Effective Communication When It Comes to Sustainability
Creative consultancy Radley Yeldar published their report Words that work: effective language in sustainability communications.
The consultancy claims that there has been a shift in the quantity, yet not the quality of communications when it comes to sustainability. And we couldn’t agree more. Thanks to Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future Movement, the climate crisis finally received the media attention is not only deserves, but desperately needs.
However, as the report states, “Progress on sustainability issues is still being held back by communications that lack either the strategic rigour or creativity used to communicate in other spheres.”
How to Progress to the Next Level
1. When communicating sustainability topics, avoid using jargon. Technical terms are great within the industry and when speaking to your co-workers but avoid using complex language when communicating with anyone else. As the report righteously points out, “Nothing kills people’s interest faster than impenetrable jargon.”
2. Stay away from macro communications. As the report identifies, messages like “we have until 2030 to save the planet” are neither unique, nor informative. Be clear about what your company is doing about the issue. Be specific. And make it relatable to your audience.
3. Avoid using the word “sustainability.” Overused words tend to lose their meaning. The word has been abused for greenwashing purposes around the globe, and we must refrain from using it when it comes to specific communications.
One of the key insights from the report is that “On average, the word “sustainability” is repeated 10 times on each sustainability webpage for Forbes top 50 brands. But the most sustainable brands? They only used it once. The most sustainable brands know the word has been used and abused over the years.”
“Sustainability communications sometimes work best when they don’t really talk about sustainability and they just make sense to people in the context of their lives.” - Dr. Arran Stibble
Quick Tips
To ensure you are communicating effectively:
Put your audience first
Bring in diverse voices and opinions
Get specific
Frame is right
Avoid the s-word
Explain the why
Make it personal
Be honest
Make the future tangible
Say it your way
You’ll find a detailed breakdown of each point in the full report here, yet one last takeaway we’d like to share is that whilst not talking about “sustainability” when talking about sustainability seems to make no sense at all, it serves two important purposes:
1. To be able to focus on what matters – focus on the individual topics at hand.
2. To make sustainability the norm – by normalizing the topic you do your part in turning it into a mainstream subject.
Make sure to educate your clients, co-workers, or company to increase the quality over the quantity of communication when it comes to the s-word.
Photo by Cherie Birkner.