Our award-winning podcast gives you practical advice from experts on systems, communications, content and design. Whether you’re using digital signage, or just considering it, we help you communicate better.
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
How Digital Signage Fits into Unified Communications
EPISODE 74 | Sean Matthews, president & CEO of Visix, Inc.
Technology is approaching a more seamless experience for both users and communicators. The term unified communications (UC) can mean different things to different people, depending on whether they approach it from a technology or engagement perspective. Digital signage is a bridge between those two viewpoints.
New technologies and messaging techniques are emerging that will transform the way people interact with information and one another. By looking at what we use and how we got to where we are today, we can get a glimpse of the shape of things to come.
- Understand what unified communications means in different contexts
- Learn how unified communications differs from multichannel and omnichannel approaches
- Explore how past technologies point the way towards the future
- Discover how digital signage is a key element in emerging UC ecosystems
- Hear how companies like Visix stay relevant to their clients in a constantly shifting market
See the transcript HERE
Learn more in our Masterclass Guide: Digital Signage Systems Overview Guide
Tuesday Oct 19, 2021
Tuesday Oct 19, 2021
Combatting Workplace Rumors with Good Communications
EPISODE 73 | Guest: Andrew Brown, co-founder of the Academy of Business Communications
Water cooler talk has moved online, so the number, spread and speed of workplace rumors is growing every day. Ignoring rumors or putting out bad messaging to combat them can do more damage than the original rumor itself. Organizations have to understand the reasons why employees might create or spread rumors, how their communications and culture might be contributing to the rumor mill, and how to take a proactive approach to combat them.
Andrew Brown walks us through the conditions that create fertile ground for rumors, the very human and social reasons behind them, and some real-world stories and advice for how organizations should and should not try to manage rumors in the workplace.
- Understand three levels where rumors take hold
- Learn about the three conditions that allow rumors to rise and spread
- Hear four common but ineffective approaches that organizations often take
- Discover the traps that organizations often fall into when addressing rumors
- Get three tips for things an organization can do to combat rumors
- Explore how the hybrid office, technology and different generations play into it
See the full transcript HERE
Get more advice and free tools on the Academy of Business Communications website
Tuesday Aug 24, 2021
Tuesday Aug 24, 2021
Employee Surveys - Dos & Don'ts
EPISODE 69 | Guests: Elizabeth Williams & Andrew Brown, founders of the Academy of Business Communications
Employee surveys are a longstanding tool in the management and communications arsenal. By getting direct feedback from your workforce, you can find out what’s working, what’s misunderstood or unclear, and what improvements your employees feel you need to make. But asking vague questions, crowding surveys with lots of junk and not updating your surveys to reflect current realities can do more harm than good. Also, if your surveys are too infrequent or employees don’t see any action afterwards, you can weaken the employee engagement you were trying to boost.
In this episode, employee communications experts Elizabeth Williams and Andrew Brown walk through the potential and pitfalls of employee surveys, what can happen when they’re done well and the dangers of doing them badly.
- Find out when employee surveys are a good idea, and when they’re not
- Learn how to focus surveys and avoid "might-as-well-itis"
- Find out how often to survey employees (it's more often than you think)
- Understand the importance of focus groups and middle managers
- Discover how to set and meet employee expectations around surveys
Get the full transcript HERE
Get more advice and free tools on the Academy of Business Communications website
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
12 Tips for Better Employee Communications
EPISODE 65 | Guest: Debbie DeWitt, marketing communications manager for Visix
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IT’S OUR TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! Thanks to everyone who tunes in to DSDR. We hope you’ve found our episodes fun and valuable. If you have any suggestions for topics, email us at comms@visix.com. And don't forget that you can subscribe to this podcast and also our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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Better employee communications take work. It’s not enough to create a PowerPoint slide or fill in a template with some text. You have to have a strategy behind your messages, or your employees will just tune out. That goes for every channel – email, digital signs, social networks, collaboration apps, etc. And the need for purposeful, well-thought-out messaging is never more important than for internal communications.
