Nic Banda, Author at MossWarner

What Kind of “Landing” Does Your Landing Page Provide?

Posted on November 18, 2024June 12, 2025 by Nic Banda

After laboring endlessly over your website design, spending countless hours carefully understanding your customer persona and carefully selecting keywords that will drive SEO to alert your target that you exist — the moment of truth arrives. A viewer, who you hope will become a prospect, clicks on your link and arrives on your landing page. What kind of experience they have in the first 5 – 15 seconds will likely determine whether they ever go any further.

“What?!? All that work will be judged in 15 seconds? That’s all the time I get to tell my story?!?”

Yes. But guess what, this is not new. As business people we have always had an incredibly narrow window to make a first impression with a prospective customer of client. Many experts say that a potential employer (or customer) forms an initial impression of a candidate within the first ten seconds of seeing them. Sometimes before the person even opens their mouth. And those first impressions are only altered in a remarkably small percentage of instances.

“So what’s all that got to do with my landing page and website design?”

Your landing page is the digital equivalent of that first impression. Assuming you get past the initial visual inspection, you still have a very short while to engage the prospect with a clear understanding of your business proposition and what it will do to make them more successful. In the analog world this is called your “elevator pitch”. The idea is to write a script in your head that you could deliver in a five story elevator ride — one that would leave a stranger with a clear idea of who you are, what you do and why it might be beneficial to them.

One exercise used to create the elevator pitch is to write down your story on a 3×5 index card. And only one thought or bridge phrase per line on the card — NO CHEATING. (OK, you might have to go to the office supply store to buy index cards — you probably don’t use them any more. But it will be a dollar well-spent.)

Still interested in knowing what all that has to do with your landing page? Check out this article from Target Internet to find out.

Read the article: Online Digital Marketing Courses »

How to Engage Your Employees in Embracing Change…Meet People Where They Are

Posted on November 18, 2024June 9, 2025 by Nic Banda

These are times of profound change for employees everywhere. With new work paradigms like remote and hybrid work to the emergence of AI and gig employment, they’re grappling with more unsettling work issues than ever.

One thing is certain about organizational change: it is inevitable. It may come at you externally as something disrupts your market or upends the assumptions you hold. Or it may come not at you, but from you, as you devise your strategies for growth in an evolving business landscape. Whatever the circumstance, you have a real communication challenge ahead of you. Organizational change is rarely successful unless everyone is on board with it – receptive to change and willing to embrace it.

There’s no shortage of advice on this subject, and most of it is consistent across the board.

Be sensitive to peoples’ emotions
Be honest, authentic and accessible
Begin by explaining the reason for the change
Make sure the right communication takes place at all levels:
The broad explanation and vision should come directly from top leadership
Discussion of direct impacts and required tasks should come from each employee’s immediate supervisor
There should be peer ambassadors at different levels to advocate for the change

Having often helped large organizations conduct successful change management communications, we’ve seen how these guidelines, properly used, can help make transitions work successfully. We’ve worked with Corporate Communications, HR and change management specialists to tick off the finer points of execution, like making sure to take their organizations’ cultures and extended networks of relationships into account.

When change occurs, everyone is somewhere on the Change Curve.

As a basis for our approach, we lean toward a popular tool called the Change Curve. Adapted in different ways over time from a platform originally developed by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the Change Curve is often a good starting point for planning to successful change management communications.

This is particularly true when the change is negative, but even positive change can affect some employees negatively. For example, when new processes are implemented, they require moving out of comfort zones and changing habits developed over many years. And when a merger or acquisition occurs, some duplicated jobs are eliminated. The resulting stress is not limited to those who are let go; it can be stressful for the survivors, who may be losing work friends, may be unsure of their roles going forward, and may even be alarmed to glimpse the reality of employment “mortality”.

The model we use most often charts motivation and performance against time, which is broken down into three stages: Endings, Transitions and New Beginnings.

Keys to Engagement — This variation of the Kubler-Ross Change Curve charts the phases of emotional state and action against time, in three stages. The legend suggests the goal of change communication at each stage. As the chart suggests, it is usually a linear process, and communication should be aligned with the audience’s receptivity as defined by the stage it’s in. Trying to push a step prematurely diminishes the likelihood of success.

When you meet people where they are, you can take them where they need to be.

What does great Change Communications look like? There’s no one formula, but we can say that it looks empathetic and personal. In a word, it looks human.

It also looks well-placed to be well-received. It comes from a place where people’s concerns are known, and their voices heard. It recognizes and addresses incorrect and incomplete information, rumors, and conjectures.

But for all the ways Change Communication is always the same, it is different in every case. Corporate cultures are different. Past histories are different. And whatever the change is, it is unique to each company.

To demonstrate, here are three examples from our own experience over the last twenty years.

Example of Stage 1 – Endings: The Empty Rows

A global manufacturer’s national sales meeting of about 300 hundred employees was taking place right after a reorganization. Recognizing the pervasive unease, the VP of Sales decided to forego the usual “pump ‘em up” opening. Instead, he arranged for the first two rows of chairs to be left empty, and he walked on the stage without the fanfare that would typically open a sales meeting.

