Reading the coverage, it smacks of two other ‘disgusted in Tunbridge Wells’ themes:

1. Unease that Gordon doesn’t write this stuff himself.

2. Shame that no-one in the UK could come up with the goods.

Number 1 is plain naieve. Go back to Churchill for that sort of style and talent. Number 2, I can agree with. As I spend my days thinking about how to target communication to audiences as diverse as medical reps on the road in Berkshire, junior members of governments ooh anywhere and bored middle management waiting for lifts in Central London, surely someone, somewhere (not in Washington, not for $40,000) could have been trusted to come up with the goods? Targetting communication is one skill, so is writing speeches for an individual that you understand, know, work with. The words are coming up out of one person’s mouth, they need to sound like his, have some truth about them, he needs to own them…

For those of us who believe the West Wing is real, that Martin Sheen was President and that Presidential speeches turn the mood of a nation, we would like to think that Toby and Josh would make Gordon a star on the Hill.

The truth is, that now the ‘news’ is out, some consultants that we’ve never heard of have developed some words that will forever be perceived as lacking authenticity, over-crafted, a waste of money…and not Gordon’s own.

Not entirely accurate, in fact, the words are already forgotten.

Our topic ‘New frontiers in internal communication’ was an interesting one… We looked at lots of internal communications tools that were growing in usefulness and prominence (the role of web 2.0 internally, wikis, podcasts, every picture telling a story, feedback, feedback and more feedback) and also talked about the key drivers in employee engagement. Take a look at the presentation which is packed full of budget-proof statistics that prove internal communication matters. And what large conclusions global surveys of communication professionals drew.

What were our conclusions?

Leadership communication is the number 1 in internal engagement. Formal media are weak in impact compared to the words and actions – informal and formal – of the people at the top. Our leaders are judged on how they communicate, their reputation is vital and face to face is where they really make the most impact…

The future for internal communications is an interesting one – we’ll be ‘holding the space’ for the communication tools that allow unfettered interactivity. And we’ll be the personal brand managers of the leaders that count.

Are there really ‘new frontiers’? Probably not. The tools are different and we have more choice in what we use and how we use it. However, the business imperative and proving the business benefit are still – and always will be – the keys. There is nothing new there.

New Frontiers presentation (PowerPoint)