#45 How to create a thoughtful end-of-year message for your people and clients

[00:00:00] Mel: Hi, and welcome to Less Chatter, More Matter, a podcast about all things communication without the waffle. I'm your host, Mel Loy, and in this show, I will give you short, punchy, practical communication tips and insights. You can start using in your communication practices right away. I'm a former corporate communication executive who happily took a redundancy, started my own business, and never looked back.

[00:00:27] Mel: These days, I use my 20 plus years of experience to help guide organisations of all shapes and sizes in how to communicate more effectively. I'm wife to Michael, cat mum to Cookie, aunty to 12 nieces and nephews, a yoga teacher, and a group fitness fanatic. I promise these episodes will always be short, sharp, and helpful, so let's get amongst it.

[00:00:52] Mel: Hi there, everyone, and welcome to one of our final episodes for 2023. What a year it has [00:01:00] been, and I know we say it every year, but I cannot believe it's almost Christmas already. This time of year is always hectic, not just because of all the Christmas parties and school events and all of that, but I also find people are rushing to get a lot of stuff done before they go on a break.

[00:01:18] Mel: There's a lot of pressure this time of year from all areas of our lives. And here's your gentle reminder to find a way to look after yourself as well. Okay? Now, this time of year is also the time when leaders start sending out their end of year messages, whether that's to their team members or their external stakeholders or to both.

[00:01:39] Mel: And those messages are more critical than leaders may realise. They are an opportunity to recognise efforts as well as demonstrate progress, build engagement, and show empathy and understanding. And all of that helps to build more trust in a leader and in a brand. So today's episode is for [00:02:00] those of you who are leaders or who helped to write comms for leaders.

[00:02:04] Mel: I'm going to give you some top tips on crafting those end of year messages in a way that balances both the head and the heart. Also, I've got a free nifty little tool to give you to help create your messaging for these messages. So stay tuned for that at the end of the episode. Let's get into it. The first tip I'm going to give you is one of the most important tips in developing any communication, and that is to have a really good structure to start.

[00:02:32] Mel: When you have a great structure, the rest of it flows so much more naturally. You're able to write more easily and you just get this logical flow of ideas. Here's the structure that I recommend for these end of year messages. The first step is your greeting. So something that is warm and inviting, but also inclusive.

[00:02:53] Mel: So just remember that not everyone celebrates Christmas and using terms like happy holidays or festive [00:03:00] season and so on, are much more inclusive. Once you've done your greeting, the next part is recognition. So start with recognising your people or your customers and what they've achieved or what they've contributed.

[00:03:11] Mel: And we'll come back to that again shortly. After recognition comes reflection. So a general reflection on the year that's been remembering the highs and the lows. Part of being a genuine communicator is not just talking about the good stuff, but also acknowledging the elephant in the room as well. The fourth part of this structure is future focus.

[00:03:33] Mel: So what's coming up on the year ahead that people have to look forward to, but also what challenges could you face that people need to work together to help solve? And the final part is a closing statement, something that acknowledges that people work through the holiday break a lot of the time. So thanking them for that, but also acknowledging that for some people, this time of year can be really hard.

[00:03:57] Mel: They may have lost loved ones [00:04:00] this year, and this is the first Christmas without them. Maybe they've had some sort of personal or financial crisis, or this time of year just brings back really sad memories for them. So making sure you acknowledge that. That helps to show that you understand people and connect with them on that emotional level, which means they're more likely to remember this message and resonate with it.

[00:04:22] Mel: So a quick recap of the structure, one, greeting, two, recognition, three, reflection, four, future focus, five, closing statement. That's the first tip structure. The second tip is as always with communication, be audience focused. So this means several things, but let's start with writing from your audience's perspective and making it about them, not writing from your perspective and making it about you or the company.

[00:04:52] Mel: What does this actually look like when we write or speak? I hear you ask. Well, typically when we're talking from the reader's [00:05:00] perspective, we use more words like you or your rather than I and we statements. So for example, let's say you're writing a holiday message from the writer's perspective. It could sound like…

[00:05:13] Mel: Something like this: “At our company, we have had a really big year. I have seen our people working really hard for our customers, and that's paying off with customer loyalty and great growth.” So that's the writer's perspective. Notice how there's a lot of we, I, our kind of words coming into it. But if we wrote that from the reader's perspective, it could sound like this:

[00:05:37] Mel: “Team, you have had a huge year and your efforts and willingness to work hard for our customers has really paid off. Our customers tell us that, thanks to you, they're more loyal than ever before. Your work has also seen us being able to grow, welcoming more customers and more team members.” So you'll notice that there's a lot more you and your words, but also it frames the content in a way [00:06:00] that is relevant and important to the team member, not to the business.