He opened by telling the group that he understood how they felt. Sad. Uncertain. Scared. He talked with open, heartfelt sorrow about the leadership team’s distress over having to let good people go, and outlined what they had done to help those folks. (This happens to be a great company that takes very good care of its employees, and did so in this instance.)

In short, he validated their feelings. But then he helped them move on, explaining the three stages of the Change Curve and assuring them that together, they would all reach Stages 2 and 3, and come out stronger in the end.

With that, he asked everyone in the room to advance one row, representing the first step – the Transition Stage. The front row remained open, representing the promise of Stage 3 – New Beginnings. And at that moment, everyone in the room was moved and motivated to learn what’s next and what their respective roles would be.

Example of Stage 2 – Transitions: The Affirmation of Purpose

In this instance, the company, a global services firm, had suffered a highly-publicized negative incident in one particular business unit, as the result of improper actions by a few individuals. The impact was felt not just in that unit, but by all employees in all business units. They valued the company name and were horrified to see it associated with wrongdoing. Many talented employees began looking for other jobs.

The leadership team took appropriate action to address the transgressions, but recognized that such a remedial action, while necessary and positive, would not be enough to restore its employees’ belief in the company. And so it committed to a plan to address the issue head-on, with substantive procedural changes and a communication campaign that began immediately and continued through the rollout of the new processes.

Recognizing that its employees were at the early stages of the Change Curve, the campaign was built from the point of view that the company’s employees defined themselves as professionals by the benefits they provide to their customers. This priceless understanding would prove to be the key to the company’s rebound. It began with a video that gave voice to employees’ concerns, expressed as a function of their self-esteem and professional pride.

Meanwhile, the company developed a system of fail-safe processes to help prevent improper actions, whether intentional or inadvertent. This is where the disciplines of great Change Communications was critical. The temptation is always there to launch with a stern warning that the process must be followed, and that there would be zero tolerance for failure to do so.

But the launch of that control system was heralded not as a punitive or restrictive measure, but rather as a mechanism for shared assurance for all employees that nothing would get in the way of their being able to provide valuable services to their customers. It was clear that compliance was mandatory, but the presentation turned what could have been perceived as a burden born of distrust into an expression of shared noble purpose – doing the right thing for every customer. It was assurance for all that the kinds of actions that caused the trouble could never happen again.

And it never has. Employees did embrace the control system, the expanding exodus of talent was stopped in its tracks, and the company was able to move on to regain its growth track.

Example of Stage 3 – New Beginning: The Not-Totally-New Strategy

Sometimes, the most important factor in cascading change through an organization is to emphasize that the change is not so much in the company’s strategy as in the way the company talks about the strategy.

This was the case in one engagement. The company had been through a rough patch, and a new leadership team had developed a strategy that began to turn it around. Then, based on insights gained from the initial rollout period, the team decided to make a few adjustments to accelerate growth, make operations more efficient and provide a better experience for customers.

One of those adjustments was to revise the company’s communications about its strategy. The existing strategy was described in relatively granular terms. Over the course of several months, a committee of leaders worked to distill the strategy down and to express it in a much more succinct way that would be instantly clear and memorable.

The internal communications team made a conscious decision not to hype or oversell the updated strategy. Employees were getting into a productive groove, and might be unsettled by a major overhaul. A lighter touch, they concluded, would be more credible.

So the launch was what could be called, “Change Management Light”. It celebrated the existing strategy and the employees around the world who had helped make it successful, and presented the updated strategy as a refresh of its presentation – simpler, more accessible and more memorable. In particular, the refined expression of the strategy’s objective and goal helped crystallize the company’s vision and made it easier for employees to engage in it.

The Lesson: Meet people where they are, and they’ll meet you where you are.

What lessons can we glean from these stories? In all three of these cases, the leaders met their employees with empathy and respect. They actively sought to understand and acknowledge what their employees were feeling. And where some might have adopted a command-and-control approach, these leaders chose a care-and-engage approach.

DOWNLOAD: The Truth About Successful Change Management

5 Things That Screw Up Main Stage Presenters (and How to Avoid Them)

Posted on November 18, 2024June 9, 2025 by Nic Banda

Watch out for these five dangers in every main stage presentation, where unexpected disaster lurks.

For 28 years, MossWarner has supported hundreds of high-stakes presentations on main stages around the world, and have often found it’s the little things that can screw up even the most brilliant presentation.

1. The Surprise Introduction

Most presenters are so focused on their presentations before they take the stage that they tune out all other things – often including when and how they’ll be introduced. It’s not a confidence builder to start the big presentation with a look of surprise on your face.

To avoid that awkward start, get the answers to two simple questions:

Who’s introducing you?

Sometimes the “who” could be the “Voice of God” (that deep-voiced announcer over the PA system who somehow makes it to every meeting), so it’s good to not be surprised when a big booming voice summons you to the stage.

How will you be introduced?

We’ve all seen presenters arrive on the stage flummoxed by their names being butchered, their titles incorrect, or by some personally-offensive choice in music for their play-on. All of this is easily avoided if you prepare in advance.

