Communications for progressive organisations

Are you struggling to make your messages hit home? A sneaking suspicion that despite all your hard work, your advocacy is failing to inspire? It could be the language you’re using.

Values and frames have a huge impact on how our audiences perceive our messages. I can help your organisation define and inspire the right values in your audiences.

By framing your issue right - via both words and visuals - we can ramp up your impact and engagement and make sure you’re not inadvertently hindering the progressive change you want to see.

As a communications strategist I can also help you turbo-charge your communications output and revitalise your brand.

My communications toolkit makes it easy to do comms brilliantly, even without a full time in-house communications team.

My entertaining training sessions give groups the skills and mindset they need to create communications that work for your organisation and your audiences alike.

Need case studies that really hit home? Let me craft stories that grab your readers’ attention and incite all the right emotions - while honouring the subject matter and the people you work with.

Let’s talk about how we can work together!

My services

Strategy

Where is your organisation going, and how can your communications help you get there? Nailing your communications strategy is a big task that involves a deep dive into your goals, objectives, resources and audiences. Let me help.

Messaging

Did you know your metaphors could be harming your cause? The emerging field of cognitive linguistics provides a wealth of guidance on how to make sure your messages hit home and inspire action. I can analyse how the public talks about your issue, and how you should talk about it to get maximum results.

Training

I adore training groups big and small on how to be brilliant at the basics of messaging and storytelling. By sharing tips, insights and tried-and-tested processes, we’ll make sure your team has everything they need to make communications work for your organisation.

Case studies

I’m a talented writer and interviewer with a flair for making stories come to life. Too often we see stale and stilted case studies that don’t inspire audiences. Hitting the emotional buttons while making sure facts and best practices are respected can be tricky. I’ve got heaps of ideas about how to make your case studies work for you.

Toolkit

Not sure where to start with your organisation’s comms? I can put together a tailormade package just for you, which will leave your team empowered to tell your story successfully and consistently, even without an in-house comms person on hand.

Brand

Brand is key to telling your story. What’s your brand personality? What’s your voice? Together, we can develop and document a strong and memorable brand narrative to make sure everyone you talk to knows exactly what you stand for.

“Thanks again for your knockout presentation last Friday at our conference. Many delegates have told me that yours was their favourite. Our members are better equipped to craft persuasive messages as a result of your session.”

— Leanne Ho, Director, National Social Security Rights Network

“Gemma and I worked alongside each other to develop the organisation’s public profile, and to deliver strong communications that positioned ActionAid as a credible and professional entity to the public, the government and our supporters.

This would not have been possible without Gemma’s superior communications skills - her ability to write a compelling email, produce clear and informative web copy, and her strong understanding of digital and social media.

Gemma’s eye for detail is exceptional. She works well in a team, and provides strong oversight of the quality of an organisation’s communications - nothing poor slips by! Gemma has a great sense of humour that she brings with her to the workplace and is a pleasure to work with!”

— Holly Miller, Head of Global Engagement, ActionAid Australia

“Quite simply Gemma is one of the best communication specialists I have worked with in my time in the sector.

Her professionalism and client service skills have always meant that she has been a dream to work with and the quality of her work means I can confidently bring it to our leadership team at any point.

Where I feel Gemma has added most value is in her strategic thinking. She sees each communication as a part of a supporter journey and always has the end goal in mind.

Her commitment to a rights based approach means that she understands the greater impact of communications pieces on the change we are trying to create in the world and understands the importance of nuance in sensitive campaigns.”

— Verity Appleby, Donor Development Manager, Amnesty International Australia

“Gemma is an experienced communications strategist and a talented content creator. She was very successful in working with our multicultural communities, capturing their unique stories for our online and offline platforms”

— Reg Raghavan, Director, Red Elephant Group