[00:06:03] Mel: So you can see the difference there. One is all about the company and what it has achieved. The other is all about what the team has achieved. That's what we want to aim for. Audience centered writing. Now, of course, how you phrase this does depend on your audience, which leads me to the next point around being audience focused, which is about choosing the right tone for the audience's context.

[00:06:28] Mel: So, for example, right now, there's a cost of living crisis that's impacting a lot of people. And if you know that a large portion of your audience is likely to be impacted by this, either directly or indirectly, then hyping up how much money your business has made this year is probably deeply insensitive.

[00:06:49] Mel: That's not to say you can't acknowledge that you've had a good year. You absolutely should, but use a tone that's empathetic and words that acknowledge that it hasn't been a great [00:07:00] year for everyone. And look, there could even be a way you can weave in how your profits do help others, you know, through partnerships with charities or giving campaigns, being able to employ more people or put more people on full time, whatever that looks like for you.

[00:07:16] Mel: The other piece I want to share with being audience focused is tailoring the message for different audience groups. So no one size fits all what that means is sharing different examples of achievements and challenges and different perspectives on the year ahead, depending on what's important to each specific audience.

[00:07:33] Mel: So for example, what's important to the board and the executive team is likely to be different to what's important to team managers or team leaders, uh, team members, shareholders, customers, partners, whoever else you're talking to. And that brings me to my third tip, which is about the recognition of team members and other stakeholders who have contributed to your business throughout the year.

[00:07:57] Mel: Let's start internally with team members. [00:08:00] If you have a really small team, so you're a team leader, you can very easily call out individual achievements. And I would absolutely do that. Find one big thing you can talk about for each person. So for example, Alison delivered an amazing business case to the board back in March.

[00:08:18] Mel: That got us the funding to get this project started. Well done, Alison, blah, blah, blah. That kind of individualised content goes a long way to showing your team, not only that they're valued, but also that you've been paying attention and you treat them all as unique individuals, which of course is really brilliant for engagement.

[00:08:39] Mel: But if you've got a bigger team or you are writing to the whole organisation, then I would pick a maximum of three big achievements to talk about. These should be achievements that everybody or most people can relate to or have contributed to in some way. So think about your strategic objectives rather than [00:09:00] individual projects.

[00:09:02] Mel: You might even think about how did the whole organisation rally together to achieve something or tackle a challenge, for example, and look, you can always link to longer form comms on an internal channel like your intranet or a podcast where you can go and mention many other achievements and go into more detail for those who want it when addressing external audiences, you can still

[00:09:25] Mel: recognise their contributions, and there's many opportunities to do that just depends on how your organisation operates, obviously. So, for example, did customers help contribute to a charity partnership during the year? Did they help contribute to your environmental sustainability goals in one way? Uh, did they provide valuable feedback that led to a change?

[00:09:45] Mel: Did they stick by you during a tough time? And again, this is about recognising the audience, not your own business. So the fourth tip is to be genuine and authentic, as you always should be in your communication. We know [00:10:00] people see through the airbrushing, so if you really want to connect with your audience and leave them feeling valued and recognised as a result of this communication, then it needs to be done in a genuine way.

[00:10:12] Mel: What does authenticity look like? Well, in a written format, this means using language that is easy to understand, and that sounds like the writer. I should be able to read a piece and almost hear the writer's voice in my head at the same time. It sounds like they are writing it. In a spoken format, like a video or a podcast, or even a live stream presentation, whatever that is.

[00:10:38] Mel: This means you've got to get away from the heavy scripting, have just a few dot points to remind you or the leader that you're preparing this for of the key points that you want to say, but avoid reading word for word off a script because it really sounds like you're doing that. Everyone can tell. And again, avoid the jargon and the corporate speak.

[00:10:58] Mel: You are talking to human beings. [00:11:00] So imagine you're at a barbecue with a bunch of friendly people. And they've just asked about what you've achieved this year, and you need to be able to tell them about that in a way that they will understand and that's friendly and approachable and authentically you.