2. The Unfamiliar Clicker

The next peril you might face appears as soon as you are (hopefully) handed the “clicker” by the previous speaker. The clicker advances your slides or pings a graphic operator backstage to advance for you. Clickers come in many shapes and sizes. The preferred ones have just one button –a bright green, oversized forward arrow; it is, after all, a slide “advancer”. Other buttons can include “Back” and “Blackout” – both generally not good for advancing through a presentation on a big stage. In our experience, it’s inevitable that a nervous presenter will find one of those two other buttons at some point during the presentation. To avoid clicking the wrong thing, keep it simple and use clickers that only do one thing – advance

3. The Dense Speaker Notes

Reading a full script word-for-word has a way of clearing the mind of everything it once knew about a topic. Instead of recalling facts and reciting anecdotes, the speaker’s mind is focused on the mechanics of reading, which can make the delivery stiff and stilted.

There is a time and place for reading a full script – usually when you’re planted at a podium with a teleprompter operator, or on a presidential panel. But if you like to pace or prowl the stage, as many presenters do, the speaker notes need to be:

Short
Concise
Prompt Points

Best practice is to edit your own prompt points into the fewest possible words needed to prompt you – and definitely not in full sentences which will force you to read. Also, ask the AV team to modify how the Notes appear on the confidence monitors. Ironically, the standard Notes view in PowerPoint does not favor the Notes (see below), but it’s easy to change the view.

Typically, there are 2 confidence monitors placed downstage and, if so, ask for the current slide to be on one (stage left typically) and an expanded Notes view on the other.

4. The Awkward Hand-off

Nothing ruins that mic drop moment like having to walk back on stage, pick the mic up, and introduce the next presenter. Before you conclude your presentation with, “Umm, I think we’re going to break now but not sure…” ask who you’ll be segueing to and how you should introduce the next item in the run of show.

5. The Inadequate Rehearsal

All the items above are things that can be easily addressed and sorted out during a short rehearsal. Maybe you’re one of those confident speakers who don’t feel they need to rehearse, but experience shows that everyone benefits from rehearsals – especially the crew supporting the presenters behind the scenes. Remember, it’s usually some technical person with no understanding of the content that has a finger on the button during your presentation.

Take whatever time you’re given to rehearse on stage, mic’d up with the clicker in hand. At least click through your slides, get your Speaker Notes view locked in, and make sure the crew knows where the media (sound, video, polls, etc.) will play during your presentation.

And remember, this time is for rehearsing how to deliver your presentation, NOT to make final tweaks. Last-minute changes lead to the potential for last-minute errors.

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Tips for Delivering a Great Business Speech

Posted on November 18, 2024June 9, 2025 by Nic Banda

Great presenters aren’t born with stage presence, they learn it. And so can you.

Everyone is different. Indeed, that’s the most important part of great speech delivery – being yourself.

For some executives, delivering a speech is second nature. They seem to relish the idea of standing in front of an audience, “playing the room” and eliciting a response. For most, however, the idea of it is more daunting than delightful. And it’s perfectly natural to think that those who make it look easy are lucky to have been born with stage presence.

But for a lot of those “naturals”, luck had nothing to do with it. They enjoy it because they’ve learned how to look like they’re enjoying it. Once you’ve mastered that, you will too.

Having coached hundreds of corporate speakers, from CEOs to Line Managers, and from multibillion dollar global

companies to ambitious start-ups, we know that everyone is different. Indeed, that’s the most important part of great speech delivery – being yourself.

But there are some universal truths about delivering speeches that can help you feel relaxed and confident – with good reason. Here are a few of those truths, distilled down to four simple tips:

1. Own the content

As a creative agency serving a wide range of major corporate clients, we view the writing and delivery of speeches and presentations holistically. But for our purposes here, we’re focusing solely on delivery, aside from the following observation:

Whether you’re developing your own script or directing others to develop it based on your input, you will ultimately own it. So at a very high level, you need to make sure that:

You believe in it, confident that every fact is true and every proposition embodies what you really feel

You believe that everyone in the audience will be better off for having heard your speech, knowing and/or feeling something that will improve their lives in some way

For this discussion, let’s assume you have that covered – that we’re not covering writing techniques, presentation structure or visuals.

So now that you have a script…

2. Practice relentlessly – out loud, and in sight

Once you are satisfied with the messaging, learn the script inside out. The point is to know it so well, you could deliver it without reading. That doesn’t necessarily mean memorizing it; it generally means being able to come across as speaking authentically – with the audience, not at the audience.

How do you get to know it that well? Practice. A lot. There are no short cuts. Go through it as you will present it, over and over again. Do it in front of a mirror. Do it in front of a camera and watch it back. Then do it again. And again.

A good guideline is to practice 3-5 minutes for every minute of your speech, for at least three days. More is better; it’s easy to rehearse too little, and virtually impossible to rehearse too much.

Besides knowing the material, you’ll derive one other benefit. Practicing the speech out loud will give you a chance to refine the wording so it feels right – so it says what it says just as you’d say it on the fly. You’ll also have a good feel for where you want to pause to emphasize a point or to transition to the next part of your speech.

