Brief: An overview that is usually given to an agency.

For example if you wanted

to change your employee magazine supplier, you would create a document
describing what the work was you wanted them to pitch for (a brief), outlining
information such as budget, team details, timescales and any sensitivities.

Copy: Text that is written in a story or on a page: Can you send me the copy
refers to the writing. Body copy means the text in the main part of the story.

Crisis communication: Also called crisis comms or business continuity plans

(bcp). Reactive information and plans that evolve due to an unplanned event or
circumstance that disrupts business as usual. Covers a multitude of situations
such as bad weather, IT system failures, serious incidents the list is endless.
Often leads to channels such as emergency information hotlines being used.

Earned media: Customers and/or stakeholders become the channel with their
content blogs, tweets, YouTube, word of mouth, viral, proactive, influencer
outreach etc

Employee engagement: A workplace approach designed to ensure that

employees are committed to their organisations goals and values, motivated to
contribute to organisational success, and are able at the same time to enhance
their own sense of well-being. Plus Creating the conditions in which employees
offer more of their capability and potential. These definitions are from Engage
for Success.

Focus group: A small selection of people, often employees or customers, who

are asked to give honest opinions on a situation or product. Should be crossfunctional (representing more than one department/location). Uses group
interaction to gain insight into why certain views are held.

Ghostwriting: When something is written by someone else. E.g. An email from a

CEO is actually written by an internal communicator.

HR: Human Resources.

Internal communication (IC): Also referred to as Internal Comms, Int Comms,

iComms. (Im seeing it increasingly with the s removed e.g. internal
communication professional). Internal communication is communication inside an
organisation between a company and its audiences. This can include employees,
contractors, shareholders, suppliers, stakeholders, unions, potential employees
and more. Therefore not always strictly internal as audiences can include
external parties. Includes both informal and formal communication and can also
be called Employee communication.

Internal comms plan: How and what the company is communicating. Typically
one plan per topic/campaign. You need a structured approach to connect desired
business outcomes with effective, relevant activities and tactics and it should be
linked to the goals of your business. Think about the desired behaviours first
(what you want employees to think/feel/do/say differently) before choosing
channels. IC plans should include information such as strategy, tactics,
channels/methods of communication, measurement, budget, audiences,
timescales, key messages and sensitivities.

Intranet: An intranet is an internal website that employees in an organisation

can access. It often contains company news, job vacancies, policies, images,
employee directory, organisational charts etc.

Key message: Your key message could also be called a take-away. Its the
most important piece or pieces of information that you wish to convey through
your communication. Common practice is to have no more than three key
messages as any more than that is difficult to remember.

Paid media: Channels you pay to leverage paid search, display ads, sponsored
tweets, etc.

Pitch: A process in which decisions are made. Think of it as a presentation. For

example an IC team could ask three internal communication agencies to present
(pitch) their ideas to them of what they would do to change the existing
employee magazine, should they successfully win the business. They take a lot of
work on both sides, both in-house and agency, in order to make the right decision
all round.

PR: Public Relations.

ROI: Return on investment. Phrase given to the proof that something is worth
putting time, money and effort into.

Social media: Social media is the collective of online communication channels

dedicated to community-based input, interaction and collaboration.

Strategy: A plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.

Includes setting the goals, choosing the most appropriate channels and
identifying the method of evaluation. Internal communication strategy should be
linked to your business strategy

Vlog: Video blogging

Channels youve outlined what youre trying to achieve, here you detail the
communication channels/methods you will use and when. Ensure you have
effective feedback mechanisms and two-way channels in place for employees to
have their voices heard and views acted upon.

Timeline this is useful to ensure your strategy gets underway, it helps outlines
expectations all round and is mindful of any key dates or events.

Measurement how the strategy will define and measure success. Should
include what success looks like and what the next steps are. This can include
updating the strategy at defined periods or reviewing the measurement you put
in place at regular intervals.

SWOT Strenght, Weaknesses, opportunities, threats

KPI key performance indicators