This interactive, practical training will equip you with the tools to turn complex information into clear, engaging communication. It will help you explain specialist topics to audiences who do not share the same knowledge, context or expertise. Whether communicating organisational change, business strategy, technical projects or operational updates, the challenge is the same: making complex ideas easy to understand.

Across two highly interactive sessions, you will learn how to diagnose communication problems, structure information clearly, simplify complex messages and use stories and visuals to improve understanding and retention. You will also explore practical techniques for creating clarity in meetings, presentations and everyday workplace communication taken directly from their your working environments.

You will leave with a toolkit of practical frameworks and techniques that can be applied immediately to reduce misunderstandings, improve audience engagement and communicate with greater clarity and confidence.

Who should attend?

Internal communicators working around Levels 1 and 2 of the IOIC Profession Map. 

The course is particularly valuable for professionals who regularly translate information between subject matter experts and employee groups, and who want to make their communication easier to understand, remember and act upon.

The course is especially relevant for those who find themselves saying:
"I know what I mean, but I'm struggling to explain it." "My stakeholders keep misunderstanding the message." "People ask questions I've already answered." "My updates feel too detailed or too vague."

Learning objectives

By the end of the training, you will be able to:

• Diagnose common causes of confusion and misunderstanding.
• Explain complex topics using stories, examples and visual techniques.
• Adapt the level of detail to suit different audiences.
• Create greater clarity in meetings, presentations and workplace discussions.
• Simplify information without losing important meaning.

The course will cover

Part one (20th November, 9:30 - 12:30):

Spotting Communication Problems

• How to diagnose where communication is failing.
• How expertise can interfere with communication.
• How people actually process information.
• What does the audience know? What do they need to know? What do they need to do?
• Ways to engage a generalist audience: stories, metaphors, examples using their industry, visuals.
• Exercise in pairs: Explain a complex topic to your partner with which they are unfamiliar.

Story Structure

• The Hero’s Journey: beginning, middle and end.
• Stand-up comedy stories.
• Your subjective experiences.
• Solo exercise: communicate a complex idea using a short story.

Keep It Simple

• Identifying what your audience actually needs to know.
• Exercise: Communicate a complex business issue to different audiences.
• Avoiding information overload with ruthless editing.
• Two groups exercise: The Presentation Elements card game.

Part two (27th November, 9:30 - 12:30)

Practical Scenarios

• Real participant scenarios e.g. meetings, presentations.
• Exercise: Apply the course techniques to a current workplace challenge.
• Asking better questions, keeping discussions focused, summarising and driving clarity.
• Exercise: Meeting simulations and structured discussion practice.

Visual Communication

• Choosing between words, diagrams, charts and images.
• Common visual communication mistakes.
• Exercise in pairs: participants must remove unnecessary information from an overloaded slide or document and redesign it for maximum clarity.
• Solo exercise: communicate a complex idea using scrappy sketches: simple shapes, arrows and labels.

Embedding Clarity at Work

• Summing up and conclusion.
• Toolkit creation.
• Personal action planning.
• Future scenario planning.

Additional Benefits

Additional benefits include:

• Eight CPD Points for IOIC Members
• Pre and post course access to Canvas, the IOIC's online learning environment, where you will find all course materials and be able to engage with their fellow participants through forum discussions
• Places are strictly limited to ensure every participant gains the support and guidance they need, and to facilitate maximum opportunity for interaction, connection and engagement.

Please note that we use Zoom for our online courses. Please ensure that you are able to access this system where you are based before booking your place. All times are in GMT.