Top books for mastering communication

Communications professionals are often stretched and pulled in different directions, particularly those working in small organisations.

When you’re working on lots of projects and absorbed in work, it can be hard to find time to develop your skills. But it’s important to take time out to build your knowledge and learn new things.

Reading is a good way to do that. It can give you practical tips and guidance on different areas of charity communication. For example, you may want to read about developing a communications strategy or find out how to improve your charity’s internal communication.

There are a lot of benefits to professional development and learning. It can give you a fresh perspective on your work and help you to solve a problem you’ve been struggling with. It may also help you to progress in your career and get a promotion.

For this article, we’ve done some research and picked out a mixture of books and online resources to help you develop your skills and knowledge. Below are our top five.

Using storytelling in your communications

Sharing people’s stories is a crucial part of charity communications. They help to bring a charity’s work to life and show the impact it’s making.

If you need some help with storytelling at your charity, then have a look at Storytelling for Impact, written by charity copywriter Sarah Myers.

Part of the Directory of Social Change’s (DSC) Speed Read Series, the book looks at how to use storytelling in your charity’s communications.

It provides guidance on identifying storytellers and how to sensitively work with people who are sharing stories. It also includes keys questions to ask people.

The DSC Speed Read Series aims to give information quickly to readers who are short on time. They provide guidance on a wide range of subjects, including communications. The books include top tips, case studies and information about where to get more ideas on the subject matter.

Developing a communications strategy

It’s important to have a clear comms strategy that sets out how you’ll use communication to support objectives. If you’re not sure how to approach a communication strategy, then Make it matter: creating communications strategies for the non-profit sector is a good place to start.

Published by CharityComms and written by Joe Barrell, director of Eden Stanley, Make it matter gives you the tools and knowledge to develop an effective communications strategy.

The book sets out key decisions that you need to make and a process to follow to develop a communication strategy. It includes interviews with communications directors from organisations such as the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, the National Trust, and Stonewall.

Making your website accessible

“Having an accessible website doesn’t mean your website just works better for people with disabilities. It means your website and its content is more accessible to everybody.”

This is one of the key messages in a toolkit from the Media Trust, which offers tips to make sure your website is up to date and accessible.

Websites Unlocked, published in October 2023, says accessibility is about considering the needs of all your users and their situations. For example, some people may have a disability, others may be using a slow internet connection and others may be in a rush to get information.

It’s important for charities to make their websites accessible, as their services depend on reaching as many people as possible. For example, you need to think about the design of your website such as the colour contrast and add image alt text (a description of a photo on a website).

Building strong relationships with colleagues

To do their jobs well, charity communicators need to be able to work effectively with everyone in their organisation. For example, you may need to work with your fundraising team to produce a supporter newsletter, support your policy colleagues to launch a new research paper or help the CEO to communicate an organisational restructure.

To build strong relationships, you need to communicate effectively with people. This means being able to get your message across clearly and listen in a way that makes the other person feel heard.

Since the pandemic, more people are working remotely, so it’s even more important to communicate well with colleagues. For example, on email or in a WhatsApp group.

Author Vicki McLeod’s book Effective communication at work provides tips on how to write and speak clearly and accurately with colleagues.

It also looks at the importance of practising mindfulness, empathy, and self-awareness in the workplace to build strong relationships.

Putting digital tools in place

If you want to improve your digital skills and learn about embedding digital tools and processes in your organisation, the NCVO is a good place to start. It’s online guidance covers everything from carrying out a digital skills survey – so you can understand what digital skills you have in your charity – to choosing new software and digital tools.

If you’re looking to commission a digital agency or freelancer to build a new website, there’s advice on building a good working relationship. And if you want to reduce the barriers that people who use your services face in accessing digital, there is a section on digital inclusion.