Getting to grips with visual communication

  By antonia | April 22, 2013 - 4:45 pm | Communication, Personal
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I took part in a fantastic training course on Friday, which I think could change the way I communicate in terms of the many presentations and workshops I am asked to do. I’ve always had a visual approach to communication, preferring to find an image to illustrate a point, rather than resorting to the sort of PowerPoints that are useless, because you can’t read them, and at the same time render you useless because they give your audience all the information. But quite often I am frustrated because I have a clear idea of the image I want, but can’t find it. So when I saw CreativityWorks offered a course on Cartooning for Communicators, and that it was in Brighton on 19 April when I had already arranged to be there the following day, it seemed to have my name all over it. So I booked it, and went along.

It was an absolutely fantastic course. Yes, it was drawing and we spent some time rediscovering our inate ability to draw. But in the afternoon it was more about the value of visual information. The act of trying to find a visual representation of an idea makes you think more simply about what it is you are trying to say. And it also engages your audience in a different way.

So when I’m talking about communicating clearly I can use something like this:

Avoid jargon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And rather than saying ‘think about your audience and the language they use’, I can show this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It means I can react to events in a different way:

Government wants harder-working toddlers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve got a long way to go, I know, but it feels transformational in terms of how I think about communicating. Even if I don’t use an image, the search for one will help me think about what exactly it is I am trying to say, and that can only be a good thing.

 

 

 

At the end of the course we were asked to do a cartoon to show what we had learnt. Don’t take this literally!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have another course in Manchester in June and I would recommend it if you are in the sort of job where you regularly have to get up in front of people. You won’t regret it!

 

 

 

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What is social media for?

  By antonia | April 16, 2013 - 12:46 pm | Digital/social media
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I’ve recently been at a few events on digital issues, and I’m off to Helsinki early tomorrow morning to do a workshop with colleagues there on digital communication. So I guess these issues have been at the forefront of my mind. In that light, I thought that the little anecdote of what happened today was pretty illustrative and worth sharing.

My brother lives in Borneo and I am visiting him in July. I had booked my ticket through Trailfinders, so he has asked me to talk to them about booking his ticket back to spend Christmas here. I went on their site, hoping to send them a message asking about it.

Their submit an enquiry form requires a level of detail I’m not ready to provide. Their contact us page is only telephone numbers and physical stores. I just wanted to ask if they can book a trip that starts and returns to outside the UK, so I thought, I’ll send them a quick tweet and ask if that’s possible. No sign of a twitter name on their site, so I did a search and found this article: ‘Social media gimmicky and not for us’ says Trailfinders

I think the position of Trailfinders makes a serious error and that’s about seeing social media as a marketing tool. Maybe the problem is the name: calling it ‘social media’ puts it in the same mental box as ad spend and newspaper/magazine coverage. What we are really talking about are tools for connecting people, to do whatever it is that they want to do with our organisation/brand/company. Seeing it as part of your marketing is why companies (wrongly) staff corporate twitter accounts with comms people, not client/customer service people. If I contact Virgin media by twitter about a problem, I don’t want them to reply with a phone number, I want them to answer my question. This is how people talk to each other now.

This attitude to social media also highlights something else I try to encourage people to consider, which is that the value of social is its intelligence function. You can quickly find out what people are saying about you. A search for ‘trailfinders’ on Twitter found a mixture: one irate guy whose flights had been changed and he hadn’t been informed, and several people highlighting how good the service is. Why would a company not want a more or less free way of finding out exactly what their customers are saying?

We’re in a transitional phase and I understand that it will take time for mindsets to change. But companies and organisations need to think about talking the language of their customers, and that also means connecting with them in ways that work for them. I’ve had great on-the-phone service from Trailfinders, but I have to admit that their inability to communicate with me in a way I feel comfortable with does make me feel a tiny bit less positive about them.

