Another week, another episode full of knowledge on the Less Chatter, More Matter podcast. However, this week is a special one as we bring to you the perfect case study itself in crisis communications: the Optus outage of 2023.

Last week, the hot crisis comms news came in the form of the colossal bin fire that was the national Optus outage (a.k.a the second largest telecommunications company in Australia) which left over 10 million customers without mobile, their phone, or internet services for over 12 hours. 

Now, over a week later and the mop up continues with what could be deemed the golden case study in what NOT to do for your communications in a crisis. So, we thought we’d dive right in and deliver some hot tips on crisis comms with some real-time examples.

Plus, we'll talk you through some of the things they did right, a lot of the things they did wrong, and why we all need to be prepared for a crisis and what that can look like.

So, let's get into it!

Links mentioned in this episode:

• 3rd Birthday training discount 
• HMC workshops and training

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We live in a digital world, and video inundates every channel we use - from intranets and websites, to social media, messaging apps, and more. But why is it such a powerful communication tool, and what are some of the best-practice tips for getting it right?

Which is what we asked the exceptional video expert, Joseph Bobadilla from Brown Fox Media House, on this week’s episode of the Less Chatter, More Matter podcast. 

We picked Joseph's brains on everything from the big mistakes people make when they use video as a communication tool, all the way to the top tips you can use to get started, even if you’re on a budget. We even dabbled in a bit of chat about artificial intelligence and the opportunities and risks when it comes to video.

So, get your notebook out and let's get into it!

Links mentioned in this episode:

Social handles - Joseph

• Instagram
• TikTok
• LinkedIn

Social handles - Brown Fox Media House

• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Facebook

Links

• Business website 
• Brown Fox Podcast (video marketing) 
• From The Inside Out Podcast (personal) plus on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

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Our worlds revolve around content these days! But, with so many different channels to reach our audiences, and so many different ways of doing it - it can be difficult to figure out the nuances of each and what is going to work best. 

That's why this week's episode of the Less Chatter, More Matter podcast is all about creating and maintaining a content plan for your business or client. This episode touches on how to create content that is purposeful, and how to make sure your channels are kept alive and performing! 

We've even got a FREE content plan template available for you to download! But you'll have to listen in to find out how to grab it.

So, let's get into it! 

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Communication Career Fundamentals online course
• Less Chatter, More Matter mailing list
• My new book! Sign up to find out when pre-sales open

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Welcome back to the Less Chatter, More Matter podcast. This week's episode starts with the impact of mental health in the workplace to celebrate Mental Health Month here in Australia this October. We asked Cherie Canning, founder of Luminate Leadership, to join us on this episode to explore how communication plays an instrumental role in advocating for mental health issues in the workplace. 

When done with mental health in mind, our communication practices can create safe spaces to have conversations, particularly in the workplace. And it's even more fortuitous in a way that the theme for Mental Health Month in 2023 is 'we all have a role to play'. So this episode is really about encouraging people to think about ways we can connect with the people around us in more meaningful, supportive ways.

So, without further adieu, let's get into it! 

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Mental Health First Aid Training: www.luminateleadership.com.au/mhfa
• Luminate Leadership website: www.luminateleadership.com.au
• Follow Luminate on Instagram
• Follow Luminate on LinkedIn
• Connect with Cherie on Instagram
• Connect with Cherie on LinkedIn

About Cherie:
Cherie Canning is a passionate optimist, an avid traveller and the Founder and Director of Luminate Leadership.

After almost two decades of leading teams and running development training at Flight Centre Travel Group, Cherie and her husband Andy were thrown a Covid redundancy curve ball. It was then Cherie knew she had to follow her passion of Leadership development and Luminate Leadership was born. 

Cherie is passionate about creating training and development experiences that challenge people, inspire them and give practical tools to create real life impact in their workplaces and lives.

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It's our third birthday! 
That’s right, Hey Mel! has been offering our communication and training expertise for three big years, full of big business learnings - learnings that we’d love to share with you.

Whether you’re looking to start your very own consultancy, or you’re a lover of all things learning, we’ve got some pretty cool lessons to share from around the world of freelancing and what it could mean for your career. 

That's why this special birthday episode covers some of the key takeaways that the business has compiled over the three years we've been doing it! We've also packed all of said shiny insights in this one, fantastic podcast episode - full of insights you can use across the board in any career.

So... why wait for the fourth birthday? Let's get into it!