If you’re using humor to make a point, to help to clarify a situation or to relieve tension, practice the timing to make sure you deliver it as intended. If it feels genuine, it’s more likely to connect with your audience.

3. Rehearse on site, with everything and everyone

Know the room. Rehearse your speech on stage and with other presenters and AV support team, if any. If you have any visuals, rehearse with them. Get used to the clicker. If there are props or any stage action planned, rehearse them.

Rehearse your stage movements until you know them by heart so they look and feel natural. And be sure to rehearse them with the video crew so they will have a sense of how to follow you and light you properly.

If you are on IMAG (Image Magnification video on stage), your movements, facial expressions, etc. are magnified, so you may need to tone down your onstage movements lest the audience focus on your movements rather than listening to you.

For tips on On-Stage Movements, download this article and refer to the Checklist at the end.

If you’re using a teleprompter or floor monitor, practice using them without staring at them. Remember, it’s the audience you need to make contact with, not the device. In the case of a teleprompter, rehearse together with the teleprompter operator. For tips on Using a Teleprompter, download this article and refer to the Checklist at the end.

Get my checklist now

Have a printed copy of your notes or script with you, either to use as your primary reference or as backup in case a teleprompter or monitor you’re using malfunctions. The text should be large and double-spaced.

If you’re using the printed notes as your primary reference, practice looking down and reading at a glance, and then looking up to recite them. If you’ve prepared as we’ve discussed previously, this should be easy.

Along those lines, it’s a good idea to memorize your opening, so you can make a strong, confident start. That confidence can help carry you through your entire presentation.

4. Deliver the speech to – not at – your audience

Let’s start with a universal truth: Stage fright is normal. Every speaker faces it. You can’t overcome it entirely, but if you learn to control it, you can harness it to sharpen your senses and increase your energy.

If appropriate, chat with audience members where they are, not from the podium. It’s easier to speak to people you know, and it will help you make and maintain connections as you speak.

Before you speak, whether you’re backstage or on stage, take a few deep breaths. If you’re backstage, get up and stretch. Take a sip of water.

When you begin to speak, be conversational. Be yourself. Talk directly to people in the audience. Look at the friendliest faces in the audience, and make periodic eye contact. Turn your attention from one to another every few moments. And take a small sip of water now and again, to help maintain the quality of your voice and to give yourself some comfortable pause moments.

Be animated and enthusiastic, and put some excitement into the presentation. Show a sense of passion for your topic, and for the positive impact you’re hoping to have on your audience.

Be colorful. Use the dramatic pause and change of pace to keep things interesting. Talk at different speeds, vary your pitch, change volume occasionally.

Be clear. Pronounce the words clearly. Don’t talk too fast. Don’t mumble or run words together.

Turn your head and body from side to side at intervals, so you appear to be speaking extemporaneously to different sections of the audience, and not reading.

If your script contains humor or stories, don’t alert the audience that a story is coming (e.g., “That reminds me of …”and don’t end with “But seriously folks …” Just let it end naturally.

Finally, the most important tip of all: BE YOURSELF. The more natural and authentic you are, the more successful you will be. The audience will read that and feel it. And when that happens, you’ll feel it too.

Good luck!

With this article, we’ve tried to present a high-level view of how to effectively deliver a speech or presentation. Of course, the speech itself has to be compelling in the first place. As we mentioned earlier, that’s an entirely different story. If you’re looking for advice or assistance in crafting a speech, delivering it or both, we’ll be happy to help. Refer to our contact information and feel free to reach out at any time.

Nailing That Big Presentation – Speaker Tips

Posted on November 18, 2024June 9, 2025 by Nic Banda

You’re getting ready for a main stage presentation to an important audience. You’ve put the time into crafting what you want to say and have some killer slides. Now, it’s time to deliver. Feeling nervous? Relax! Try these final tips before taking the stage.

1. Arrive Prepared

Owning the room starts with owning the content. Owning the content starts with you.

In the weeks before, write out your remarks or at least prepare a detailed outline on your own.
Practice out loud for a minimum of one hour for every 20 minutes of presentation.
Bake your script down to a simple outline with prompt points, data points and cues.
Memorize the framework of the simple outline and the overall flow of your presentation.
Carry a hard copy of your notes on cards (just in case) – one card for each outline point.

2. Rehearse On Stage

It’s easy to rehearse too little. It’s hard to rehearse too much.

On-stage rehearsals should be, at minimum, the length of your presentation. Use the time to:
- Walk through introductions, play-ons, videos, any props or stage action, and handoffs.
- Step through your entire presentation.
- Adjust the downstage confidence monitors to suit how you prefer to see your notes.
A rehearsal is also for the technical crew running the show. Make sure they are on the same page!
For more on this subject, see Tips for Delivering a Great Business Speech and 5 Things That Screw Up Main Stage Presenters.

3. Brush Off Stage Fright

Turn nervousness into sharpened senses and increased energy.