User experience: why and how it matters

  By antonia | March 19, 2013 - 1:20 pm | Digital/social media
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I recently tweeted

 

so I guess I ought to blog on it…

For a number of reasons, most utterly justifiable, the Commission usually creates proprietary software for any identified task or set of tasks (budget management, document management, personnel management). And almost invariably, the user experience is pretty crummy. These systems seem to be designed with, for and by the people that want to get the information out, but with little thought for how they will be used by the people putting things in. This is important, because if you are relying on people inputting information regularly and accurately, you need to be sure that you encourage them and make it easy for them to do so. A crummy user experience will often risk inaccurate and/or incomplete information.

If you are developing an app for the iPhone, say a to-do list, there are so many such apps around that the one that will emerge from the mass is the one with the killer user experience (in a good sense). I’m certainly finding that with Mailbox, a new email app for iPhone that rethinks how you deal with your email. So simple and intuitive is the user experience that I’m now long- and short-swiping on my other email accounts and wondering why I only have one option.

All of this is why I love Martin Belam’s blog, and its regular posts on elements of user experience. I particularly like that he has always been prepared to try things, and for them not to work, rather than never risk moving forward. I can relate to that…!

It seems to me that in developing systems for an organisation like ours, you need to offer incentives for people to use them, as well as thinking about what you are getting out. So to be hypothetical for an instant, an activity reporting system could connect to the appraisal system so that your managers could see what you had delivered during the year, if they wanted to. In this case, there would be a clear incentive for the user to put the information in and for it to be as accurate as possible. The most irritating thing is having to put the same information into several different systems, all in slightly different format…

Of course the other thing about user experience is that not all users are the same. I know that I am very diagram or image-led. I don’t need categories for my email if I have a good search function. Some people are more comfortable with labels and folders. Maybe that’s another problem of proprietary systems – there is usually little potential for adjusting it so it suits you.

This post isn’t really going anywhere, it’s just something I have been thinking about for a while. My feeling is very much that this is not a problem only faced by the Commission, but by any large organisation that is trying to monitor, evaluate, archive and manage the huge amount of information and data that is now part of our daily lives. I’d be really interested to hear other people’s views and experiences.

How do I find out about the EU?

  By antonia | January 23, 2013 - 11:57 am | EC in UK, European news, UK40
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A point that I’ve heard since I started working at the Representation, and one that came up again today in the wake of #thespeech is along these lines:

I don’t know much about the EU and I don’t know where to go to find out.

 

So here’s my selection of EU Starters for Ten:

I would start with Helen Wallace’s run-down on the 40 years of membership in the Journal of Contemporary European Research. It has a useful timeline, rounds up the main areas of narrative and even includes a comparative table of public opinion since 1973.

I then suggest listening to Europe’s Choice, a short series by Allan Little and Jane Beresford on Radio 4 that looked at the elements contributing to the Euro’s current situation.

My next point of call would be the Charlemagne blog at the Economist, in all of his recent incarnations (he’s like Doctor Who, you know, and regenerates every few years). Certainly the EU specific articles are knowledgable and interesting, and those on other European countries can give useful context that is sometimes missing in the debate here.

Suggestions made by others included:

State of the Union by Anand Menon

Europe in 12 lessons (written by Pascal Fontaine and published by the European Union Publications Office)

I’d be interested to know what others would put forward as a good place for an interested newcomer to start finding out about the EU. If you have a suggestion, please leave a comment.

 

The UK and political union

  By antonia | January 22, 2013 - 11:01 am | UK politics, UK40
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The European Parliament Information Office recently hosted an event in Europe House looking back over 40 years of UK membership of the EU, and looking forward. It seems to have been a good discussion, which you can see on the hashtag #uk40.

