Category: Communication

How do communication bridges enhance ethical research?

Written by Wyvill Leanne on 15 October 2025. Posted in Business writing, Communication.

Researchers are well-versed in the ethical principles governing their work, including informed consent, data privacy, and the integrity of scientific inquiry.

The ethical landscape, however, extends beyond the lab or field to encompass how researchers share their findings with the world.

Here are some practical ‘bridges’ for connecting with stakeholders, which reflect the key principles of ethical research communication.

Key principles of ethical communication

But first, what does ethical communication look like?

Recognises diverse cultural protocols and languages
Encourages 2-way communication and shared decision-making
Respects cultural knowledge and intellectual property
Commits to privacy and informed consent
Deals with power dynamics
Identifies and removes bias
Navigates language barriers
Narrows knowledge gaps
Crosses generational divides
Fills emotional voids sensitively
Overcomes technological inequity
Builds and maintains trust

We’ll explore some of these characteristics further on.

Communication bridges

A communication bridge is a deliberate effort to make information flow a two-way process.

Communication bridges shape messages in various formats to overcome barriers to sharing meaning. Like literal bridges, they connect two points that would otherwise be separate.

For research in particular, they serve to translate complex concepts (without condescension) into terms that different types of audiences can grasp.

They help move a conversation from dry facts and figures to a point of understanding and shared purpose.

Communication bridges can connect writers with readers (and presenters with audiences) through:

Language choices
Knowledge familiarity
Cultural considerations
Generational awareness
Emotional engagement
Technology range

Now let’s connect these concepts of communication bridges and ethical research.

Ethical research communication bridges

Here are 9 ways you can use communication bridges to extend the reach, understanding and trust in your research:

1. Preference Plain Language to make the science easier to understand.

2. Use precise language to avoid misleading your readers/audiences.

3. Prioritise the key points so your readers/audiences don’t get lost in the details

4. Respect the humanity of research participants by using “person-first” language, not scientific terms.

5. Acknowledge limitations to protect audiences from making decisions based on incomplete information.

6. Slow the “spin” to manage expectations, discourage sugar-coating, and counter sensationalism.

7. Contextualise findings to show how the research fits in with what is already known and what is still unknown, optimising the force of familiarity.

8. Engage respectfully with diverse perspectives, being open to feedback and constructive dialogue.

9. Vary technology choices, opting for the platforms and channels your readers/audiences prefer.

Addressing power dynamics ethically

Power dynamics affect the trust your readers/audiences have in your communication bridges – how messages are framed, worded, and delivered.

Their perception of your credibility as an expert, especially if they hold scientists in high regard, can influence whether they accept and interpret your messages favourably. It’s a position of power that’s tempting to exploit.

Sometimes your audience has a stronger position of power such as funders and policy designers, which can influence your communication choices.

Conscious communication choices help you manage power dynamics, such as:

Consulting stakeholders throughout (not just at the start or end) of a project
Genuinely inviting and considering feedback
Ensuring research findings are accessible to all stakeholders
Acknowledging past mistakes or inept methods
Using inclusive language
Adapting communication styles
Striving for equitable representation in research teams and communication materials

Tactics for managing bias risks

As with other communication scenarios, the risk of bias influencing messages and responses can be high.

Universal types of bias that can emerge include:

Personal
Similarity
Curse of knowledge
False consensus
Courtesy
Cultural
Narrative fallacy
Language
Social desirability
Groupthink/herd mentality

When you are trying to effect significant change through your research (e.g. in policy, behaviour, resource allocation), highlighting bias is a common way for others to suspect or undermine your efforts.

Check your communication before it goes public with these 7 tactics:

1. Use neutral language that doesn’t reinforce outdated stereotypes

2. Seek community input about preferred terminology, technology, location, etc.

3. Compare multiple perspectives as well as data when validating research findings.

4. Corroborate findings with members of the communities that the data represents before you share it widely.

5. Ask colleagues to identify and address potential biases during peer reviews.

6. Include collaborators from different backgrounds to bring more perspective variety to the research process.

7. Clearly state any potential biases or limitations in research reports and communication materials.

Ethical communication is a researcher’s professional responsibility. It ensures their work is presented in ways that reflect the common elements of ethics: respect, honesty and truth, transparency and openness, accuracy, integrity and fairness.

