Listen. Communicate. Assess. Repeat.
The samples below are used with permission, but please do not share them around since they were created for internal use.
The Weekly newsletter
I produced and wrote over 100 editions of a weekly newsletter at Environmental Defense Fund, including opening statements in the voice of our leadership team. The tone, content, and length of the newsletter was highly praised, and the readership was well above what we were seeing from verbose C-Suite emails. We accomplished our goal of reducing scattershot messaging, by saying “if you read one thing this week, read The Weekly.”
And for good measure, here are some of the anonymous comments received — overall feedback sentiment was over 95% positive.
The Ford Explorer newsletter
The head of communications at the Ford Foundation asked me to create and produce a physical newsletter to be distributed in our offices around the world on a monthly basis. It was a lot of fun — and a lot of work — to write and publish, but only lasted seven months as we transitioned our storytelling to our newly built intranet, Fordify.
Keep in mind that the samples below are paginated for print, so it may seem like the pages are out of order.
Office Norm
This was a very fun project. I was tasked to come up with an engaging change management campaign for our organization’s dramatic culture shift from 90% of staff having private offices to 90% of staff being in an open floor plan.
I came up with Office Norm — a character for an internal comic strip to communicate office norms and best practices in a playful yet memorable way. The artwork for the strip was created by a coworker from our design team. If you happen to be a pun lover — I fully embrace dad jokes — Norm has a colleague named Val Hughes who represents the embodiment of the organization's core values.
Kevin’s remarkable 9/11 story
In my experience, stories about your organization’s people will always outperform features highlighting work-related milestones or updates. Learning about colleagues is the way connections are formed between individuals, and with the organization.
This feature is longer form than I would typically write for an internal audience (400 words or less is best practice), but Kevin’s story was so unique and fascinating that it was worth bending the rules. This article, published in September 2021, was one of the most read and liked of the year.
Big news from from the president
While it is important to craft internal communications with clear, conversational language, some messages will require a more formal tone — particularly major announcements from leadership. Here is an example of a writing collaboration with the Office of the President. This process always involves a bit of back and forth and finessing, our president had a very specific voice, and a strong opinion about word choice!
Recognizing excellence and achievments
Simple stories that recognize and celebrate staff are always a win-win. Every organization is made up of people, and lifting them up is a key pillar of internal comms.