[00:11:14] Mel: And authenticity, like I said at the beginning of the episode, also means being honest in your reflections on the year that's been and predictions for your year ahead. So not just focusing on the achievements and the good times, but also the challenges and the tough stuff and what headwinds you might be facing into in the next year.

[00:11:33] Mel: Now, not only does this show transparency, which builds trust, but it also demonstrates you've got your finger on the pulse. You can see what's happening. You've got a bit of a vision and you're looking into how you can navigate these challenges and opportunities ahead. So you're a leader who's really on top of things.

[00:11:52] Mel: And the fifth and final tip I'll share today is one I've mentioned a few times throughout the course of this. It's a podcast [00:12:00] series, but I want to reiterate it because I have found we often don't do this with end of year messages and that is to repackage your message in different ways to meet different communication personality types.

[00:12:13] Mel: Too often we rely on one end of year email to go out and just assume everybody's read it. And we know that isn't the case. Some people, will read that message, but others will be more likely to watch a video or listen into a voice recording. And we know some people are more visual learners, some are auditory, some are more strategic thinkers, some are more detailed thinkers.

[00:12:34] Mel: So we have to think about how can we reach as many people as possible. So apart from an email, what else could you do with that same message? Here's just a few ideas I've come up with off the top of my head. I'm sure you've got plenty more and you've probably seen some really good examples as well. So.

[00:12:52] Mel: You could turn that email into a short video, and I mean short, like maximum two minutes. We have no attention span for that. And [00:13:00] make sure your video is interesting, not just a talking head on a screen. You could turn it into an infographic with key statistics and achievements for the year, a series of intranet or website articles.

[00:13:12] Mel: A podcast interview with the CEO or the chair of the board, or maybe it's a series of podcast interviews with SMEs in the business. You could even do a series of video or, uh, reels or photos on social media, internal and external with short captions. I mean, think about potentially doing something for recapping each month of the year.

[00:13:33] Mel: That's a series of 12 right there. There are so many ways you can repackage content to reach people in ways that actually resonate. So think about how you can do that. I go with the rule of three - repackage in at least three different ways, and you are more likely to reach as many people as you possibly can.

[00:13:52] Mel: Okay, before we get to the messaging tool I have for you, let's recap this week's episode. So today was all about top tips for [00:14:00] crafting a thoughtful end of your message. And I have five of them to share. Number one, start with structure. No matter whether you choose video, email, or any other media. Having a really good structure in place first helps you plan and deliver your comms.

[00:14:15] Mel: And I recommend five categories in my structure for these types of interview messages. One, your greeting. Two, recognition. Three, reflection. Four, future focus and five, a closing statement. The second tip was to be audience focused in the way that you write the language and the tone that you use, but also think about the context your audience is living and working in and how you can write from their perspective rather than your own.

[00:14:44] Mel: The third tip was about recognition, but tailored recognition. So in small teams, call out a key achievement for each individual, but for large teams or large audience groups, pick three big ones that will apply to almost everyone. [00:15:00] And if you're writing for external comms, think about how you can frame their contributions to your business.

[00:15:06] Mel: The fourth tip was to communicate authentically. So authenticity just means write it like you spoke it. Use the words and the language that are natural to you. Avoid that jargon and corporate speak and demonstrate transparency. So be honest in how you reflect on the year that's been and what the year ahead might look like.

[00:15:28] Mel: And the fifth tip was repackage your message in at least three different ways to make sure you reach as many people as possible. So those are my top tips and what I've done for you is pull together a very simple template to help you plan out your message for different audience groups. You'll see it's based on the structure that I've mentioned in this episode and it should help you get your thoughts together in a logical way, but also tailor that message for different audiences.

[00:15:55] Mel: So how do you get it? Excellent question. I'm keeping it super [00:16:00] simple. Just send me an email. Email hello at Heymelcomms.com.au And I'll send it to you. It's my little holiday gift to you. And speaking of holiday gifts, a gift you could give me would be to rate and review the show if you haven't already.

[00:16:16] Mel: Just a couple of seconds of your time is all I need. And that's all it will take to leave a rating, a quick review, subscribe. If you haven't already, it's a gift I will always treasure. So in the meantime, please stay safe and well over this holiday season, and I will see you all again soon for another episode of Less Chatter, More Matter.

[00:16:36] Mel: Keep doing amazing things and bye for now.