It’s the key to establishing and maintaining trust so that stakeholders can be confident about the value of research outcomes for decision-making and societal benefits.

If you’d like more practical tips on ethical research communication, request a free resource via email to service@presencecommunications.com.au.

And if you’d like to become a more confident communicator, whether or not research is your remit, book a complimentary, unconditional Communication Coaching Clarity Call.

Book a Communication Coaching Clarity Call

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“Good at English” doesn’t always mean “good at communicating”

Written by Wyvill Leanne on 8 September 2025. Posted in Communication.

So, you were “good at English” in high school.

Does that make a difference to your paycheck now, no matter what industry or occupation you’re currently in?

It’s a question most people never consider. But the truth is, the literacy skills you took for granted in the classroom are the very ones that decide your career trajectory.

So, the answer is yes.

Literacy helped you gain all the other knowledge and skills you’ve needed to get to where you are today. But literacy skills alone only get you so far.

Why being “literate” isn’t enough anymore

It’s communication – your ability to interpret, apply, and refine foundational literacy skills to real-world business situations – that enables you to perform at your peak.

And to become a “communication shapeshifter”: writing a technical document that a non-expert can understand, then crafting an executive summary that grabs attention in a single glance, followed by presenting a case online where every word must be compelling… all before lunchtime!

That’s why professionals who level up their literacy skills to hone communication competence don’t just get by; they get ahead.

Strong communication skills are consistently ranked by employers as a critical capability. A recent Jobs and Skills Australia report highlighted the “communicate and collaborate” skills cluster as likely to see the largest growth across all occupations.

The smartest investment you can make isn’t in crypto or real estate; it’s in your own ability to communicate like the leader you want to become. And strong literacy is the foundation that primes and positions you for the role.

Why ongoing literacy development matters

Today – International Literacy Day – is not just some feel-good educational initiative.

Business success depends on it, too. According to Ai Group’s Counting the cost: Addressing the impact of low levels of literacy and numeracy in the workplace report, a staggering 88% of Australian businesses are affected by low levels of literacy and numeracy. Poor completion of workplace documents, time wastage, and a lack of staff confidence and willingness to take on new work are just some of the impacts.

The leap from literacy to communication closes the aspiration gap between being heard and being ignored, between leading meetings and sitting silently, between writing your own ticket and watching others write theirs.

When you can express your thoughts clearly in writing, you project competence and attention to detail. When you speak with precision and clarity, you command attention and respect. The power combo of literacy and communication enables you to choose the right words, structure your thoughts logically, and adapt your communication style to different audiences.

Today, think about and thank the grown-ups in your early years who insisted that you develop strong literacy skills.

And if you want to take them to the next level, so you can communicate more confidently and effectively, let’s talk about how I can help you.

Book a complimentary, unconditional Communication Coaching Clarity Call.

Book a Communication Coaching Clarity Call

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Communication is a survival skill

Written by Wyvill Leanne on 27 August 2025. Posted in Communication.

It’s National Skills Week in Australia (25-31 August).

But you know what the most important skillset is, no matter what your vocation, trade or profession?

Communication.

That’s why the entrepreneurship program I deliver as a TAFE Queensland business mentor and third party provider focuses on articulating the value of an enterprise so potential clients and customers are motivated to buy.

It’s also why the professional writing and editing qualifications I teach through Linden College’s Creative Business Academy are in demand – even the best, most innovative or game-changing ideas have no impact if their value is not understood by the people who will benefit.

Communication capability is not an innate trait or talent. Just like physical ones, our metaphorical communication muscles can be strengthened and flexed through intentional development and consistent practice.

It’s one of the first skills we honed as newborns. It’s how we learned to have our needs met and our trust and gratitude recognised so we could develop all our other abilities. We wouldn’t have survived otherwise.

Let’s be done with this notion of communication as a ‘soft skill’. It’s a survival skill!