One tweet from @EUouth quoted former UK Permanent Representative to the EU, Sir Stephen Wall:

This speaks to an important issue. There is evidence that the political dimension of membership was clear from the beginning of the discussion about the UK applying to join the EEC. This speech by Woodrow Wyatt, introducing a 10 minute bill in 1961, clearly mentions the political aspects:

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1961/apr/11/common-market

An intern working here a while ago turned up in our archives a speech by Alec-Douglas-Home when he was Foreign Secretary which also spoke to the political aspects. In this speech from 1970, which was made available to the media at the time, he says:

The last point I want to make is this. There has been some questioning on the Continent of Britain’s long-term intentions. We are asked whether we accept the political implications of the Treaty of Rome. The answer is an unequivocal Yes.

He quotes George Brown talking in the Western European Union in 1967

“We believe that Europe can emerge as a Community expressing its own point of view and exercising influence in world affairs, not only in the commercial and economic, but also in the political and defence fields.”

and goes on to say

We have no reservations about the institutional framework of the Communities. Nor do we jib at the evolution of these institutions.

The emphasis is his, as you’ll see in the original, which is linked to above.

So whatever has happened between now and then, it seems pretty clear that the UK government, and by extension media, was well aware of the political implications of its application to join the EEC.

I’ve also seen a House of Lords report from around the time of accession that also talks about the political aspects and the issue of the primacy of the decisions of the European Court of Justice, again something that was there from the beginning. I can’t find that report at the moment, so if anyone can point me towards it, I’d be very grateful.

 

 

European Multilingual Blogging Day 2012 – the final product

  By antonia | November 15, 2012 - 10:36 am | Digital/social media, Languages
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Thanks to everyone who took part in yesterday’s blogging day. Here’s a link to the final Storify showing all the blogs I could find. There was fantastic variety, both in languages and topics, and it has brought some exciting blogs to my attention that I wouldn’t have found otherwise! Please leave a comment if there is someone I have missed out.

It was a joy to celebrate the multilingual web with you. Until next year!

#babel12

  By antonia | November 15, 2012 - 10:00 am | Digital/social media, Languages
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And here, just a teensy bit late, is my guest post for Multilingual Blogging Day from my translator colleague John:

Last year I wrote about my love affair with languages for Multilingual Blogging Day; this year I set myself the challenge of writing about one week in my work: five days in five languages.

Graphic for (optional) use on 14 NovemberDydd Llun, 26 Mawrth 2012
Pob nawr ac yn y man rwy’n cael y cyfle yn rhinwedd fy swydd i i fynd yn ôl i Gymru, sydd wastad yn gret. Er fy mod i ddim wedi byw yng Nghymru ers gadael coleg rhyw 14 yn ôl, Cymro fyddaf i am byth! Y tro yma, rydw i wedi dod yr holl ffordd yn ôl i Geredigion, fy nghartref i , i siarad a myfyrwyr ym mhrifysgol Aberystwyth am yrfaoedd fel cyfiethydd neu cyfiethydd ar y pryd yn sefydliadau’r Undeb Ewropeaidd. Anodd i gredu ond mae’n boeth ac yn braf iawn yma heddi. Wrth yrru heibio’r coleg rwy’n gweld bod llawer o’r myfyrwyr ar eu ffordd nôl o’r traeth! Rwy’n dechrau becso bydd neb yn troi lan i fy nghyflwyniad i. Sut alla i gystadlu gyda’r haul, yn enwedig yn rhywle ble mae’n bwrw glaw siwt gymaint?! Yn ffodus, mae yna digon o ddiddordeb mewn gyrfaoedd Ewropeaidd ymhlith myfyrwyr yr adran ieithoedd modern ac nid oes rhaid siarad mewn neuadd ddarlithio wag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rXCmHhihDI

