Download strategic communication - Inter-American Division Media Productions

STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
PROMOTING YOUR FAITH IN GOOD
FAITH
Presented by L B Wellington
Communication Director – Inter American Division.
Adapted from Article by Donn James Tilson
Speaking Faith p. 83
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 As a faith group, Seventh day
Adventists have information we
want to communicate to various
audiences.
 These audiences include :1.
2.
3.
4.
Its own active members
Those on the inactive list
Those of other Faith communities
Those in the general communities
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION


The Church will sometimes use local
media as its preferred method.
With that information the church
may seek to persuade:-1.
2.
3.
A given audience to change an attitude
or behavior
Its active members to grow in their
faith and stewardship
Its inactive members to become more
involved
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 The Church seeks to provide answers
about itself, its belief and practices, its
activities, or questions from those who
are not of its persuasion.
 Strategic Communication establishes
and maintains quality relations
between the Church and its publics,
which can either be relational or
promotional.
 The desire to be both relational and
promotional need not be mutually
exclusive. One may in fact enhance the
other.
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION –
PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Religion and Public Relations
have a long history - Virginia
Randall
 Public Relations as a
communication discipline, is the
work of telling an organization’s
story to different publics in order
to foster understanding and
goodwill.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 There are different types of
Public Relations – including : Community relations,
 Media relations,
 Special events,
 Crisis communication and
 Employee communication.
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION –
PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Public Relations can be quite
intentional, but also unintentional.
 The appearance of your buildings – it
tell a story – good or bad, about your
faith/congregation.
 One difficulty with Public Relations is
the lack of control over how your
story gets covered, or if it gets covered
at all.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 Four Ways to Shape and
Maintain Your Church’s
Reputation in the Community:
1. Research and Planning
2. Action
3. Communication
4. Evaluation
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 RESEARCH AND PLANNING
 If we liken the process to a trip,
then the first thing we must
determine is:
1. Where we are now/starting
point.
2. What will we do or say to get
from here to our destination.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION

Answers to the following questions
should help not only to clarify
“purpose,” but provide the basis for
a mission statement.
1. What is our organization’s reason
for being?
2. What public/publics does our
organization serve?
3. What distinctive services does/can
our organization provide the
community?
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION

Once your mission is clear, continue
research with a communications
audit which helps you discover how
you communicate with others, and
how others communicate with you.
 You should determine the following:
1. What does people in your service
area know about your Church?
2. How did they find out what they
know?
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
1. What do your members know and
think about themselves?
2. What do you want people to know
about your Church?
3. How do people you want to influence
receive information?
To get this information you will have to
gather information from sources
inside your organization, and from
your communities.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 ACTION
 The old saying “Action speak louder
than words” is true.
 If your actions contradict your words,
you loose credibility, and the ability to
be effective examples of your faith.
 In continuing the trip analogy; both
members and leaders must be going in
the same direction on the same road.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 COMMUNICATION
 Christians usually call this step of the
process “witnessing.”
 Communication lets people in your
target audiences know what your faith
group is doing as distinct from others.
 This step should address; what
messages will be sent; by what means;
to what audiences before, during and
after an event.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION

In planning religious activities, we
should not concentrate solely on
advance publicity.


1.
2.
EVALUATION
Evaluate your work. Were you :
Within your time frame?
Your Budget?
EVALUATION
 An overall evaluation will
answer? How well did you
implement the plan? What
results did your plan generate?
How did your effort influence
your target audience?
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 MEDIA RELATIONS
 In order to increase coverage about your
faith community, develop personal
relationships with media staff that cover
religious activities.
 You may become the “expert” the reporter
turns to for particular faith-based issues.
 Help leaders in your organization
understand how to handle questions from
the media in an interview.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 Remember media people are different
(as we all are).
 Some are more inclined to publish
news about mosque, synagogue,
temple, or church activities. Others
are more interested in religious issues
that span many faith groups.
 Know the editor—the person who
decides how much space a given story
is worth if any.
 Know someone you can contact if the
religion writer is out.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 People are motivated by selfinterest. News people have space
and broadcast time to fill; they
need an unending flow of
material.
 Learn how to help them see the
value in what you have to offer in
relation to other things
competing for their attention.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 Newspapers, for example, use news
stories, but also letters to the editor,
editorials, Sunday supplements, and
special-interest sections.
 Broadcast media have news programs,
talk shows, call-in programs,
community bulletin boards, and other
programs.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 News is what journalists of a
particular publication or station
consider as timely, interesting,
and important. Around news
offices, the saying is, “News is
what the editor says it is.”
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 Many secular media persons recoil from
contact by religious organization, not
because they are anti-religious, but because
they have been badgered and manipulated
by religious representatives who did not try
to:
–
–
–
–
learn their preferences,
treat them respectfully,
deal honestly with them,
produce competently prepared news releases, fact
sheets or press kits,
– practice the key to good media relations—
helpfulness.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 News media do not exist to do
publicity for you—no matter how
important it is to you to make
your information available to the
public.
 News media exist to report news.
If the news publicizes your event
as a side effect, that is okay.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 Discover the varying meanings of
news in your locale. News for one
type of medium may not be news to
others. A weekly newspaper may put
your article on page one, that a
metropolitan daily would omit.
 Television and radio have different
standards. Significance and interest
varies between size, type, scope,
format, audience, and location of the
medium.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 You may be as open and prolific with
your news as you wish, but if you feel
the need to face every issue with too
much information or a ready news
release, your media relations will
become laughable and perish from
overexposure.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 Editors will admit that mail from
certain organizations end up in
the trash because the sources
have long since outworn their
welcome with a series of trivial
news releases.
 That includes overuse of news
conferences.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 News conferences sound like a
glamorous way to do business,
but too many of them not only
waste time, but can make you
sound like the “boy who cried
wolf” if you call conferences
indiscriminately.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 Once you have placed
information with a member of
the media, do not call
immediately unless you have a
legitimate reason to add
information or clarify an item. If
in doubt, do not call.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 Follow up phone calls to see if busy
reporters have received material or
will run your story will soon wear out
your welcome.
 Avoid embarrassing reporters or
chipping away at their credibility, but
do not be afraid to tell them in a
diplomatic way about serious errors—
not minor ones.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 Send thank you letters with
copies to supervisors.
 If you must point our errors, it is
best to talk to the reporter,
rather than putting it in print.
 Good media and human relations
must go on after a given incident
has faded away
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 Seizing the moment is a principle
to use any time the moment is
right to generate news before an
opportunity evaporates, but it
has a special significance to
religion communicators.
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 The secular news media’s
purpose is not to communicate
your messages or beliefs, so do
not thrust it upon them. But,
occasionally, there are moments
when the content of your message
intersects with their idea of
“news.”
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
 THANKS FOR YOUR
ATTENTION
– THE END
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION