Developing Content for Internal Communications

I co-write content for the CEO of a Formula 1 hospitality group. Here are 3 uncommon hacks I use to get content from their head → paper. 1/ Weekly Voice Memos Most execs don’t want to “write.” They want to talk. So I ask them one pointed question per week, tied to what’s happening right now in their business or industry. (We also do weekly interviews for about 30 mins, when they are freer) They reply with a 1–2 minute voice note or text. I transcribe it, clean it up, and use their exact phrasing to shape the post. This keeps their voice sharp and the content timely without needing to “book a call.” 2/ Pull from internal comms Slack threads, investor decks, and email updates these are gold. Any time the CEO explains what’s changing inside the business, I flag it. Because if they’re already explaining it internally, they can explain it externally. Usually I’ll ask: “Can we say this publicly yet?” If the answer’s yes, that’s a post. 3/ Framing first, writing second Before I write a single line, I send them 3 bullets: - The message we’re trying to land - The role of this post (signal / build trust / teach) - One question I need them to answer That last one is key. It gives them something to react to, not a blank page. Once I get their input, I structure it. They approve. We post. This system pulls real insight out of execs without wasting their time. And the content actually sounds like them. There is a separate system to make sure we always nail their voice. Needless to say, I use these systems to streamline almost every part of the writing process: And this is a big reason I can work with this client while also having other things going on. And that’s it! Found this helpful? Let me know below which hack was your favourite.

The best internal communicators don’t start with channels. They start with human behavior. Because before you think about email, video, intranet, or town halls, you need to understand how people actually process information. Employees don’t experience your message as a format. They experience it as a moment in their day. Through their workload, their stress, their assumptions, their biases, and their limits. That’s why the strongest communicators study how people think. They know that cognitive load, shortcuts, fear, memory, and emotion shape understanding long before the channel ever does. 🔷 How quickly people jump to conclusions 🔷 What they remember and what they forget 🔷 Why losses feel heavier than gains 🔷 How repeated exposure builds acceptance 🔷 Why visuals and words together create clarity 🔷 What triggers anxiety or trust Channels help you send. Psychology helps your message land. Which of these do you use most in your work?

Ever tried using AI to generate internal comms and felt like it didn’t sound like you? 😬 If so, you’re not alone. And if you’re already thinking that, imagine how it’d be perceived by your audience. Here’s the trick: Train it to speak your language. Upload past comms to teach AI your tone—emojis, exclamation marks, nomenclature for your teams/programs, everything. If you’re aiming to increase the adoption of your cultural values, ask it to interweave these into your communications when applicable. For example, I like to use #EmpathyFirst, one of our cultural values, when introducing wellness perks to our employees, like Headspace for meditation & therapy sessions. Now imagine this: You prompt it for your next company update, and it drafts in your voice, styles the visuals, nails the right tone, and delivers you a solid v1 for your review. You can train it on what you like or don’t like, coaching it on specifics. You can personalize the tone over time as you receive feedback and A/B test subject lines and conversion rates. Internal comms should never feel robotic. It’s not only that attention spans are shrinking, it’s that people’s expectations have risen in what they actually want to spend their time reading. And being a lean team managing hundreds and thousands of internal comms is a tough job 🫡

The "discussion" around DEI may be creating an impression that it's all about race and gender. It's not. It's any difference: region, nationality, religion, and ability are also included, with the goal of ensuring every QUALIFIED individual has an opportunity to contribute and compete regardless of their differences. That includes the neurodiverse. Internal communication is often designed for the “average” employee—but what about those who process information differently? Neurodivergent employees, including those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and auditory processing differences, may struggle with lengthy emails, dense text, or unclear messaging. Our typical one-size-fits-all approach to communication can leave these individuals feeling overwhelmed, disengaged, or excluded. That's problematic, given that neurodiverse employees can often focus better than "average" employees; given the opportunity, they bring unique and valuable abilities to the table. The best internal comms teams are rethinking their approach to ensure messages are clear, accessible, and inclusive for all employees. This includes: * Using plain language to make content easier to understand. * Offering multiple formats (text, video, audio, and visual aids) to accommodate different learning styles. * Breaking up dense information with bullet points, headers, and summaries to improve readability. * Leveraging AI and personalization tools to tailor content delivery based on individual preferences. * Providing alternative ways to engage, such as interactive Q&As, transcripts for videos, and visual storytelling. By embracing inclusive communication practices, organizations can foster a workplace where everyone—regardless of how they process information—feels informed, valued, and empowered. Is your organization ensuring internal communication works for everyone? How?

Employees tuning out to your communication efforts? Last week, I watched as my client's comms team copied and pasted the same message into Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint.   Again, and again and again.   Each platform required different formatting. Different context. Different approaches.   Her team was putting in double the work - crafting for Teams, rewriting for email, reformatting for SharePoint.   And the employees? Tuning out. Not because they couldn't check everything, but because they were fed up with having to.   I've seen this pattern with organizations of all sizes.   For my client's recent Internal Copilot Prompt-a-Thon campaign, we suggested something different.   We explored Microsoft Viva Amplify together - a tool often overlooked in the Viva suite.   Instead of creating content multiple times, they created it once and let Amplify handle the distribution across channels.   Their objectives remained ambitious: - Build staff confidence with Copilot - Develop practical prompting techniques - Improve organization-wide adoption - Progress employees from beginner to intermediate   But the approach changed completely.   Instead of asking employees to find content, we brought it to them - whether in Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, or Viva Connections.   The results were eye-opening. Participation increased 40%. Feedback improved. And the comms team spent less time copy and pasting, reformatting and more time creating valuable content.   After 18+ years of guiding internal comms strategies, I'm still learning alongside my clients. I used to think successful communication was about being everywhere at once.   Over the years this has changed. I see it's about meeting people where they already are.   What communication challenges is your organization facing? I'd love to hear what's working (or not working) for you. #VivaAmplify #Copilot #SharePoint #Outlook #InternalCommunications #HR #Intranet

🤬 Your stakeholders are ignoring your requests for content. They don’t hate you or find you annoying. You’re just asking too much of them. Sometimes we forget that our stakeholders: ➡️ Have their own job to focus on ➡️ Are extremely busy ➡️ Find writing HARD So when we ask them for a blog or an article we may well be asking for an entire day of their time. So yes, they will ignore you. Try this instead: Take on the heavy lifting yourself and make it easier for them. You can do this by becoming an internal journalist. Book a 10-minute interview with your stakeholder and have questions prepped so you can elicit exactly the kind of information you need. Spend a bit of time doing your research so you are up to speed with the subject matter and the stakeholder themselves. After the interview, write the article or blog yourself and all your stakeholder has to do is fact check it for you. This is a win-win for both sides. Your stakeholder gets their story shared to the business without the stress of staring at a blank page trying to write something. And you get authentic quotes and natural language that makes the content more engaging and interesting to read. Does this approach take more time for you? Yes, absolutely. But it’s worth it because the content quality you can produce will increase significantly and your stakeholders will thank you for making their lives easier. What’s your best advice for getting content from stakeholders? –––– 🚫 Don’t let an algorithm decide what you read; join 7,808 readers who get my weekly internal comms tips straight to their inbox. ⬆️ Click "Try my free newsletter" on my page to sign up.

“Activate like a newsroom!”—but for internal comms. 💡 If you've followed me for a while, you've heard me say this before. Usually, I’m talking about external communications. The idea is simple: Newsrooms have mastered the art of speed, scale, and storytelling. Journalists create content daily—and businesses need that same energy. (Hat tip to Haddie Djemal and the #HireAJournalist movement. She's right—you should.) But here’s the part most organizations are missing: That same newsroom mindset applies to internal communications, too. PR and strategic comms pros know how to use content to drive real business outcomes—new customers, stronger brands, more donations, and deeper trust. Now flip that lens inward. ✅ Instead of new customers: new employees. ✅ Instead of donations: clear expectations, better processes, higher morale. ✅ And trust? Still just as important. To truly activate like a newsroom internally, you need speed, volume, and consistency—daily content across channels for multiple audiences. 👉 Daily intranet posts. 👉 Departmental newsletters. 👉 Internal videos and training. 👉 And—when it makes sense—external versions of those same stories. Because some of that internal content should go public: • Employees doing amazing things • Product/process wins • Community work • Leadership insights • Culture moments • Metrics worth celebrating • Training and development wins One of the biggest missed opportunities? Leadership comms. Every leadership team should have an internal newsletter and a presence on LinkedIn. Weekly. Minimum. (Need help with that? DM me!) The key here is: Don’t drip. Flood. Act fast, post often, and treat internal comms with the same urgency and strategy as your best PR campaign. Activate like an (internal) newsroom! #PR #internalcomms #business #marketing #journalism

One of the smartest internal communications tips I’ve come across recently came from Lexi McCausland, CMP®. Here's her idea. At the top of every internal email, she includes a priority label (“Need to know,” “Need to do,” etc.) and a five-second summary that's one or two sentences that say exactly what the email is about. That’s it. Simple, right? But incredibly effective. This small shift solves one of the biggest challenges in internal comms: reaching employees with different attention levels, whether they skim or read every word. This approach reaches all of them without needing bold red fonts or 17 follow-ups. The priority label immediately sets expectations. The short summary makes sure the core message lands. And then, if someone wants the full context, they can keep reading. It’s respectful of people’s time. It’s clear. And it’s built for how employees actually consume information. This is exactly what we need in internal comms. Give it a try. Your employees (and your read rates) will thank you.