Terça-feira, 27 de março de 2012
Depois da viagem de cinco horas em comboio de Aberystwyth a Londres, passo duas horas no escritório antes de voltar a sair para apanhar o metro em direção a uma escola no norte de Londres, para a final regional do concurso ‘Foreign Language Spelling Bee’. É um concurso para alunos de 11 e 12 anos, que têm de aprender e saber soletrar em voz alta uma série de palavras em francês, alemão ou espanhol. As crianças são incríveis – acho que eu estou mais nervoso do que eles ! Em Londres fala-se mais de 300 línguas, por isso não me surpreende ver que alguns dos melhores soletradores não falam inglês (nem francês, alemão ou espanhol) em casa. Os benefícios do bilinguismo são claros!
https://www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk/videos/2678
Środa, 28 marca 2012
Dzień w biurze. Wreszcie mam czas, żeby odpowiedzieć na e-maile! Muszę też napisać raport z warsztatu dla tłumaczy, który zorganizowałem ze stowarzyszeniem tłumaczy w Londynie. Ważne dla mnie jest też, aby na bieżąco informować mojego szefa w Brukseli, co robię. Również co środę mam wideokonferencję z kolegami i koleżankami w Brukseli, Paryżu, Berlinie, Wiedniu i Hadze. Możemy wymieniać się pomysłami i doświadczeniami, a także dowiedzieć się, co się dzieje w siedzibie w Brukseli.
Jueves, 29 marzo 2012
Empiezo el dia en un lugar fuera de lo común:  un estudio de grabación en Hackney, Londres.  Cantantes como Adele y Rihanna han grabado sus discos aquí, pero yo no voy a cantar – gracias a Dios! Estoy en el estudio con un grupo de jóvenes y ellos  sí que van a cantar. Han ganado un concurso organizado por el Club de Fútbol Arsenal en el que tuvieron que escribir las letras en francés, castellano, italiano, alemán y griego para una canción sobre los Juegos Olímpicos que  se celebran este verano  en Londres.   Para  casi todos  ellos, es la primera vez que se encuentran en un estudio de grabación pero no tienen miedo. Después de unos ejercicios para calentar las cuerdas vocales, cantan como profesionales y ni siquiera tienen problemas con las letras en lenguas extranjeras. Quizás  puedan representar  al Reino Unido el año que viene en el Festival de Eurovisión!
http://www.arsenaldoubleclub.co.uk/fun-zone/competition/
Vendredi, 30 mars 2012
Aujourd’hui, je suis à Manchester pour une conférence rassemblant des professeurs de langues. Je travaille sur notre stand où nous offrons des publications et des livres gratuits dans plusieurs langues et, bien sûr, les toujours très populaires posters et cartes de l’Europe. Il doit y avoir au moins une de nos cartes ou affiches sur les murs de presque chacune des écoles du Royaume-Uni! Je dois aussi m’exprimer pendant la conférence pour donner aux professeurs des informations sur le concours de traduction pour les élèves de 17 ans organisé par la Commission européenne – Juvenes Translatores. Heureusement, je partage le pupitre avec quelques professeurs qui présentent d’autres projets visant eux aussi à encourager les jeunes à apprendre les langues étrangères, ce qui est un vrai défi dans un pays où, selon un récent sondage, seulement 39 % de la population est capable de tenir une conversation dans au moins une langue étrangère.
http://ec.europa.eu/translatores/index_en.htm

European Multilingual Blogging Day 2012

  By antonia | November 8, 2012 - 1:24 pm | Digital/social media, Languages
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I promised to publish the list for European Multilingual Blogging Day once we had thirty sign ups, which we now have. So here we go!