And not just for individuals.

In Grammarly’s 2023 State of Business Communication Report with The Harris Poll, 1 in 5 leaders said they’d lost deals due to poor communication, and 68% of those leaders indicated the deals lost cost them $10K or more.
Pumble’s 2025 workplace communication report highlighted that 86% of employees and executives cite inefficient and ineffective communication as the main cause of workplace failure.

Like all survival skills, communication involves adapting to the environment: the threats, opportunities, available resources, allies and adversaries.

You made it through toddler tantrums, schoolyard scraps, classroom collaborations, long boring lectures, and wtf workplace wobbles.

Take a moment this week to reflect on the valuable, value-adding communication skills that have helped you get to where you are today (stars, scars and stumbles included!).

But if you feel your business communication skills could use some help, book a complimentary, unconditional Communication Coaching Clarity Call.

Book a Communication Coaching Clarity Call

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Ask a Mate gives voice to a silent struggle

Written by Wyvill Leanne on 13 May 2025. Posted in Communication.

Have you ever felt really awkward about asking for advice, because you didn’t want anyone to think there was something wrong with your brain or your body or character?

Double down on that decision discomfort and you’ll know what it’s like to be a teenage boy.

The transition from boyhood through adolescence is a complex landscape, marked by rapid physical, emotional, and social changes. Navigating this terrain can be challenging, especially the societal expectations around masculinity that can inadvertently silence their voices and hinder their ability or willingness to seek and discern helpful advice.

This Domestic and Family Violence Awareness Month, let’s try to understand how these communication struggles at a critical developmental stage often contribute to harmful behaviours later in life… or could be helped from now on.

What do we know about teenage boys’ communication?

Research consistently highlights the difficulties boys face in expressing their emotions and vulnerabilities. Traditional masculine norms often discourage displays of feelings other than aggression, so boys tend to internalise stress, confusion, and hurt.

Youth mental health clinicians in Victoria published a study in the Journal of Adolescent Health, which found that boys are less likely than girls to seek help for mental health concerns, often due to fears of appearing weak or unmanly.

The research also found that many adolescent boys and young adult men “report difficulties in emotion-based disclosures typically demanded by standard talk-based psychotherapies”. Such reluctance or inability to communicate openly can have significant impacts on their well-being, relationships, and their confidence to deal with conflict, fears or abuse.

The pervasive “tough guy” stereotype perpetuated by movies and social media often equates emotional expression with weakness, pushing boys towards stoicism and self-reliance, even when they desperately need support.

They might hear phrases like “man up” or “only babies cry,” which subtly but powerfully discourage them from articulating their fears, anxieties, or experiences of being hurt.

The role of 24/7 technology

The digital age presents a double-edged sword. While creating connections, it also exposes boys to a barrage of often contradictory and sometimes harmful advice.

The Journal of Adolescent Health article referenced previous studies which indicated young men prefer to access help through technology-based mediums. However, discerning credible and healthy advice from misinformation online is a significant hurdle for many young minds still developing their critical thinking skills.

Social media influencers, online communities, and even well-intentioned but misinformed peers can offer guidance that is not only unhelpful but actively detrimental, particularly about relationships, conflict resolution, and emotional regulation.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner published a report on the online behaviours and experiences of our first digital native generation of teens. While the research didn’t find significant differences between genders, the report did reveal that boys are less inclined to:

make “face contact” via video or image-sharing apps
ask a parent/carer for online safety advice
want information about counselling services
obtain consent before sharing photos or details about people online
stand up for others who are bullied online

No voice to avoid violence

University of the Sunshine Coast researchers investigating adolescents’ help-seeking intentions found that while there’s no gender difference in the intentions, “More female adolescents sought help for a psychosocial problem compared to male adolescents, but more male adolescents were observed to have experienced a psychosocial problem compared to female adolescents.”

To me, this speaks of a silent struggle to take that scary step from wanting and needing help to actually seeking it.

The consequences of these communication barriers are far-reaching. Boys who struggle to express their emotions may resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms, including aggression or withdrawal. They might find it difficult to build healthy, respectful relationships based on open communication and mutual understanding.

