Communicating change in turbulent times

How managers can remove roadblocks to visual simplicity

We are experiencing unprecedented levels of change as professionals and as humans — more so now than ever. This disruptive change is dramatically affecting the way we work, communicate, and lead. It’s time for leaders of all kinds to step up their communication.

To help them navigate through a constantly changing landscape, people crave communication from their leaders… communication that is frequent and informative, but also reassuring and inspiring. After all, empathetic and thoughtfully planned communication can make people feel secure, confident, engaged, and empowered to forge ahead, even amidst the fog of uncertainty.

Storytelling is one of the most important techniques you can use to communicate change and mobilize people to make it a reality. By using the right kinds of story techniques at the right time, leaders can move people to embrace and act on transformative ideas. In fact, the journey of change itself follows a five-act story structure, a structure that was first revealed in the award-winning book, Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols, by Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez.

Watch this on-demand webinar, which took place on the 5-year birthday of Illuminate, for a talk and Q&A with the book’s co-authors and learn about how we at Duarte have used these same principles to lead our organization through change for over 35 years.

You’ll learn

• What story is and why it moves people
• How change mirrors the shape of a story
• When to use stories, speeches, ceremonies, and symbols
• How Duarte leaders used story-based communication to catalyze business transformations