This is an interesting presentation showcasing how NASA have connected with people (both internally and externally) through the smart use of Social Media - in particular Twitter. It is kind of cool to be able Tweet and astronaut. Once people get past thinking that Social Media is only for Paris Hilton to share her exploits and realise it is one of the most impacting, accessible and targeted media forms - that is ironically FREE, we will see more larger corporations and ideally, Governments, communicating to people who want to be communicated with via this media.

The day of the blanket media campaign are coming to an end, just like the dinosaur. From the smallest of businesses to giant global corporations - accepting that the way people want to communicate is changing rapidly is the first step.

Well I have have become a confirmed Tweeter in the last few weeks and little bit by little bit I am starting to really understand how effective Twitter can be for communication.

It is the perfect way to do quick updates, to share information with people following you and who are interested in what is going on in your world or simply to stay connected with a group of like mind followers.

So in the spirit of Twitter, I would like to build up my followers. If you are a Twittee - drop me a line - www.twitter.com/AGauthor.

I have spent most of the day working on a Communication Strategy for a client of mine to help them overcome some internal challenges that have evolved. It has been a while since I sat down to write a document like this but as often seems the case, writing this plan reinforced an idea that I had not forgotten but one that I had let slip to the back of my mind. 

In this strategy I had to address every stakeholder that this business has to deal with and come up with a way to communicate the changes that are occuring in a way that perhaps lessens the initial panic that change tends to create. In doing this I came across some old notes of mine, reinforcing the value of answering the question - “what’s in it for me?”. 

Now whilst I don’t like this attitude, the reality is that this is where most people are very comfortable in the face of change. They want to know how the coming changes will affect them - they may be interested in how the changes will affect the business, the suppliers, the other staff etc, but generally, and understandably, their main focus will be on their own life.

Hence anyone who is a leader, or anyone who finds themselves having to have to communicate change to others, will really benefit from putting themselves in the other persons shoes and asking “what’s in this for me?”.

Once you do this you can tailor make your communication to actually answer that question. The challenge is that most leaders and communicators are too busy focusing on their “what’s in it for me?” instead of the people they are talking to - “whats in it for me?”. OK - terrible grammar and awful punctuation but you get the drift. 

This really does make the whole change process so much easier.  I actually call this concept “THE ME MYTH” and I am developing a book based around the benefits of empathy when used in business, relationships and personal growth and development.