeline coverage But they all miss the most important number: How often prospects share your content with others. This hit me yesterday. We analyzed our last 200 deals: Won deals: Champion shared content with 5+ stakeholders Lost deals: Champion shared with fewer than 2 people It wasn't about our: - Product demos - Discovery questions - Pricing strategy - Negotiation skills It was about whether our champion could effectively sell for us. Think about your current pipeline: Do you know how many people have seen your proposal? Do you know which slides your champion shared internally? Do you know who viewed your pricing? Most sales leaders have no idea. They're optimizing metrics that don't drive decisions. Look at your CRM right now. I bet it tracks: ✅ When YOU last emailed a prospect ❌ When THEY last shared your content ✅ How many calls YOU made ❌ How many stakeholders viewed your materials ✅ When YOU sent a proposal ❌ How much time they spent reviewing it We've built dashboards to measure everything except what actually matters. The real sales metric that predicts closed deals: Internal Sharing Velocity (ISV) How quickly and widely your champion distributes your content to other stakeholders. High ISV = Deals close Low ISV = Deals stall We completely rebuilt our sales process around this insight: - Redesigned all content to be shareable, not just readable - Created spaces where champions could easily distribute information - Built analytics to measure exactly who engaged with what - Trained reps to optimize for sharing, not for responses Result? Win rates up 35%. Sales cycles shortened by 42%. Forecasting accuracy improved by 60%. Stop obsessing over your activity metrics. Start measuring how effectively your champions sell for you. If your CRM can't tell you how often your content is shared internally, you're operating in the dark. And that's why your forecasts are always wrong. Your move.

The internal sale is harder than the external sale. Nobody talks about this. You spend weeks working a deal. Discovery is tight. Demo crushed. Champion is bought in. Procurement is ready to sign. And then your own company kills it. I've seen it happen over and over. Your internal stakeholders have completely different KPIs than you do. You get paid on closed revenue. Operations gets penalized on churn. Finance wants conservative forecasts. Implementation doesn't want to be overloaded. So when you bring them a big deal, they're not excited. They're terrified. They're thinking about what happens if this account churns in 90 days. They're thinking about the last rep who oversold and made their life hell. They're thinking about their own performance review. And suddenly you're not just selling the prospect. You're selling your own team. I learned this the hard way at Cintas. We started crushing it in Portland. Selling more accounts than ever before. And naturally, with more accounts, we had some churn. It's just math. Operations came at us. "You guys are selling bad business." So I asked them to show me the examples. They gave me five accounts that churned. I said cool. How many accounts have we sold this year? They pulled the number. I said so those five accounts represent what percentage of our total new business? They did the math. Four percent. I said so we retained 96% of our business. Is that good or bad? They backed off. But here's the thing. I had to proactively manage that relationship. I had to justify our results with data. I had to walk them through our process so they trusted us. Most reps don't do that. They just fight with their internal teams and wonder why deals get stuck. The best salespeople I know treat internal stakeholders like prospects. They understand their KPIs. They address their concerns before they become objections. They build trust over time so approvals move faster. The external sale gets you to the finish line. The internal sale gets you across it. — Watch me spit 40 years of sales game, for free, go here: https://lnkd.in/g3CP4v2q

Communication is not about saying what we think. Communication is about ensuring others hear what we mean. Internal communications is about making employees feel good, engaged, informed, & connected. 🚙 It’s the engine behind culture, alignment, & business success. 🔗 It’s the bond that holds the teams together. 🩵 It’s about influence, not control. 📘 It turns corporate strategy into something real for the people. 💪 Internal communications is imperative. However, if everything is hyped to the max, then what is truly important? If all things are A+#1, then which one is truly first among equals? Thanks to technology, we can reach pretty much all employees all the time with everything that ever needs to be communicated. ❌ Just because we can doesn’t mean we should. ✔ We should limit broadcasting & embrace narrowcasting. Segment messages based on employee roles & locations. Defining clear segments & working groups for communication allows you to quickly send a message to the right individuals at any time. ✔ Make communication asynchronous. One example would be a post made on an employee App that others can respond to at any time. Asynchronous communication can be particularly effective for remote teams & those working across multiple time zones or languages (‘inline translations’ is a must). ✔ Move from broadcasting to conversation (interactive channels, Q&As, polls, surveys, feedback loops). ✔ Include your frontline workers. They hardly complain about too much communication. They miss it & too often miss out. ✔ Put in meaningful efforts to truly understand what your employees want. There is no bottom-up communication fatigue … as long as people don’t feel that their voices fall on deaf ears. ✔ Adopt an internal communications platform to connect with your employees at the right time, with the right information, & where they want to receive it. A platform that allows employees to opt in or out of certain information & updates.  ➡️ What has worked for you to reduce internal comms fatigue? Share your tips 👇👇👇 🍯

You may not be forecasting incorrectly, you’re just watching the wrong metric. We dug into thousands of Sales Rooms in trumpet to see a key metric that actually predicts if a deal closes. It wasn’t meetings. Wasn’t replies. Wasn’t even time in stage. It was this: How often your champion shares your trumpet Pod internally. Here’s what the data showed: - Pods shared 1-2 times internally hit roughly a 52% win rate. That’s about 1.8x better than deals that never get shared. - When a Pod is shared 3-7 times, win rates jump to around 72%. Roughly 2.5x uplift. - Combine internal sharing with high stakeholder engagement and close rates pass 75%. Why? Because internal sharing is real multi-threading. Every forward usually means: - Consensus building - Internal advocacy - Decision-makers getting looped in - Blockers surfacing early, when you can still do something about them You can’t force a buyer to share your Pod. But you can make it a no-brainer: - Build it for them, not you. Make sure it has pricing, FAQs, social proof, clear next steps - Pre-empt legal / IT / finance with sections just for them - Stop asking “Can you share this internally?” - Start asking “Would it help if I added something for your [legal/finance/IT] team?” Watch who your champion is and check their intent signals. It's one of the best you have.