Remember, your nervousness isn’t as apparent to the audience as it is to you.
Visualize yourself successful, and focus on the value of the material you’re presenting.
Memorize your opening; a solid start will give you the confidence to go all the way.
Breathe deeply. If possible, get up and stretch before you go on stage.
When speaking, look for familiar faces – or at least the friendliest.
Take quick sips of water.

4. Connect Authentically

Talk directly to each person, not at the group.

Be conversational. Use words that are natural to you and the audience. E-nun-ci-ate clearly.
Talk directly to people, make eye contact and turn your attention around the room.
Be animated and enthusiastic, and show your energy, conviction or passion for your topic.
Vary your speed, pitch and volume. Use dramatic pauses to drive home key points.
If using humorous stories, keep them short and space them out. Also, it’s good to memorize these; definitely do not read them!

5. Make Smart Moves

Make every movement deliberate and purposeful.

Stand still at the beginning of your speech; helps reduce nervous tendencies.
After that, move deliberately. The larger the group, the more deliberate your movements.
Avoid distracting gestures like hands in pockets. Let your words trigger your gestures.
Center stage forward is the strongest position. Upstage left and right are weak positions.
To direct attention away from you, gesture toward the screen or out into the audience.
To drive a point home, move forward.

BONUS: Teleprompter Tips

Sometimes a big presentation or speech needs a full script and teleprompter. Here are some tips for those situations:

Meet with the teleprompter operator to the adjust spacing between lines.
Rehearse using the teleprompter on stage.
Let the teleprompter operator know if you intend to ad-lib, and when.
If using panels, turn your head and body from side to side to speak to different sections of the audience.
Also bring a hard copy of your script in a binder – double-spaced in 14 point font.

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How to Generate Greater ROI from Corporate Meetings

Posted on November 18, 2024June 9, 2025 by Nic Banda

Here’s what it comes down to when we’re talking about company meetings or any corporate meetings:

Maximize Your Return
Minimize Your Investment
Measure Your ROI

And, here’s a universal truth: There is not, and never will be, a substitute for in-person engagement. That’s the purpose of a corporate leadership summit, Management Team conference or National Sales Meeting. You bring people together to engage them to a degree that no virtual meeting can match, no matter how great the technology may be.

Engagement is the “secret sauce” that makes new strategies, campaigns, processes and other initiatives successful. Engaged employees and leaders feel positive about their companies – what they’re trying to do, and how they go about doing it. They understand what is expected of them and are energized by contributing to the business’ success.

Now, how do you engage your attendees? And, we mean what specific tactics can you apply, not just general theoretical ideas and concepts! What could you add to what you’re currently doing? What should you do differently than what you currently do? What could you learn from the companies that are really good at engaging their event attendees and benefiting not only with better ROI but also effecting the post-event actions they desire?

Our Guide gives you those tactics to help maximize your return, to minimize your investment and to measure your ROI based on our long history of making that happen for our clients. And we’re not keeping it a secret – have a look for yourself to see what you might do today and contact us if we can help you make it happen for you too!

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Three Tips for a Customer Centric Culture

Posted on November 18, 2024June 9, 2025 by Nic Banda

Building a customer centric culture is not easy, and it takes time, which is why so few companies are successful at it.

A customer centric culture is not a new concept. If anything it’s becoming expected – at every level in the organization. Companies like Amazon, Apple, Nordstrom, Southwest Airlines, and Disney have proven how powerful a deep knowledge of your customer and thinking from the outside in, can be. They understand the job of nearly everyone in a company is to create value for the people they serve (who are ultimately their customers) and to consistently look for ways to increase that value. With the rise of social media, today’s CEOs are also very clear on the power “word of mouth” can have on their business results.

In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, initiatives to engage employees in putting customers first and delighting customers consistently requires building a company-wide customer centric culture. But it’s not an easy task and it takes time, which is why so few companies are successful at it. For one thing, many associates in any type of company may spend their careers never talking to an external customer or client – ever.

How often do we ask them to think like customer-facing employees and “become more customer centric”?

Even though customer centricity can drive product and service innovation and strengthen the relationships a company develops with its customers by improving customer loyalty, lifetime value, and lowering churn (which lowers cost-to-serve and increases employee engagement to create a competitive “moat”).

Associates may not think of the work they do as having a direct impact on the company’s customers. Many may view themselves as support functions – processing invoices, payroll, or managing internal processes not generally seen by the outside world. They know they have a role to play, but their view of how the work they do impacts external customers is fuzzy. Asked to be more customer centric, they may respond with what appears to be legitimate pushback:

“I don’t ever talk to a customer.”

“Isn’t customer centricity for salespeople?”

“I know my work is important to the business; does it matter if I’m customer focused?”

As communications leaders, we are asked to help employees become more “customer centric” to engage everyone in the customer focused culture. But, getting your associates to see and feel that what they do can impact a customer is critical to ensuring that a company’s strategy and mission can be achieved. How do you “connect the customer dots” for your team?