European Union 2.0 by @tonybxl EN-FR
Juan Luis Postcardwala by @juanluissays EN-ES
Βιβλία και Ξερό Ψωμί (Vivlia ke Xero Psomi) by @annabooklover EL
Dick Nieuwenhuis Blog by @dicknieuwenhuis NL, EN – EN
Drawing Discipline by @secretenvelope EN – ES, EN
ingridnavarrett by @ingridyo57 EN – ES
Euonym – Social Media meets the EU by @euonymblog EN – FR, DE
A Hobbit’s Great Adventure EN – FR, NL, EE
Encrypted File Storage by @neeboCloud EN
Teaching Frenzy EN – ES
MULTILINGUAL CAFE EN – ?
Beyond Borders by @mariosorg EN – DE
A Brit Abroad EN – FR, ES, RU
Cerveja e Salsicha by @CervejaSalsicha PT – EN, DE
Nette Hargreaves by @Nette Hargreaves EN – DE
The Wurst Is Yet To Come by @chris_pegg EN – DE (Great name Chris!)
Charlotte’s (World Wide) Web by @luna_moonsilver EN – DE, ZH
The Interpreter Diaries by @InterpDiaries EN – FR, ES, PT
Mon enfant trilingue by @juli_b_59 FR
In my words by @tulkur EN – SV
Linguis Europae by @eucenter EN, FR, ES, IT – DE, HU
Rhetorik-Blog by @HansHuett DE – EN
Workingberlinmum by @workberlinmum EN – DE
Sprachenlernen24  DE – FR, IT, RO, LT, NO, EL
Hecticophilia by @JesseLili FR – EN
AJ Reads by @alainnjj EN – EN, FR, ES, DE, IT
6 hours ahead by @MarthaToulouse EN – ES
Erasmus Life EN – FR
Tubblog – News and Advice for SMB IT Companies by @tubblog EN – DE
Élet Manchesterben HU – EN
Thirdyearabroad.com by @thirdyearabroad EN-IT
The Football League Blog by @FootyLeagueBlog EN – FR, Welsh
Fecking Off to France (Because I’m a Bad Friend) by @lalalalarousse EN – EN, FR, Occitan (that’s a first!)
TheAmateurParisienne by @rosie_welch EN – FR
SOCLAS blog EN – EN, FR, ES, DE, IT
I-R-Charles Oben by @CharlesOben EN – FR
Brusselswatch by @Brusselswatch EN – ES
SprachenNetz by @SprachenNetz DE – EN
LEONARDO: Adventures in Hungary  EN – EN, HU
LEONARDO in France EN – EN, FR
Redmamy’s Daf Blog by @redmamy DE – DE
Neelie Kroes by @neeliekroesEU EN, NL – tbd
MidnightCookie PL – EN
Growing a library by @bumsonseats EN – DE
La Oreja de Europa by @MacarenaRG ES – EN, FR
In The Midst Of This Madness EN – FR, DE, IT
Eva en Europa by @evaeuropa EN, ES – EN, ES
Juvenes Translatores blog by @translatores EN – DE
Raya naplója HU – EN, FR, ES

I’ve created a graphic, which you are welcome to use with your blog entries on the 14th: Graphic for (optional) use on 14 November

Back to reality

  By antonia | September 10, 2012 - 9:29 am | Digital/social media, EC in UK, Languages
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Wasn’t it wonderful? This great British summer of sport and culture and more? I played my own very small part in it, as a volunteer during the Olympics. I didn’t get to stand with a big pink foam hand – rather I was in the Athletes’ Village, helping with transport information.

But now it’s over and we have to get back to normality. We’ve got a lot coming up including the European Day of Languages, the Mock Council simulation day (and here’s an interesting paper on the value of simulations as a teaching aid) and Single Market Week, marking 20 years of the single market.

12-16 November is Internet Week Europe, a festival of digitalness around the Lovie awards which recognise the best of the web in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. This isn’t organised by the Commission or EU, but obviously the idea of the multilingual web is interesting and so I thought it would be good to do European Multilingual Blogging Day 2012 in association with them. Hopefully it’ll be the biggest and best yet! If you’re interested in taking part, sign-up with the form, so that I can curate all the different entries. On 14 November, write your blog in a different language, or get a guest blogger in to do so. Write about whatever you want, though if you’re not sure where to start, maybe something about what languages mean to you might be a good place to start. I hope we’ll get lots of you taking part!