Improved Communication Skills

In a crisis management context involving multinational civilian and military actors, Strategic Communication combines internal and external communication processes at all levels based on mission-specific, superior guidance. It involves the understanding and engaging of foreign and domestic audiences within a comprehensive approach. Communication is not an optional add-on to coalition operations. It must be employed from the beginning and shape both the design and implementation of crisis management activity. The following prospective assumptions (hypotheses for concept development) describe the conceptual approach to Strategic Communication: - Common Guidance Issued: If there is common guidance for coalition information activities issued by strategic-political authorities, then contradictory messaging by coalition partners will be minimized. - Leadership-Driven: If Strategic Communication is leadership-driven, then it will become effective throughout all levels of involvement ('ver...

Educational institutions are responding to the perceived need for new ways of planning, developing, and implementing communication programs. In the last two years, a growing number of educational institutions offer programs in strategic communication, usually at the master's level. Prospective students can search the Internet for available programs.

Strategic Communications in Commercial Environment is the non-military application of strategic communication principles and techniques are a new way for organizations to respond to a changed business landscape that results from today's networked communication environment. Back in the day, organizations could segment publics and audiences and target unique messages to each one. Employees, investors, partners, citizens of local communities, potential buyers and consumers could each receive messages that were not widely known or shared by the other groups. Now, all potential publics and audiences can access information about the organization. Providing dissimilar, even contradictory information is no longer possible and may even be problematic. Consumers see information targeted to investors and partners, employees see messages sent to members of the community. In short, with little effort, almost everyone can see almost everything. Within organizations, the need to integrate communi...

The recently approved NATO Policy on Strategic Communication defines Strategic Communication as "the coordinated and appropriate use of NATO communications activities and capabilities – Public Diplomacy, Military Public Affairs, Information Operations and Psychological Operations, as appropriate – in support of Alliance policies, operations and activities, and in order to advance NATO's aims" (SG(2009)0794). "It is important to underline that Strategic Communication is first and foremost a process that supports and underpins all efforts to achieve the Alliance's objectives; an enabler that guides and informs our decisions, and not an organization in itself. It is for this reason that Strategic Communication considerations should be integrated into the earliest planning phases - communication activities being a consequence of that planning"

Strategic Communication (SC) provides a conceptual umbrella that enables organizations to integrate their disparate messaging efforts. It allows them to create and distribute communications that, while different in style and purpose, have an inner coherence. This consistency can, in some instances, foster an echo chamber that reinforces the organizational message and brand. At minimum, it prevents contradictory, confusing messaging to different groups across all media platforms.

Strategic communication at its nascent ancient application begun with the first attempts to transmit knowledge through writing either to the following generations, or to locations remote to its origin. The need to increase the distance and speed of transmission may have been one of the factors behind the domestication of the horse which remained the primary mode of communication until the invention of the semaphore, and later the telegraph. The business management reference for Strategic Communication may be the concept of Integrated Management Communication.

Strategic Communication can mean either communicating a concept, a process, or data that satisfies a long term strategic goal of an organization by allowing facilitation of advanced planning, or communicating over long distances usually using international telecommunications or dedicated global network assets to coordinate actions and activities of operationally significant commercial, non-commercial and military business or combat and logistic subunits. It can also mean the related function within organisations that takes care of internal and external communication processes.