Over the course of my career in a variety of Communications, Voice of Customer and Customer Service roles at some of the world’s largest organizations, I was asked to think about how we connect these dots for associates. Over the years, I came to recognize three important considerations:

1. Define It: Who is your customer?

Define your customer up front, if you want your employees to think about the external customer, then define it that way. There may be internal customers in addition to external customers, so understand up front that both are part of your customer centricity strategy. It’s important in any communication about customers that everyone is on the same page with who we are talking about. Consider including the definition in annual employee satisfaction surveys, ensure it’s understood in annual reviews and, when discussing impacts or outcomes that center on customers, spell out the definition. Make sure leaders are clear on definitions when they discuss customer focus with employees.

Sharing customer insights with employees allow them to put themselves in your customers’ shoes. What are the customer pain points? What keeps them up at night? How are we addressing our customer needs? And develop your plan and communications accordingly. There are some unique and fun ways to do this – consider the following, interviewing actual customers, interviewing customer service associates, or creating a “day in the life” of a customer service representative. If you’re in retail, have employees walk the floors of your brick and mortar sites as customers and sales associates do each day.

2. Say It: “You don’t touch the customer every day”

The first hurdle in any new way of thinking is to acknowledge the proverbial elephant in the room. If associates aren’t customer facing, don’t try to tell them they are. Explain that the goal is to consider how their work makes an impact on the customer, not just whether it touches the customer. Don’t tell associates that everyone’s work touches the customer.

Philosophically, we all know our work impacts our customers. Creating a communications campaign that simply asks a non-customer facing associate to “become more customer centric” won’t work. Showing them how their work touches the customer is more important. And if you can do it visually, that’s even better (see #3).

3. Do it: Make it a game

Make it fun. Make it visual. An infographic that shows how their work connects to a customer could be fun. Ask employees to “draw” their links to the customers and share or even have them tell their story on camera about what they do that helps a customer. An example I’ve seen work well is playing “six degrees of separation”. Challenge associates to see how many degrees it takes to connect them to a customer. Create a contest and have associates share their analyses via internal social media. For instance, if you work in payroll, show how the work you do to ensure that associates’ payroll experience is simplified and accurate allows them to focus on their work and their operations in support of customers. The less time focused on issues around their pay, the more time they must focus on the work that DOES impact customers.

I’ve seen first-hand what can happen when associates are encouraged to think about their work in the context of creating value for their companies’ customers.

They begin to see themselves as ambassadors for those same customers. We often don’t think about our internal associates as an extension of our marketing department, but we could and should. By building this connection and advocacy, any employee can be empowered to feel as if they are customer facing.

To make customer focus a constant in associates’ minds, reminding them often of how their work connects to customers should become a common theme in employee communications. It’s not a one-time communication initiative. It’s about keeping the customer out in front of associates. Run communication initiatives over the course of the year that allows employees to share their voice on their connection to customers. Keep it simple, real, engaging, and fun!

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Change is personal. Treat it that way.

Posted on November 18, 2024June 9, 2025 by Nic Banda

Managing change is not exclusive to work. We all go through changes in our personal lives. We can learn from those personal experiences and even apply them in our change management programs at work.

What if we could learn from the personal changes we’ve experienced and apply them in a professional setting? Changes in our personal lives test our resilience, adaptability, and our expectations. Most of us come through those times a bit tougher, a bit wiser, and hopefully, at peace with the change.

The ultimate test of change management at work is if we can look back at the change and see that we’re not necessarily worse off, but maybe even better off. As Communication Managers – focused on associate/internal communications – we’re asked and expected to move teams through difficult changes in the corporate landscape. And we can leverage some of what we learn in our personal change journeys each day when developing our change management plan.

1. Communicate honestly and with empathy.

Like the stages of loss, many of us experience stages of uneasiness when change causes upheaval in our lives. Initially, we all need some time and space to process what’s different, how it impacts us, and allow ourselves to make the transition in mind and spirit. In a business setting, acknowledging the discomfort and recognizing where associates sit on the change curve is critical to getting off on the right foot.

ACTION: Spell out upfront what will specifically be different and how you envision the change impacting each individual. Explain why the change is occurring – with truth, facts, and authenticity. Understanding why the change of course is occurring helps to lay the foundation for the work to come. Ensure the facts are communicated by individuals who understand and can articulate the rationale clearly. Then, step back for a moment and let the message and details sink in.

2. Bring “the village” together.

When a tough change (or even a positive change) happens in our lives, we tend to reach out to friends, family, or inner circles. We take our concerns, anxiety, or excitement to our “personal boards” – those we surround ourselves with to help us cope or navigate change in our lives. It’s no different at work.

As communications professionals, it’s important for us to talk about the change occurring, but also where our associates can go to find answers or support. It’s critical to create a “village” of individuals who can help associates talk through what’s going on and how they’re feeling. This can be accomplished in partnership with HR, senior leadership, or others in the organization that are trusted and respected.

ACTION: Build that village and have it ready to go on Day One. Create a series of “coffee and…” sessions without an agenda. Build safe zones for employees to connect and talk. Lean in to your EAP programs and remind people of what resources are available to them.

