Public servants operate in complex, high-stakes environments. Clear communication is what turns good ideas into real decisions, but getting your message to land isn’t always easy.

That challenge was front and centre at Apolitical’s recent event, Communicating More Strategically at Work, where experts shared practical advice on how to make your ideas clearer, more persuasive and easier to act on.

The main theme was that strategic communication is not about sounding clever, it’s about helping people understand what matters and what needs to happen next.

Here are five of the most practical takeaways from the discussion that you can start to apply in your own work.

1. Start with consequences

Many public servants struggle to get buy-in on their ideas from senior leaders. Most professionals present their work as a list of things they've done, when what leaders actually want to know is what it means.

The questions running through a decision-maker's head are pretty consistent: What happens if we do this? What happens if we don't? Why is this urgent right now?

So instead of opening with context and building to a conclusion, try flipping it. Lead with the "so what." Name the decision and spell out its importance and its trade-offs. The clearer you make the path forward, the faster things can actually move.

2. If it feels too technical, it is

When communicating through presentations, too many suffer from the “expert trap”, assuming everyone in the room understands the jargon, acronyms and technical detail.

You may want to prove you have the technical expertise, but simplicity is often better for communication. It can be the difference between being understood and being ignored.

In practice, you should:

  • use fewer statistics
  • simplify language
  • lean on visuals
  • lead with the main point first

Imagine that your audience is hearing these ideas for the very first time: breaking down complex ideas into simple language can be difficult, but it is very effective.

3. Tell stories with data

The panel were clear that data alone rarely persuades anyone of anything. What drives action is the narrative built around it. Numbers tell people what happened, but stories tell them why it matters.

Before you get into the details, provide a structure. What's the challenge? What's the solution? What's the impact? This helps people follow you, meaning when you get into the data they have all the information they need to understand the story that you are telling.

Tip: To become more confident working with data, register for our free course: Become a Data-Confident Public Servant.

4. Strategic communication starts inside your organisation

Beyond just public-facing messaging, the speakers emphasised that strategic communication matters in everyday internal conversations.

Leaders tend to focus so hard on getting the facts right that they strip out any emotional honesty. But people aren't looking for relentless positivity, they want to feel like they're getting the real picture.

By acknowledging difficulty, being direct when something isn't going well and treating internal conversations with the same care as formal ones, internal trust can build up over time.

5. Adapt delivery without losing the message

When working across various cultures, teams and leadership styles, it is sometimes necessary to adapt to different communication styles. But there is an important distinction between message and delivery. You should not change what you’re communicating, but how you’re communicating.

The core of your messaging shouldn't shift depending on who's in the room. But how you deliver it should, depending on what will work best with your audience. Sometimes this is a formal presentation, sometimes it’s a casual one-to-one chat. You should be saying the same thing, just in whatever way will ensure that you are heard.

Watch the highlights video below for key moments from the discussion, or visit the event page to watch the full recording, access additional resources, and read the full speaker bios.

This article was written with the help of AI using an anonymised transcript and edited by a human before publishing.

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