Effective Communication Strategies for Evaluation Findings

Communicating effectively evaluation findings GIZ evaluation workshop 14-16 October 2014 Kampala, Uganda Day Two Glenn O Neil

Workshop schedule Day 2: Promotion, messages, tools and presentation

Recap of day 1 What do you recall? What stands out for you?

5. Key messages

Messages Commissioners of evaluations complain that the messages from evaluations are not useful, while evaluators complain that the messages are not used. Professor Lee Cronbach

Messages Normally in communication we would consider messaging in the initial communication plan But in evaluation we often have to wait until the initial finding emerge to know what we want to focus on when communicating findings

Messages But what to communicate from the often significant body of findings, conclusions and recommendations? It helps to have a messaging strategy: What is the most significant message coming out of the evaluation? What are the secondary messages (maximum four) coming out of the evaluation? What is the supporting information for these messages?

Messaging strategy - example Key message The most significant achievement of Oxfam s GROW campaign was securing policy changes on food and land from governments and corporations. Secondary Message 1 Oxfam was able to influence global land policy with the World Bank and to a lesser extent with governments. Secondary Message 2 The biggest challenge for Oxfam has been to engage with 50 million people with only 10% of this target reached. Secondary Message 3 Oxfam needs to consider where it has successfully built support and coalitions and merge this into a global movement on food. Supportive information Public commitment secured from World Bank; policy changes seen in 20 countries. Supportive information 5 million people reached mainly through social media actions on specific issues. Supportive information Findings show that Oxfam still has yet to harness and coordinate the support built through different initiatives.

Messages Messaging means making choices what are the most important points to get across? Evaluation, like many other technical fields, is rich in details but needs to be condensed for broader consumption You might need to think about messages per stakeholder/audience Messages are not designed to be distributed to audience they are your template for communicating

Exercise Read the evaluation findings provided to you Create a messaging strategy Report back to the plenary

6. Promoting your findings

After the evaluation Communicating findings can have different objectives but mostly: Disseminating findings: it reaches the right people Create awareness: people know what was achieved and challenges faced Encourage use: that people learn from the evaluation and it leads to improvements in programmes

Communicating findings 1. 2. Point point Point 3.

After the evaluation The communication plan should be reviewed considering the findings you now have Review the following: How widely do you want to disseminate the evaluation findings? What level of dialogue do you want to have on the findings? Have you foreseen the necessary communication tools required? Is your report user-friendly ?

Implementing the activities Timing is critical to success Important to determine who will do what and when Need time and budget to promote Activities must be planned to interact with each other in order to maximize impact, e.g. report is released and planned with stakeholder workshop A lot of activities will be for internal learning

Promotional tactics Look for opportunities to promote findings internally and externally (if appropriate) Consider key project/programme milestones where findings can be linked to Make sure your report gets visibility to all key persons Consider that you will have a six months window in which to promote your findings

Exercise Read the case study update Review your communication plan Report back to the plenary

7. Communicating good and bad results

Plenary exercise What tactics can be adopted to communicate negative findings?

Communicating negative findings People naturally like to communicate good news and downplay the bad Evaluation has to communicate the full picture and there is no easy solution However, some approaches or tactics are recommended .

Communicating negative findings 1. Involve stakeholders and project/programme staff throughout the evaluation 2. Keep stakeholders perspectives in mind 3. Communicate early with project/programme staff on negative findings 4. Present positive findings first 5. Use the voice of the beneficiaries 6. Place the emphasis on the future 7. Be careful in the use of negative language

8. Beyond the evaluation report other tools

1 page snapshot Visually attractive Messages summarised succinctly Accessible to many audiences Doesn tprovide full picture Not always suitable for complex evaluations Challenge to get agreement internally on what to include source: http://myvisualvoice.com/projects/visual-executive-summary

