The Communications Doughnut
A simple but urgent framework that any organisation (or individual) can adopt to ensure the way you communicate is effective and ethical. In a clear, visual format, it provides the essential principles required to guide the way you speak, write or illustrate ideas, as well as to steer the way you receive information.
By following these principles we can collectively harness the positive power of communication to create stronger connections and greater impact, and we can mitigate the negative - and often destructive - consequences of poor or unethical approaches to communicating.
“This is excellent; an ethical framework for transformational communications that would not only work at an organisational level, but also a societal level."
CEO for a UK charity
“I really like it. I think it will strike a chord with a lot of people who are struggling to articulate these issues. It can help demonstrate when your current approach to comms is not fit for purpose.”
Former News Editor for The Times
“The Doughnut has a lot of potential. Working on better, more credible communication could fundamentally change businesses.”
Director at PR company
The Communications Doughnut is a new concept, and still in early development. Please feel free to take a look at the 'Detailed overview' and share your thoughts as we develop it further. Or check out the 'Quick start' version to get going with the basics today
Communication is the foundation of society; it is how we build connections, share information and bring about action. It allows us to fulfil our potential and realise our ambitions as organisations or individuals. A positive, constructive approach to communicating is therefore essential in supporting progress.
However, too often, communication - whether that’s from brands, the media, in politics, or even in our work and personal relationships - is anything but constructive. It is sometimes used destructively as a weapon to divide instead of a tool to unite. It can be used to mask regressive activities or make false claims, stalling real progress.
So, how can we make it easier to communicate constructively, as well as easier to recognise and repair - or call out - destructive (or poor) approaches?
The Communications Doughnut is a first; a framework (inspired by Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics model) for constructive communication that is easy to understand, implement and evaluate. It guides optimum outcomes and mitigates against destructive possibilities. It answers the pressing need for an accessible framework to ensure that everyone can communicate in a way that is both effective and ethical.
What's in the dough?
Every communication produces a reaction - it affects the way we think, feel and act. The Doughnut helps you control those outcomes by taking responsibility for why you are communicating (intent), what you are saying (content) and how you are saying it (delivery). It also helps you to better understand and take responsibility for the potential - and critical - consequences of how you receive communications. It provides a floor of standards below which no one should fall and a ceiling of ethics, above which no one should rise.