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Strategies to Enhance Air Force Communication with Internal and External Audiences A Workshop Report (2016) / Chapter Skim
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2 Communicating with a Wide Spectrum of Audiences
Pages 8-12

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From page 8...
... Peter Debreceny, senior partner at Gagen-MacDonald, said, "The Air Force narrative has to be coherent mentally but also inspiring emotionally." Many workshop participants stated that development of a simple, compelling brand for the Air Force that can speak to all generations should be a priority. A variety of messages could then be developed and tailored to different audiences, but still be tied to this overarching theme.
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From page 9...
... James Roche, former Secretary of the USAF, suggested telling the Air Force story "as if you were raising money for a company project: ‘This is something you want to invest in, and here's why.'" He elaborated further that one might view the Air Force as a portfolio of businesses, from space to special tactics, with Air Combat, Air Mobility, and the battlefield Airman in between; this could be an effective way to approach the issue of mission diversity in developing an Air Force brand. The fact that top Air Force leadership rotates also emphasizes the importance of having a codified, strong brand that leaders at all levels buy into emotionally and intellectually, with the understanding that it will be central to the organization long into the future.
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From page 10...
... Airmen by and large understand what the Air Force is and does. But they are narrowly focused on their job, communicate most often with their immediate cohorts, and often do not understand the connection between their work and the larger purpose and mission of the Air Force.
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From page 11...
... As noted earlier while discuss ing issues in describing the value of the USAF, several participants expressed the view that a powerful way to tell the Air Force story, both internally and externally, is through the use of "storytelling" involving Air Force people doing interesting or even extraordinary, "heroic" things. Graphics are becoming more effective than words, and words should be minimized to reduce messages to their essence.
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From page 12...
... Mr. Ed Brill, vice president of social business cloud services at IBM, defined a social business as "an organization whose culture of participation and systems of engagement encourage networks of people to create business outcomes." He said that to determine the return on investment for implanting social media, it is necessary to have real outcomes.
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Key Terms

  • external communication
  • external communications
  • external audiences
  • force story
  • social business

  • force mission
  • force leadership
  • force policy
  • internal communication
  • internal audiences

  • internal communications
  • workshop stated
  • participants stated
  • former secretary
  • rand corporation

  • experts participating
  • air combat
  • introducing social
  • involving air
  • social recruiting

  • air mobility
  • implanting social
  • top air
  • force stakeholders
  • external ones

  • force personnel
  • official external
  • force narratives
  • media experts
  • force narrative


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