Presented at Events by Design Small Staff Association Superheroes Workshop, October 16, 2012

1. Truth, Justice and Internal
Communications
October 16, 2012
Richard Sheehe
www.SheeheGroup.com

2. Sociobiology 101
• Social Interaction takes brainpower
– Brain size in primates correlated to social group size
– Interpret faces, process emotion cues, remember &
manipulate relationships
• Our brain is wired to make snap judgments on
social cohesion & exclusion
• Can outweigh conscious logic or ethics
– Shunning the whistleblower
• Social stress causes disease
– Baboon research
– Whitehall studies
www.SheeheGroup.com

3. Sociobiology 101
• Biochemical basis for alliance or conflict
• Research shows a friendly conversation can
boost oxytosin (trust hormone) levels and
reduce cortisol (stress hormone)
• Linguistic research shows speaking styles
(grammar, tone, slang) in strangers’
conversation align within 30 sec.
• Mirror neurons dedicated to mimicry &
conformity
– Basis for EMPATHY
www.SheeheGroup.com

4. Applied to Internal Communications
Convey:
• Empathy
• Common interests
– “Zoom out” to find shared goals
• Emotional balance
– Keep your own strong emotions in check
– Avoid urge to match rhetoric/tone of
opponents
• Sense of teamwork
– “We” instead of “I”
www.SheeheGroup.com

5. Internal Communications
• Understand:
– various stakeholders & their concerns ( )
• including external & internal audiences
– public mood and external pressures ( )
• Develop:
– Core messages for all stakeholders
– Spur messages for specific stakeholder groups
• Should align w/core messages
• Should complement (& not contradict) other spurs
– Tone to match nature & intensity of situation
www.SheeheGroup.com

6. Internal Communications
Concerns and Pressures
• Stay “human” amid inhuman/corporate
characterizations by critics
•Position efforts as responsible & measured
Tools given context (ie: economy, regulations)
•Internal
•Consider multiple stakeholder groups within
social media
employee base (ie: merit vs. seniority)
•Memo tone
•Fact checks • Fully leverage middle management as
•Transparent ambassadors and sounding boards
process
•CEO access • Maintain close relations between
communications, HR and legal personnel
www.SheeheGroup.com

7. Questions/Follow-up
RichardSheehe
richard@SheeheGroup.com
202-527-2681