In the context of domestic and family violence, this silence can be particularly dangerous. Boys who are experiencing or witnessing abuse may feel unable to speak out, and those struggling with anger or controlling behaviours may lack the communication skills to address these feelings constructively.

An innovative app(roach) has arrived

Against this backdrop, Beyond DV’s new “Ask a Mate” app has emerged as the sound of hope. Responding to the communication preferences of adolescent boys, this app offers a safe, accessible, and peer-focused platform where they can seek guidance on a whole range of issues.

The charity’s founder, Carolyn Robinson, surveyed boys at different high schools to gather hundreds of questions about what concerned them. They also suggested high-profile male role models they’d like to hear the answers from.

The “Ask a Mate” app cleverly leverages the power of peer support and digital connection, but with access to vetted information and pathways to professional help when needed.

It’s a space where boys-becoming-men feel comfortable asking questions without fear of judgment. It breaks down the stigma around seeking support and empowers them to develop healthier communication habits.

It acknowledges that boys often turn to their mates first, and seeks to equip those mates with the resources and information to offer helpful and sound advice.

Importantly, this collaborative “Ask a Mate” initiative recognises that changing deeply ingrained societal norms takes time and multifaceted solutions. By meeting boys where they are – in their digital spaces and within their peer networks – the “Ask a Mate” app offers a practical tool to open up communication, promote healthy relationship behaviours, and ultimately contribute to a safer community for everyone.

During Domestic and Family Violence Awareness Month, let’s amplify the effect by sharing its existence with your sons, grandsons, younger brothers, nephews, neighbours and mates.

This post is about personal communication. If you feel your business communication skills could use some help, book a complimentary, unconditional Communication Coaching Clarity Call.

Book a Communication Coaching Clarity Call

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Brevity blindspots: why communication shortcuts won’t ‘keep it short’ in the long run

Written by Wyvill Leanne on 30 April 2025. Posted in Business writing, Communication, Team building.

The brevity of social media-style communication can create significant ‘blindspots’ that obscure meaning and ultimately cost far more than the time saved.

If you’re reading this post, you’re no stranger to workplace miscommunication. You’ve likely observed that in the rush to be concise, clarity can be compromised.

Maybe you’re a Learning and Development Manager who’s expected to find training solutions to the problem of miscommunication.

Bosses complain about information overload and lack of time to read documents, so they want you to make sure everyone else learns how to write concisely. But what does that mean? Just writing fewer words? Passing over punctuation? Machine-gunning bullet points?

The difference between brevity and concision is not well-understood. Instead of writing and editing skilfully for clarity and concision, message senders expect texting-style ‘shortcuts’ to do the job, e.g. abbreviations, emojis, and multiple one-line pings instead of one longer message.

This approach assumes the reader will ‘get’ what the writer means quickly. Yet, the room for misinterpretation is enormous, often with serious consequences.

Brevity can cause Titanic-like turmoil. What can you do to mitigate this kind of miscommunication? I’ll share some ideas, but let’s start with understanding the problem better.

The brevity paradox

The digital revolution has fundamentally altered how we communicate. Social media platforms, messaging apps, and collaboration tools like Slack and Teams have trained us to value brevity above all else. We abbreviate, truncate, and compress our thoughts to fit smaller screens and shorter attention spans. The pervasive influence of instant messaging cannot be ignored.

Research by Gligorić, Anderson, and West confirmed this shift in their study Causal Effects of Brevity on Style and Success in Social Media. They noted that “short messages are well-suited to small screens, and images with few words in large text are often shared widely.”

Similarly, the Pew Research Center’s study on The Future of Digital Spaces and Their Role in Democracy found that the migration to mobile devices has accelerated our preference for shorter, more visually-oriented communications.

Brevity, sometimes interpreted as concise communication, offers clear benefits, like:

Better readability on mobile devices – short, easily digestible messages are crucial for effective communication on smaller screens
More engagement with key messages – quicker to read and easier to understand messages are more likely to be acted upon, particularly in fast-paced environments
Improved clarity – concise communication forces the distillation of ideas, removing the details that don’t matter.
Reduced cognitive load for busy professionals – time and effort savings for both writer and reader.