Today’s employees need transparency into your mission and the outcomes of their actions. They want a voice in your operations and how, when, where and what you communicate. If you want to drive and deliver better employee communications, we’re giving you 12 tips that you can put into action today:
- Hear how better employee communications affect engagement and experience
- Learn about best practices for design, content and frequency
- Understand context, clarity and brevity all work together
- Explore how to measure understanding and effectiveness
- Discover how surveys can do some of the work for you
Get the full transcript HERE
Use our infographic to take these tips with you.
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Feeding the Face-to-Face Channel
EPISODE 61 | Guest: Ray Walsh, communications consultant & author of the book Localizing Employee Communications
You work hard to manage digital signage, emails, intranets and other communication channels, but you might be neglecting the most important one of all: the face-to-face channel.
In this episode, we talk with internal communications expert Ray Walsh. He gives us practical advice on how to prepare managers and team leaders to share your campaigns so that they generate buzz and word of mouth. We walk through a real-world example and how to lay the groundwork for your internal communications to make your messaging much more effective.
- Understand why digital channels aren’t enough
- Hear why managers and team leaders are critical to success
- Explore why context is essential for engagement
- Discover how to make your communications sharable
- Find out how to be an active recipient
See the full transcript HERE
Get more communications advice from Ray's website and blog. Check out Ray’s book Localizing Employee Communications at Amazon or direct from XML Press.
Tuesday Feb 09, 2021
Tuesday Feb 09, 2021
How (Not) to Communicate Effectively
EPISODE 55 | Guest: Dave Haynes, founding editor for Sixteen:Nine, host of the 16:9 Podcast & digital signage consultant
Dave Haynes began in newspapers but started focusing primarily on digital signage and marketing 15 years ago. His refreshing take on how to keep communications honest has made Sixteen:Nine one of the go-to sources in the industry. In this episode, he shares some tips on how to communicate effectively with an audience and how not to screw up your press releases.
Clear, concise communication is essential in all mediums, so you can apply this advice not only to your press releases, but also your digital signage content, social media and other messaging. Get suggestions on how to communicate both efficiently and effectively:
- Learn what not to do if you want your story published
- Discover the benefits of hyper-targeting
- Understand the Five Ws & how they can transform your text
- Consider how buzzwords & quotes can hurt you
- Get advice on how to submit images & video
- Hear about queue management & other trends
See the full transcript HERE
For more insights see Sixteen:Nine: All Digital Signage, Some Snark and the 16:9 Podcast
Tuesday Jan 12, 2021
Tuesday Jan 12, 2021
It's Time for a Digital Signage Content Refresh
EPISODE 53 | Guest: Debbie DeWitt, marketing communication manager for Visix, Inc.
With the start of a new year, this is the perfect time to give your screens a makeover: try a new layout, pep up your message designs and get your user accounts in order. Even a limited content refresh can increase engagement.
Remember that the goal is to cut through the noise, grab people’s attention and get them to take your call to action. Since your digital signs are competing with a lot of sensory input, changing things up from time to time is an easy way to entice more viewers. However, any successful content refresh strategy has be done in a methodical, measurable way, so you can tell what is and isn’t effective.
In this episode we’ll give you some quick tips on what to refresh, how often and how easy it can be:
- Hear about the cocktail party affect and how the brain filters information
- Explore how to update layouts – new designs, arrangements and themes
- Learn to reimagine and refresh evergreen message elements
- Discover quick update ideas for time, date, weather and other feeds
- Get tips on refreshing playlists and calls to action
- Understand the importance of software, hardware and user updates
See the full transcript HERE
Need some content inspiration? Grab our infographic with 100 Digital Signage Message Ideas.
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
ADA Guidelines for Digital Signage
EPISODE 50 | Host: Derek DeWitt, communications specialist for Visix, Inc.