3. Use the most common, accessible technologies.

Technology is our friend. When something new is presented to us, or we want to learn more about an item, person or activity, our first instinct may be to check Google or ask Alexa. We want to learn more; we need to learn more. Having an understanding or knowledge of what’s happening allows us to process the change in a way that can keep us from making too many assumptions and spiraling into an unknown and negative place. Technology can play a critical role in change management communications too.

ACTION: Create a variety of communication channels that allow associates to inquire on what’s happening, provide feedback, and share concerns or ideas. This can be as simple as a “change” toolkit – with details, FAQs, and resources for managing the change both professionally and personally. You can create a change “blog” where folks can share thoughts and ideas or develop a group chat on your internal social media platform for asking question or sharing information. But don’t simply replace face-to-face interactions during times of change with just technology solutions. Find ways to blend both.

We all respond to change in different ways. Reactions can vary from “I don’t have time for change” to “Everything is fine, why change?” to “This is exciting, how can I help?”, as there’s not just one way individuals react to change, or only one way to communicate change. We can learn a lot by realizing that even in business, change can be very personal, and a personal touch can go a long way.

Yes, You Should Consider Rebranding — Here’s Why

Posted on November 11, 2024March 25, 2025 by Nic Banda

Brands are sacrosanct and are to be jealously guarded at all costs vs. re-branding.

For some companies and brands that is true. Particularly if you are entrusted with the care of a venerable consumer brand like Betty Crocker or Pepsi. Just ask the veterans of “New Coke” to show you their scars.

But there are reasons re-branding makes sense. And young companies in fast moving markets like technology and services encounter those situations more often than most.

Here are some situations that may mean you should consider re-branding:

Have you recently launched a new product or service that serves a substantially different market and audience than your core business?
Is your market crowded with other companies using similar brand names to generate awareness and relevance?
Has some outside event beyond your control saddled your brand name (or something very similar) with a negative connotation?

Any of those things and others can create a situation where you need to carefully evaluate your current brand and consider rebranding entirely or in part. This article from Inc. Magazine looks at four of these situations in detail and the principals involved talk about how they addressed this challenge and why.

Puttin’ on the skits

Posted on November 11, 2024June 9, 2025 by Nic Banda

Need to put on a skit for your sales meeting?

Here are eight tips from our team of producers – veterans of television, theater and event production:

1. Decide if it’s live, pre-recorded or hybrid (video within a live show).

Live production: Pro

A live production is very much in the moment. There is a more personal connection with the audience and there may be opportunities for audience involvement.

Live production: Con

A live production can require complex, potentially costly staging, lighting and choreography to pull off and there’s no such thing as, “We’ll fix it in post.”

Pre-recorded: Pro

Video offers vastly more creative possibilities in terms of available assets and ability to control the viewer experience. You can combine visuals of all kinds. You can shoot multiple takes of any scene. And yes, you can “fix it in post.”

Pre-recorded: Con

Great video production isn’t cheap, and it takes time. And compromises always show. Sometimes, that’s okay; a shot that’s meant to be just a smartphone video, for example, is fine. But if “sort of okay” won’t cut it, high-quality production is a must.

2. Consider a format that you can use as a template.

The most popular approach is parody because it taps into memory structures and feelings people already have. And the nature of the original can help drive the arc and presentation of your story.

How popular is it? Well, virtually all of the many meetings we’ve produced in the past year have included skits, including hilarious send-ups of popular television programs – comedies, dramas, sportscasts, reality shows and the old standbys, game shows.

We’ve also produced a bunch of all-original skits. One recent example featured dueling mock pitches for the Jersey Shore and Pittsburgh, competing to be the site for a performance reward getaway. (The actual prize was more exotic.) That one highlighted the different personalities of two very popular sales leaders, another common thread.

3. Consider the format that you can best work with

Getting started on a script is hard, even for professional scriptwriters. The universe of possibilities is infinite, and scriptwriting is an art.

One way to organize your thoughts is to decide between Storytelling, Conversation and Pure Entertainment This decision can help drive your choice between a live or pre-recorded approach.

Here are a couple of broad guidelines:

Storytelling approaches are best done as videos while conversation-based programs such as game shows and commentaries lend themselves well to live productions.
Pure entertainment such as music videos or song-and-dance parodies can be great fun and can drive home high-level points and evoke strong feelings, even if they don’t communicate granular information.

None of this is absolute, but the pros and cons of each offer some basic guidance:

Storytelling skits: Pro

A parody of an existing movie or show can leverage an audience’s established feelings toward it. Similarly, a from-scratch production can evoke familiar touchpoints such as the dynamics of your particular team or processes.

Storytelling skits: Con

An episodic skit show requires well-crafted scripting and production to pay off its premise without becoming awkward, silly or just plain lame. As a live show, it’s even more difficult to pay off, especially if physicality is required.

