Ron McCall has a diagram he calls the"Wheel of Fortune" (below) on the structure of an executive communications program. Key executives are the hub, since they are most publicly
responsible for effective communication.
- "Corporate strategy is most important... Any communicator who doesn't understand emotionally and intellectually what drives that strategy is not going to get any
credibility in the executive suite."
- "You have to understand the issues driving that strategy." Issues are fluid, so arrows run in both directions. Identify at most three of the most important issues you can
focus on in a 12-month period.
- Speech production is where most companies start this process, McCall says. "That's the crazy part... people get frazzled because they start at the middle of the wheel
instead of on top."
- Support is key. "Support needs to come from sherpas. I'm a sherpa. It's not our job to get to the top of the mountain, but to help the Edmund Hillarys get there... [we]
carry the ropes and oxygen."
- Media support is the up-front stuff.
- The postmortem is an evaluation of the speech. "The speechwriter and the speaker meet to discuss 'What did we do right? What did we do wrong? How can we do better? How did
we move the issue? Was the message strong enough?'"