18138_Authority_Feb

14 The Authority | February 2025 P romoting T rust through S torytelling By Lindsay Hughes, Manager of Administration an d Public Relations, North Penn Water Authority Communications is a very broad term that encompasses many important functions. By now, we know communications is important but figuring out how to implement a comms strategy can be a little more challenging, especially when your primary responsibility is running your authority. At their core, communicators are storytellers . We work interdepartmentally and with our management team to find the most compelling stories that illustrate the messages we need our audience to hear. Sometimes the story is meant to elicit a call to action, like customers reporting their service line material, or the story reiterates a core message of serving the community. At North Penn Water Authority (NPWA), where we have a dedicated Public Relations team, we spend a lot of time finding and developing these stories, crafting the messages, and figuring out the best mode of communication. I know not every organization has a dedicated communications staff person, let alone a team, so I want to highlight a few ways everyone can recognize a good story and communicate it to your audience, whether you are the dedicated comms person at your authority or communications is one of the many hats you wear. Develop Messaging Develop some messaging for your authority. This is likely already written down in the form of your mission and organizational goals but those statements need to be finessed for your audience. You can start by writing a few “sound bite” sized sentences for each of the following: WHO is your organization? Who makes up your staff? WHAT does your organization do? How does it serve the community? What are the strategic goals of the organization? WHERE are you located and what is your service area? WHEN are you fulfilling your mission? Or for project specific messaging, when will a project take place? When are you reaching the strategic goals? and WHY does your organization do what it does? Why does it have the mission it has? Take time to write these things down. This can help guide which stories you tell and how you tell them. You’ll want to weave your messages into the stories. If you’re having trouble coming up with the right words, hop onto ChatGPT and ask it to help you develop some messaging. Recycle Content An easy way to come up with content, especially for Facebook or a customer newsletter, is to look at stories you have already shared. Seasonal reminders, holiday posts and professional recognition “holidays” like Engineers Week. Updating your story with current numbers, staff and new achievements will refresh the content. These types of stories can be shared on social media with a graphic, newsletters and for the newsworthy ones, you can reach out to a local reporter to see if they have an interest in speaking to an expert from your organization about your story. You don’t always have to write a press release to reach out to members of the media. Spotlight Staff on the Frontlines Everyday, the people on the frontlines are collecting stories. Spend time asking a meter tech or a customer service associate what the highlight of their week was. They likely have wonderful stories that illustrate the connection between your employees, the critical service you provide, and your customers. Not only do your external stakeholders want to hear these connections, but your staff should hear these stories too. Don’t let internal communications fall to the wayside. Your staff are your most captive audience and have potential to