Here are a couple of recent examples to serve as thought starters:

A send-up of a popular TV show featured a misplaced coach’s “Ten Leadership Lessons” as a platform for discussing the qualities and attitudes that Sales leaders use to build, empower and support their teams. The National Sales Manager, as the “Coach” character, introduced each lesson with a philosophical lesson and then played a pre-recorded video of a team member’s observations about it. The concept was simple and direct, and the execution only required acting by the National Sales Manager; the team members on video were just themselves, reflecting on their respective lessons.
A parody of a popular remote island reality show went all-out to create a highly credible and entertaining send-up experience. Costumes, props, graphics, scene choreography, dialog, music, sound effects and editing all combined to create the feeling of watching the show.
Highlights included having teams competing to complete an assembly that is part of their sales demonstration process, and then following it up with a “tribal meeting” to determine who “survives” and who does not.
This last part was an example of how important agility and a combination of both live and video production capabilities can be. Originally, the plan was for set-up and assembly to be pre-recorded and the tribal meeting to be live. But at the last minute, as the Omicron wave began, the meeting became all-virtual and the entire presentation became a video-based episode.

Conversation-based skits: Pro

Game shows, talk shows, sportscasts, news and commentary shows are well-suited to live events because they can be staged with one anchor set and scripted to a well-defined format. They can be spontaneously funny and can incorporate apps for audience participation. And they don’t require a lot of character acting.

News and sports programs, in particular, are perfect for deeper delivery of information and commentary.

Conversation-based skits: Con

Let’s start with the obvious: game shows, news shows and sportscasts are done a lot, and they can get pretty cheesy. But somehow, they’re still popular; it’s all in the on-stage personalities. The same is true of news and sportscaster programs, which have the added benefit of being perfect for deeper delivery of information and metaphorical language gags.

Here are a couple of recent examples – again, to help trigger ideas:

A Dating Game parody used the well-known format to present a product and two of its competitors as “date” possibilities to be interviewed by the user choosing among them. Each player, speaking as the respective product, answered questions and made its case.
The format was an effective platform not just for showing why the team’s product was a better choice, but also for anticipating the competitors’ sales pitches and practicing conversations that would lead their target audience to choose that product.
A renamed and reformatted Shark Tank parody featured actual engineering teams making actual pitches for development resources based on audience responses to their proposals.

Pure entertainment: Pro

There’s nothing like out-and-out show biz to get a crowd psyched and engaged. Getting a little “out there” with a music video or live song-and-dance routine can win over your colleagues. With backing music easily available in today’s vast karaoke libraries, you can parody any music you want. Similarly, today’s stock footage houses offer video backplates of all kinds that you can use by shooting on green screen, and narrative titles can be easily animated to move a story along. (You’ll want to work closely with your agency or production company on this.)

Pure entertainment: Con

The greatest downside is lack of preparedness. A song-and-dance routine needs careful choreography and rigorous rehearsal to avoid becoming clownish. Also, some people are either unable to carry a tune or dance well. That can be charming in the case of a beloved leader willing to be self-effacing for the sake of team engagement. But generally, song-and-dance routines work best with good singers and dancers.

4. Rehearse ‘til it hurts.

There’s no way around this. If you’re live, a flub, a missed cue or some other unexpected screw-up could make an audience wince. As friends and colleagues, they might feel sorry for you, but you’ll have lost the point. On video, re-takes are great if you’re shooting to have alternatives or backup, but every take caused by a screw-up is time and money wasted. Yes, rehearsing takes time and isn’t always easy to coordinate. But it is always worth the trouble.

5. Take humor seriously.

Humor takes all forms. Whether it’s a sight gag or dialog, being funny is as tricky as it is important. In a sales meeting setting, you may be able to cross a couple of boundaries that you couldn’t in everyday business life, but not by much.

First, there are things you absolutely can’t do. You can’t be crude or offensive. It’s not a matter of being woke, it’s a matter of respecting the reality that as close as you may be to your team members, your relationship is based on business. So no sex talk. No aspersions, insults, anger or overt complaints. Nothing mean-spirited. And nothing that mocks, denigrates or diminishes your associates.

Got that? Of course.

But being close to your team members does give you a little license to have some fun. Inside jokes should be funny to insiders, but only insiders can ever see or hear them. A little gentle ribbing can be fine, especially if it’s more about a process than a person or group of people. And self-effacing humor can be endearing.

6. The takeaway should be the hook.

One thing the four examples discussed here share with most other successful skits is relevance. It takes some finesse to get there, but the objective is always to have the experience impart a single, memorable takeaway. Whatever else the skit communicates, however deep into the weeds it gets and however entertaining as it is meant to be, the end game is almost always the same – to get your audience to think, feel and do what you want them to. When the vehicle is a skit, that’s the destination.

7. Don’t be any cheaper than you want to look

If you don’t want your skit to come off like a High School play or home movie and you don’t have the internal resources for a professional-grade production, work with your communications agency or production company. In addition to creative and technical capabilities, a good one will also have solid planning and production processes and will help you get the quality you need at a price you can afford.

8. Don’t go it alone.

Let’s face it. Not everyone is a great writer, producer or performer. And the right agency or producer can make all the difference. In our business, we provide both creative and production support as needed. Of course, salespeople are often quite creative, so it’s a matter of bringing their visions it to life whether we’re just making tweaks or scripting from scratch.

So forgive the blatant self-interest in our saying so, but wherever you are on that spectrum, a good agency or production company can be the difference between a successful skit show and… well, let’s just call it the obvious rhyme.