In Breaking Bad, Chemistry teacher Walter White knows how to cook perfect crystal meth and outsmart the bad guys.Β In Game of Thrones, Brandon Stark may not be able to walk, but he is naturally charismatic – and can see through the eyes of animals.Β In 24, Jack Bauer can get out of any tricky situation using his cunning or combat skills, and sometimes both.
Skills are what make us special and keep us ahead of the pack.Β After recently re-readingΒ Dan Slee’s excellentΒ BOW SKILLS: 37 skills, abilities and platforms for todayβs commsΒ person, it got me thinking. What skills and abilities are essential for digital communications professionals heading into 2014?Β I was inspired to start compiling my own list of skills I have or I will need in the near future.
Digital
- Have aΒ passion for digital. Live and breathe it. Know its strengths – and its limitations.
- Be aΒ champion for digitalΒ in your organisation.Β Have the ability toΒ add valueΒ to all aspects of what your organisation does.Β Encourage others to take up digital – as Dan Slee would say,Β share the lollies.
- Know how to monitor issues online: hashtags, hyperlocals, social media, forums, online newspaper comments. Know how to set up Google Alerts.
- Know how and when to measure. Google AnalyticsΒ canΒ prove the worth of new campaigns or websites.Β Learning Google AnalyticsΒ has some excellent tutorials. Also know your way around Facebook Insights, Bit.ly and Tweetreach.
- Learn about mapping. UseΒ Google MapsΒ to create, share and embed your own map. Also have a look at Openstreetmap.
- Learn about open data. Tim Berners-Lee: The year open data went worldwideΒ is an essential piece of viewing.
Social media
- Know how to use social media sites and appsΒ (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, YouTube, Google+ and Pinterest at a minimum) with your eyes closed.
- Be able to talk colleagues through using social media sites and appsΒ (Facebook, Twitter,Β Flickr, Instagram,Β YouTube, Google+Β Β and Pinterest at a minimum)Β with your eyes closed.
- Horizon-scan for new apps and social networks and their possible uses.
- Have compelling arguments at the ready for why all employees should have access to social media. Check out the section on Barrier vaulting on Best by WM.
- Be able to create timely, interesting content for social media. Know what content works on different platforms.
- Know how to create a social media calendar for your organisation.
- Have a flair for creating new social media segments. Here’s one I did earlier: #FlashbackFriday: using historic images in social media.
- Know what a social hub is and how to use one. Have a look at Tint.
Web
- KnowΒ HTMLΒ – good enough to mark-up copy with headings and paragraphs, add links and images using only text. If you have no HTML experience, it’s actually very easy to learn. Honestly. Have a butcher’s atΒ W3School’s HTML tutorial.
- Understand howΒ content management systemsΒ work. Be able to add, edit and tag a post on WordPress or similar content management system. If you have no experience with this, sign up for aΒ free WordPress siteΒ and then check out the freeΒ WordPress Lessons.
- Have an understanding ofΒ web usabilityΒ principles – readΒ Steve Krug’s excellent Don’t make me thinkΒ and subscribe toΒ Gerry McGovern’s brilliant weekly email.
- Have a basic understanding ofΒ web accessibilityΒ principles. Start by readingΒ How People with Disabilities Use the WebΒ and then browse theΒ excellentΒ Emergency 2.0 Wiki Accessibility ToolkitΒ which features resources about howΒ people with disabilities use social media.
- Know aboutΒ search engine optimisationΒ (SEO). Check out the awesomeΒ The Beginners Guide to SEO.
- Know aboutΒ online surveys. Sign up for a free Survey Monkey account and create your own surveys. Check out the SurveyMonkey Help Centre.
- Know about e-newsletters. Analyse the e-newsletters you receive – what makes a good one? Learn more at the MailChimp Knowlege Base.
Multimedia
- Be able toΒ take a photoΒ using a SLR or smartphone for a variety of different uses. Yes iPhone photography is good enough for many purposes. Read about my own realisation of this in Why your smartphone is the best camera.
- UseΒ PhotoshopΒ to resize and make basic corrections to images. Understand the difference between print and web. There’s some great help atΒ 35 Basic Tutorials to Get You Started with Photoshop.
- Understand how toΒ source photos, including crowdsourcing andΒ creative commons. Check out theΒ Quick Reference Guide toΒ Finding Creative CommonsΒ Material.
- Know how toΒ record a video,Β publish it and embed it on a website or blog.
- Know how toΒ record an audio clip,Β publish it and embed it on a website or blog. Have a look at Dan Slee’sΒ SOCIAL SOUND: Can We Use Audioboo In Local Government?
- Learn about data visualisation and when to use them – infographics, pie charts and other visual stuff. ReadΒ 7 data visualisation sites to insprire your creative eye.
Timeless
- Write in a clear, concise manner using Plain EnglishΒ for a variety of channels.The South Australian Government have published an excellentΒ Plain English guide in PDF.
- Have the ability toΒ summariseΒ information and pick outΒ key messages.
- Understand theΒ political landscapeΒ of your organisation.Β
- Be ready toΒ respond out-of-hours. Communications is not a 9-5 gig.
- Know the basics of community engagement. Spend some time with your community engagement team and volunteer for offline engagement activities. It will give you a better insight into things you can try in the digital space.
- Know the basics of customer service. Spend some time with your customer service team to see how they respond to customer service requests and questions. Invaluable when replying to a request for service at 9pm on a Friday night.
- Know about crisis comms. Be prepared for your organisation to respond in an emergency situation. Have standard responses drafted for different types of events. There’s a ton of great info in the excellent Emergency 2.0 Wiki. Also check out my blog 52 tips for social media disaster management #comms.