But what happens when we apply digital communication styles to complex workplace interactions? Brevity can backfire, and the results may cost more than what’s saved.

When business communicators, especially ‘digital natives’, confuse brevity with concision, they often make these mistakes:

Eliminating context that readers need to understand the implications
Using ambiguous abbreviations and personal shorthand
Omitting crucial details that impact decision-making
Relying on emojis to convey complex emotions or intent
Sending multiple fragmented messages instead of one complete thought

Concise writing means constructing sentences carefully with deliberate word choices and correct punctuation – focusing not on the word count but on making every word count, so your reader is in no doubt about what you want them to know.

And they’re not blindsided by the proverbial berg beneath the surface.

Misplaced brevity’s business impact

Productivity erosion
When project communications lack context, a team can waste hours pursuing misaligned objectives. That means missed deadlines, redoing the work, and readjusting the budget. Research from McKinsey Global Institute estimated that employees spend as much as 28% of their workweek managing email and nearly 20% searching for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help. That’s a lot of time spent clarifying ambiguous communications.

Profitability hits
A SIS International Research study found that a business with 100 employees spends an average of 17 hours per week clarifying communication, which translates to an annual cost of $528,443.

Dud decision-making
Critical nuances omitted from reports or analyses lead to flawed decisions, often with far-reaching consequences. A single missing data point could reshape an entire strategy.

The tone trap
Without vocal intonation and facial expressions, brief written messages can come across as cold, dismissive, or even hostile. A message intended as efficient might be perceived as uncaring (my pet hate: ‘Noted with thanks’). The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published a study titled Egocentrism Over Email, which found that people overestimate their ability to communicate effectively via email by more than 50%. The senders believed their tone would be correctly interpreted, but the recipients frequently misunderstood it.

Relationship ruin
Brief client communications lacking personalisation or detail can signal indifference, eroding trust and potentially jeopardising relationships.

Compliance and legal vulnerability
Abbreviated policy documents or instructions create dangerous interpretation gaps, exposing organisations to significant liabilities around service delivery and workplace health and safety.

Team disenchantment
Consistently receiving terse, context-free communications makes people feel undervalued and disconnected. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report tells us that poor communication is a major contributor to employee disengagement. Companies committed to high-quality internal communications, however, enjoy 41% lower absenteeism and 21% higher productivity.

Balancing brevity with effectiveness

Here are 5 ways you could approach the ‘brevity versus concision’ problem.

Redefine concision when talking about communication
Encourage managers and team leaders to be specific about what they mean when they say ‘be concise’ – is it half a page or 100 words with a diagram? Replace ‘keep it short’ with ‘make every word count’.
Develop communication guidelines
Create protocols for when to use different communication methods and what level of detail is appropriate for each. For example, help employees understand that an email might require more context than a chat message (developing team-based communication protocols is a popular activity in my True Colors workshops).
Foster fair feedback
Establish processes that allow individuals and teams to safely provide input on communication effectiveness without fear of criticism.
Invest in business writing workshops
Look for programs that address the nuanced skills of balancing clarity with concision, selecting appropriate tone, and crafting messages with intention. Effective communication training offers one of the highest ROIs of any L&D investment.
Aim for audience-centred writing practices
Ensure any business writing training includes identifying what information is truly essential to the reader’s understanding and decision-making. This includes considering their knowledge base, information needs, and potential interpretation before sending communications.

When your teams communicate with precision, purpose, and empathy, you’ll see tangible positive impacts, like:

Faster project completion with fewer iterations and missed deadlines
More aligned and engaged teams working toward common goals
Stronger client relationships built on reliable understanding
Reduced risk of costly misunderstandings
Higher employee satisfaction and talent retention

The digital transformation of communication isn’t reversing, but your organisation can learn to navigate it skilfully with the right training.

If you’re ready to invest in concise business writing skills for your people instead of wondering what’s happened to your productivity and profitability, book a complimentary, unconditional Tell Me More call.

Book a Tell Me More Call

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