Think on Your Feet® to manage diverse audiences, simplify complex topics and respond effectively in high-pressure situations.
Effective communication in public sector roles is challenging due to the complexity of the environment, the audience and the work itself. Our public sector clients identify these three main verbal communication challenges:
Communicating with diverse audiences – often addressing stakeholders like the public, policymakers, media and advocacy groups, each with varying expertise, expectations and communication preferences.
- Challenge: Tailoring messages to suit everyone can be tough – what works for policymakers, might confuse the public.
- Impact: Poorly aligned communication risks misunderstandings or disengagement.
Explaining complex topics – many roles require simplifying technical subjects like policies, budgets or public health guidelines – often using bureaucratic jargon.
- Challenge: Translating this into clear, relatable language is difficult.
- Impact: Ineffective communication can cause confusion, erode trust or spread misinformation.
Balancing transparency with sensitivity – workers need to be open and clear while remaining tactful and avoiding unnecessary panic or offense.
- Challenge: Sharing too much can cause alarm, while withholding details can damage trust.
- Impact: Miscommunication can lead to public scrutiny, panic or controversy.
To overcome these challenges clients choose Think on Your Feet® to help their employees to effectively convey ideas, listen to stakeholders and collaborate across teams.
Effective communication in high-stress public sector roles
But how does Think on Your Feet® help the public sector workers to structure their communication effectively in these high-stress roles?
Communicating under pressure – when handling emergencies, public inquiries or high-profile meetings. Miscommunication during these moments can cause confusion, mistrust or failure.
- Solution: Think on Your Feet® teaches participants to organise their thoughts and communicate clearly, concisely, and persuasively – even in high-pressure situations.
- Result: Improved communication builds trust, strengthens inter-agency collaboration and ensures effective responses in critical incidents.
Adapting to unpredictable scenarios – when dealing with diverse stakeholders, like politicians and cross-departmental teams, requires flexibility. Crisis situations make this even harder, demanding clear and quick communication.
- Solution: Think on Your Feet® equips participants with tools for maintaining professionalism and adaptability, focusing on Clarity, Brevity and Impact™.
- Result: Workers confidently deliver clear updates and instructions, ensuring all stakeholders are informed and reassured.
Maintaining verbal agility – when briefing ministers, answering media questions or responding to inquiries requires quick thinking and the ability to simplify complex topics for any audience.
- Solution: Think on Your Feet® provides a framework for starting with high-level insights and then explaining details clearly and effectively.
- Result: Professionals communicate confidently and clearly, enhancing credibility and public trust in government institutions.
Enhancing public engagement – when explaining policies, budgets, or emergency responses demands clarity and simplicity to avoid eroding public trust.
- Solution: Think on Your Feet® helps participants simplify jargon and deliver concise, relatable messages, fostering transparency and accountability.
- Result: Clear communication strengthens public confidence and ensures audiences feel informed and engaged.
Streamlining collaboration – policy development and projects often require cross-departmental collaboration. Miscommunication can lead to inefficiency and misaligned strategies.
- Solution: Think on Your Feet® teaches quick information processing and effective communication to propose solutions and align teams.
- Result: Better teamwork leads to cohesive strategies, agile operations and improved public service outcomes.
Think on Your Feet®
Think on Your Feet® is a 2 day workshop, delivered face-to-face or online, that equips public sector workers with essential communication skills to structure their ideas quickly and effectively. It fosters a habit of clear, concise and structured communication that remains consistent across various situations and audiences. It:
- Structures your message: Providing six core communication plans and three support plans to ensure you organise your thoughts clearly, ensuring consistent and understandable messages in any situation.
- Encourages brevity and focus: It teaches you to eliminate unnecessary details, keeping your message clear and concise to avoid overload and maintain consistency.
- Boosts confidence: Through practice, you’ll gain confidence in delivering clear, consistent messages, even under pressure – improving impromptu responses and Q&A sessions.
- Considers your listener: It helps you tailor messages to your audience’s needs, ensuring relevance, engagement and a consistent tone.
Think on Your Feet® to master Clarity, Brevity and Impact™
Think on Your Feet® helps you package responses to tough questions – when caught-on-the-spot.
We teach you six tried and tested communication ‘structures’ – to help you respond quickly and concisely; and Bridging techniques, which help you deal with those really tricky questions! Ensuring you can deal with whatever is thrown at you – so you’ll never be caught on-the-spot again!
Delivered worldwide – online or face-to-face. Indigo is an official Think on Your Feet® distributor. Find out more about Think on Your Feet® here.