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Blog: Three tips for choosing the right channels for your business
• Course: Fresh 2 Freelancing
• Offer: Third birthday 30% discount
• Email update: Sign up here! 

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Gone are the days of simple websites, media releases and CEO emails. These days, we have so many more channels to use and choose. But the challenge is knowing which ones to choose and why!

Especially when a new social media app comes onto the market because it can be really tempting to jump onto it right away. And why not? It's the latest shiny thing and apparently everyone is using it… but, before you do, can you answer whether it will serve your business any good?

Knowing which channels to pick, how to use them, and how to use them well is crucial before heading onto any new media platform. It’s especially important for those who are starting a new business or starting from scratch in an existing business.

That's why we've gathered some tips on how to pick the right channels for your business here.

So, let’s get into it!

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Blog: Three tips for choosing the right channels for your business 

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Do you know what it takes to create a website that is accessible, creative, design friendly, SEO ready, easy to navigate, and fits your brand? All of these things are crucial parts of your website's job in ensuring your brand is taken seriously and that your clients can trust you to deliver on what they need.

Which is exactly why this week's podcast is all about website design. We've asked the fantastic Jessica Panozzo from Feel Good Creative to join us and share some of her insider knowledge on the key aspects to website design, and why it's so important to get it right, no matter if you're a small business or massive organisation.

Jess is the owner of Feel Good Creative, a website design agency in Brisbane, Australia. She's a colour loving, food obsessed, website designer and an ex-accountant, but we won't hold that against her.  She works with creative businesses and all-round good humans to ensure that your digital home communicates a special sauce, stands out from their competition and is a dream for your visitors to use.

She has mastered the art of managing website projects in an efficient, personalised two week period so that you can get back to running your business ASAP. That's why we were stoked to have her on the show to spill the beans on all the website aspects you'll need to know!

Let's dive in.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Website: Feel Good Creative
• Instagram: Feel Good Creative
• Episode 32: What is accessibility and why is it important? (ft. Kelly Thibodeau)

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What exactly is a hard-to-reach person? They're the people in your business who are on the road,  serving customers, on a construction site or simply out of range (like on a plane!).  They aren’t, and simply can’t be, in front of a computer screen all day.

But as the people who are often our frontline employees, it's critical to get organisation-wide messages to them effectively. 

Unfortunately, our traditional internal comms channels, like intranets and emails, are pretty useless a lot of the time.  So where do you start? Much like every communication that we do, we have to start by thinking from our audience's perspective because to put it bluntly: we can't communicate the way we want, we have to do it the way they want.

Luckily for us, the good news is there are a lot of ways to communicate with the 'unwired' workforce very successfully, and some of them might surprise you. And we’ve gone into a bunch of them, right here in this podcast. So, what are you waiting for?

Let's get into it.


Links mentioned in this episode:

• Communication Career Fundamentals course 
• Episode 12: Three ways to avoid the broken communication cascade
• Episode 6: How to tailor your communications for your audiences 
• Blog: Four channels to use to reach auditory learners

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If you’ve ever heard of the terms Pulse survey, or Employee Engagement Survey - then you’ve most likely had to answer a variety of questions surrounding the effectiveness of communications in your organisation.

More specifically, you've most likely had to deal with the repercussions or the aftermath of 'poor communication' being identified in these surveys, and the way by which a company or team handles outcomes like this. But, when it comes to this sort of outcome, it's less likely that a company will actually identify what the poor communication is attributed to, rather than simply trying to address it with more communication.

That's why on this week's episode, we've dived head first into what employees REALLY mean when poor communication is identified, and the ways by which you can fix, work on, or even implement strategies to combat it permanently.

Let's get into it.


Links mentioned in this episode:

• Blog: What employees really mean by ‘poor communication’

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On this week's episode, we dive into a new topic: Accessibility.

We chatted with the incredible Kelly Thibodeau, who is based in Manitoba, Canada, and is the founder of Squarely Accessible - a social media marketing consultancy and training organisation that focuses on accessibility, content strategy, and digital experience. She's a consultant, trainer, and speaker who's been making online marketing make sense for organisations and non-profits for 25 years.

Kelly joins us on this week's episode to shed light on the topic of accessibility in communications. Find out what accessibility in communication really means, why it's important, and how you can make sure your communication is hitting the mark!

Links related to this episode

• Follow Kelly on LinkedIn
• Accessible Social
• Meryl Evans
• WAVE web accessibility evaluation tool
• Colour contrast checker

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