- Be able to build relationships andΒ work with technical and non-technical people alike. Act as a bridge between the two.
- Join communities of practice. Follow like-minded people on Twitter, join local social media or content groups, attend unconferences, reach out to peers for a regular chat, share your knowledge byΒ writing for commsgodigital.
What skills would you add to this list? Comment or tweet your thoughts.
Skills links
All of the links in this post can myΒ Digital comms skills bit.ly bundle.
Credits
Photo credit:Β “My garden office” by Matt Murray.
Creative Commons Credit: Inspiration for this post (as well as a handful of skills) courtesy of Dan Slee’s excellentΒ BOW SKILLS: 37 skills, abilities and platforms for todayβs commsΒ person.
Thanks Matt. I work with creative commons material and your tips provided a wider spectrum for searching. Great blog for sharing ideas too.
Cheers, Jen
Thanks Jen! So glad you enjoyed reading it.Cheers Matt π
Excellent list, Matt. I’d also add Google Plus & Hangouts to the social media section. Hangouts are taking off, particularly for education. Great post, thanks for sharing it.
Thanks Mark! Yes you are right, I will add that in now. I played around with Google+ a lot about a year ago but haven’t touched it much lately. Time for another look I think. Cheers Matt π
Hi Matt. Had a chat with Sweyn Hunter @sweynh about this on LinkedIn. He also suggested a category for remote participation at events which made me think of variation of multimedia, which is ability to live stream video & audio as well as record.
Excellent. 36 skills a #digital #comms person needs in 2013 by @mattbrisvegas (via @commsgodigital) http://t.co/nB4KOgHjic #pr
Great stuff mate
How many do you have? 36 skills a #digital #comms person needs in 2013 by @mattbrisvegas (via @commsgodigital) http://t.co/NaaYAMmInE #pr
@seprothia @niceonehutch @dawn_rowe you may have already seen this 36 Skills for Digital Communication http://t.co/OtndpNgvR0
MT @comms2point0 Can you work with HTML? 36 skills a digital comms person needs by @mattbrisvegas http://t.co/SuP1M37hTR #sucomms
How many can you tick off the list? 36 skills and abilities for #digital #comms people http://t.co/FANJ9CnR06 by @mattbrisvegas
@commsgodigital @markbraggins @comms2point0 Thanks for sharing 36 skills for 2013 #digital #comms @mattbrisvegas http://t.co/ngJPlygPcf
commsgodigital β 36 skills and abilities for digital comms people http://t.co/Jvqtmoinun
commsgodigital β 36 skills and abilities for digital comms people http://t.co/oAM2WdoQ0z
Superman quoi…commsgodigital β 36 skills and abilities for digital comms people http://t.co/lDBxG6PA19
36 skills and abilities for digital comms people http://t.co/XNFRPqyfKY
Een mooi lijstje, ’36 skills and abilities for digital comms people’ – http://t.co/cptdNOZi64 door @mattbrisvegas http://t.co/QCo4S93s49
commsgodigital β 36 skills and abilities for digital comms people http://t.co/lE4vXnAsKJ
Awesome! I recently wrote an article covering the same thing and you covered all the points I mentioned! http://www.pressjobs.co.uk/pressjobs/4-invaluable-skills-pr-marketing-graduates-2013/
Thanks Mikaela, just saw your post last night, great work! Cheers Matt π
36 skills and abilities for digital comms people http://t.co/UchV2MaZSQ
The @emergency20wiki got a couple of hat tips in our blog “36 skills for #digital #comms people” http://t.co/FANJ9CnR06 by @mattbrisvegas
@mattbrisvegas Great job! http://t.co/mVWyBd8f2T
The @emergency20wiki got two mentions in our blog “36 skills for #digital #comms people” http://t.co/FANJ9CnR06 by @mattbrisvegas
The @emergency20wiki got a couple of plugs in our blog “36 skills for #digital #comms people” http://t.co/FANJ9CnR06 by @mattbrisvegas
I’m a comms student and often doubt my skills because I don’t have a media production background…but I can do all these! Thanks for the reassurance that I’m on the right path.
Hi Melanie, thanks for your comment, yes it sounds like you’re on the right path π The skills you will need really depends on the job and the organisation, but the more things you’re across, the better π Cheers Matt
36 skills and abilities for digital comms people – commsgodigital http://t.co/VfRoMxA6AV
From our website: 36 skills and abilities for #digital #comms people http://t.co/FANJ9CnR06 by @mattbrisvegas -> How many do you have?
From our website: 36 skills & abilities for #digital #comms people http://t.co/FANJ9CnR06 by @mattbrisvegas -> How many do you have? π
A checklist for #sucomms people? ’36 skills and abilities for digital comms people’ http://t.co/zkZOod4NX2
From our archive: 36 skills for #digital #comms people http://t.co/FANJ9CG0ee by @mattbrisvegas How many can you tick off?
What skills are essential for digital comms professionals heading into 2014? Interesting article by @mattbrisvegas http://t.co/9RkFVXns2m
36 skills and abilities for #digital #comms people http://t.co/FANJ9CG0ee Ace stuff from our archive by @mattbrisvegas
36 skills and abilities for #digital #comms people http://t.co/RjiSS9K9rf Ace stuff from our archive by @mattbrisvegas
36-skills-for-digital http://t.co/Xo49sJMyxC
Awesome list of digit skills for Comms Officers http://t.co/PEyspRcAMv
lindivine: RT commsgodigital: 36 skills and abilities for #digital #comms people http://t.co/T5A6G1Fu9A by matt⦠http://t.co/cx1nZFU05z