How To Get People Excited About Digital Transformation (Hint: Stop Sounding Technical!)

Supporting a digital transformation program right now?  Yeah, me too.

No matter the specifics of your unique program, I guarantee that there’s one big thing you can do to make it way more likely you’ll deliver the technical change adoption: 

Stop sounding so bloody technical!

Look, language is powerful.  Language helps us all perceive the world around us - and that includes how your stakeholders perceive your transformation program.

Specifically, the words, phrases and sentence structure you and your team use to describe your digital transformation program plays a HUGE role in shaping and influencing the way folks think about, feel about, and engage with your change program.

(And btw, you’re ALWAYS communicating with stakeholders.  As a leader, everything you do communicates.)

This is true all the time, no matter what type of change or transformation program you want to deliver - and it’s especially important to think about during digital transformation because… well because these types of changes are often rife with technical lingo, acronyms, industry slang, assumed knowledge, and other details non-IT folks don’t get or care about.

That’s why, in this week’s episode of The New Way podcast, I’m breaking down how to get people excited about your digital transformation.
In this episode, I cover:

  • The 2 words you should never say (and what to say instead)

  • A powerful 3-step storytelling structure you can use immediately

  • What your mum has to do with digital transformation

  • Why you need (and how!) to think like a newspaper editor

I hope you enjoy the fool-proof tips I share in this week’s super practical episode. Master these strategies and prepare for your stakeholders to start paying a whole lot more attention!

TOPICS DISCUSSED AND WHERE TO FIND THEM:

[2:33]: Language is powerful and plays a big role in how employees will view the transformation program. 

[3:18]: The words, phrases, and sentence structure used influences the way people feel and interact with the change. 

[4:23]: If you need people to change, you must communicate with them in a meaningful way that cuts through the noise. 

[6:07]: 1st tip - Do not use the words ‘digital transformation’. 

[8:16]: 2nd tip - Tell stories. 

[9:13]: Simple story structure: a problem, a change, a journey. Check out my previous podcast on storytelling here. 

[10:44]: The tech is just a tool on the journey, your people are the hero!

[10:55]: 3rd tip - Use the Mum test. How would you explain the significance of the change and what it means to your Mum? 

[12:36]: 4th tip - Keep the words and language to a Year 7 level of comprehension. 

[14:37]: Use a tool like the Hemmingway App to check your content. 


LINKS

Resources mentioned:

Podcast referenced: The Killer Mistake Most Leaders Make Talking About Transformation 

The Hemmingway App: Hemingway Editor (hemingwayapp.com)

Website: https://www.everchange.com.au/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkatebyrne/

Kate Byrne