Posture is Back
And Front, and Sideways, and Changing
It used to be, whenever anything new would emerge, that one of the first questions someone would ask would be, are we going to be active or passive. Are we going to leverage all opportunities to tell this story or are we going to stay low key and only respond if asked. These labels would even be written in plans and strategies, Communication Posture: Active.
The active/passive dilemma was so easy to resolve. Like a light switch, turn it on or turn it off. Once the binary decision was made, you could turn the task over to your media desk or other junior staff.
Over time, life got more complicated.
One day, we woke up and realized that it is much more like a dimmer switch. As circumstances unfold, we may need to become a little more active or a little more passive and be flexible enough to adjust slightly in either direction. Maybe start passive and as inquiries increase, slide the dimmer a bit. Maybe switch to full-on active. Story drifting away, maybe tone our outreach down a smidge. An important distinction, and yet, I haven’t seen the dimmer referenced in any strategy.
And then came the grand awakening. The epiphany. In our complex world today, especially during a crisis, with constantly changing information and a bevy of stakeholders with different needs, we have learned to manage our posture more like an equalizer in a sound recording studio. The sound engineer knows that sometimes they must turn the low mid frequency knob up to provide more warmth and the high frequency knob down to reduce brightness. In stakeholder engagement, think of the knobs as the different stakeholders. They need different things. We need different things from each of them. The media may want a soundbite. Congressional Members may need a detailed briefing. Private sector partners likely need to know how to help. And still, for each of them, needs, capabilities, and messages change frequently, up and down.
Be a sound engineer. Know your stakeholders and keep adjusting as necessary.
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