8 Tips to Be an Effective School Communicator

Introduction

The School Feed is your school community’s private communication network. Here are some tips on excelling in school communication utilizing the School Feed.

These tips can enhance your school’s communication and ensure your messages are transparent, effective, and inclusive.

#1: Create a Clear Title

Craft a title that gets straight to the point so your community knows to keep reading. The title is the first thing community members see in the subject line of email, text or push notifications. Ensure the title is clear and concise—this is not the place for creative writing experiments.

#2: Get to the Point

Ragan Consulting Group offers sage advice: Edit. Trim. Repeat. Make sure every word counts, no matter how many you use. Use simple language to ensure that it gets correctly translated for ESL families.

#3: Avoid Time-Based Words like “Tomorrow”

Use exact dates instead of time-based words like “tomorrow” or “yesterday.” These references can confuse busy parents as their meanings change daily.

#4: Communicate with Visuals

The human brain processes visuals much faster than text, and visuals can evoke an emotional connection to the topic. Ensure the visuals are relevant and include contextual images and close-ups that drive emotional engagement. However, avoid placing text in your visuals as they will not be included into text-to-speech voice messages.

#5: Time It Right

While research on the best times to post on social media is not definitive, the general advice is to avoid late-night posts and Saturdays. Early morning or afternoons after 1 PM are typically better. Consider when parents are most likely to engage with the post. For instance, requests to fill out online forms might be better sent earlier in the week, while sharing pictures might be best after dinner when parents can check their phones. Use delivery reports and statistics to see how quickly the community opens notifications. 

#6: Use AI Assistant 

AI Assistant can step in when you are running out of time. Just create a prompt, choose your communication style, and the built-in AI tool crafts a post draft for your review.

#7: Get Feedback

To gauge the effectiveness of your communication, seek feedback from the recipients. Create an online form for community members to provide feedback anytime or send out an annual survey. Ask questions like:

• Is the communication frequent enough?
• Is it easy to provide feedback?
• Is the communication accessible and easy to locate?
• Is the communication inclusive of the community’s voices?
  
  
  

#8: Be Ready to Adjust Your School Communication Plan

Effective communication involves dialogue, not just informing. Engage your community members in the communication process to create a vibrant school culture. Listen to and include all voices from the community, and be ready to adjust your school communication plan to serve their needs better. Family engagement assessment gives you deeper context to adjust your communication strategies and check if the communication meets your families’ needs.