Professional communication is about inclusion. The number and type of disabilities are more prevalent and varied than you might think, and include everything from physical to visual to hearing impairments and more. And with an aging population, it’s more important than ever before to ensure everyone can access and engage with your communications.
The Americans with Disabilities Act lays out steps for how you can ensure your facility, and your visual communications, are accessible to everyone. In this episode, we focus on tips for ADA guidelines for digital signage, specifically:
- Learn about how and where to mount screens
- Explore guidelines for keypads, kiosks and touchscreens
- Consider voice-responsive technology and EZ Access devices
- Discover how contrast, color, fonts and icons can help color blind viewers
- Get lots of links to helpful online resources
Get the full transcript HERE
Learn more about this topic in our Masterclass Guide 4: Digital Signage Design
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
How to Make Internal Communications More Authentic
EPISODE 49 | Guest: Ray Walsh, independent internal localization consultant & author of Localizing Employee Communications
How do you engage people but still maintain consistency in branding and messaging? How can you express your corporate culture while being authentic, comprehensible and engaging at the same time?
As in all good communications, the key is to focus on the audience – who they are, what they’re interested in and what their context is. But that’s just the first step, after you get to know your audience, you still have to craft messaging that will appeal to them.
In this episode, localization and communications expert Ray Walsh gives advice on how we can get across what we need to and yet still sound human.
- Learn how to avoid jargon (write to your mother)
- Get tips to simplify and focus your message
- Explore how being authentic leads to more engagement
- Embrace revisions, review and more revisions
- Hear how localization can help frame corporate messaging
See the full transcript HERE
Check out Ray’s book Localizing Employee Communications at Amazon or direct from XML Press
Tuesday Oct 06, 2020
Tuesday Oct 06, 2020
Digital Signage for Health and Safety
EPISODE 46 | Guest: Trey Hicks, chief sales officer, Visix, Inc.
Safety is important in all work environments, but it’s paramount in manufacturing and industrial settings. Accidents can cause serious injury, damage equipment and cost the organization a lot of money.
Digital signage can help safety managers train new employees and remind workers about current procedures and protocols, as well as engage and motivate people across the organization. And it’s not just health and safety – digital signs can increase engagement with motivational messages, calls to action and realtime metrics on screens.
Safety is never one and done – it requires constant and consistent education and motivation. Digital signs can help you keep all your employees safe and informed, comply with OSHA and ADA requirements, and have a more productive workforce.
- Understand how digital signage can unite communications across shifts and specialties
- Learn the benefits of digital safety communications over OSHA posters
- Explore ways to promote training and increase engagement
- Discover how realtime data can increase productivity
- Get real-world examples of how Visix manufacturing clients are using digital signs
- Consider safety message subscriptions to take the burden off content creators
- Hear how safety messaging can help during the COVID-19 pandemic
See the full transcript HERE
Additional Resources:
- Download our infographic: Using Digital Signage for Better Safety Communication
- Download our white paper: Drive Change and Improve Safety with Digital Signage for Manufacturing Facilities
Tuesday Sep 22, 2020
Tuesday Sep 22, 2020
Calls to Action - Examples & Advice for Digital Signage
EPISODE 45 | Guest: Ellyce Kelly, professional services consultant, Visix, Inc.
A call to action is a short, clear instruction that motivates your audience to do something, like “register now” or “learn more”. And in visual communications and digital signage, the call to action is the most important part of every message you publish. It not only prompts action; it gets people actively engaged and provides you with a way to measure whether or not your messaging is effective.
It might sound basic, but, as in all communications, there are some dos and don’ts. We’ll walk you through some best practices for how to create compelling calls to action, with 12 tips that have been proven to work on digital signs.
- Get easy call to action examples you can use today
- Learn how to leverage QR codes for higher response rates
- Understand how to craft concise, motivating messages
- Consider language register, verbs, triggers and symbols
- Explore gamification, cross-promotion and ROI measures
See the full transcript HERE
Get more advice in our infographic 12 Best Practices for Calls to Action on Digital Signs