Infographic Visually attractive Understood rapidly Potential to reach many audiences Biased towards quantitative data May group unrelated data Challenge to get agreement internally on what to include source: http://www.depauluk.org/newsandresources/new- evaluation-shows-nightstop-emergency-housing-services-prevent- youth-homelessness-and-improve-health-and-wellbeing/

Video report Can tell a compelling story Can reach diverse audiences Visuals facilitate understanding Requires preparation during the evaluation (i.e. interviews) Requires video editing and animation skills (budget also) Source : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJteTOYB2eI

Photostory Can tell a compelling story Beneficiaries voices strong Accessible for audiences Not suitable for all evaluations Cannot substitute more in-depth reports Source: http://insightshare.org/sites/default/files/LEAP%20Photostory_co mpressed_0.pdf

Interactive web page Visually attractive/interactive Creative way of displaying data Bias towards quantitative data Not suitable for all types of evaluation Can only display limited results Source: http://www.thegef.org/gef/RBM

Blog News approach facilitates interest Can relay voice of beneficiaries Potential to reach diverse audiences Only provides snapshot on evaluation Usually does not provoke substantial interaction (i.e. comments) Post may need vetoing which could delay publication Source: http://www.jointstandards.org/news/snapshotfromthejsiconsultat ioncairoegypt

Webinar Interactive format that promotes learning Can reach diverse audiences globally Can facilitate instant feedback Limited to less than 100 persons Requires reasonable internet connection More successful as presentation tool rather than for a discussion Source: http://www.seachangecop.org/webinars

Social media Can solicit feedback Excellent distribution channel Reaches diverse audiences Organisation must be ready to interact Feedback is public and can be negative Social media needs constant feeding to build audiences

Exercise Review your communication plan Consider which tools to use in addition Report back to the plenary

9. Communicating verbally your evaluation findings

Communicating verbally Most of you will have to present evaluation findings at one time or another Evaluation findings are challenging to present due to their complexity and jargon heavy language There are some recommended approaches for presenting findings...and recall best practices for presentations

Presentations and their impact A lot of what is recalled is how you present not what you say Most publics have a concentration span of 20 minutes maximum The most convincing presentations use a combination of personal experience ( I was there.. ) and logic-based evidence (e.g. satisfaction is rated low we need to improve ) Who is giving the presentation and the authority they have also plays an important role

Presentations recall rates Verbal only 70% 10% Visual only 72% 20% Verbal and Visual 85% 65% After 3 hours After 3 days

Best practices - presentations Therefore . Establish your credibility as a presenter Be aware of how you are presenting (body language) Adapt your presentation to your audience Keep your presentation brief Use visuals to explain your points If using PowerPoint each slide takes at least 2 minutes so no 50 slide presentations! Focus on 3-5 points to emphasize and repeat them in your conclusion

Best practices - presentations Six signals to send to your audience . 1. I will not waste your time 2. I know who you are 3. I am well organised 4. I know my subject 5. Here is my most important point 6. I am finished

Best practices - presentations Tell them what you are going to tell them Tell them Tell them what you ve told them Who are you? Why are you there? What will they learn? What is interesting for them? What are the 3-5 main points? Use of illustrations, examples, graphs, anecdotes, etc. Summarise: Repeat the 3-5 main points Attention span Start . Body ......... .Conclusion

Best practices evaluation presentations Be selective about what you present you can t present every single finding! Audiences tend to be interested in conclusions and recommendations more so than findings Use examples, quotes, survey graphs, anecdotes to illustrate your presentation Recall best practices focus on 3-5 points you want to emphasise and repeat them!

Q&A evaluation presentations The discussion after the presentation can be as informative as the presentation Often if people don t agree with your findings they will question your methodology - so be prepared to defend it! Be transparent about the limitations of your evaluation If someone is being argumentative suggest that you discuss it individually after the Q&A If you don t know a response to a question then say so and advise that you will look into it and get back to them with a response

Exercise Review the messaging strategy of your group Prepare an individual 5 minute summary presentation Be prepared to present!

Summary of day two