The outcome of the EU referendum shows how important is to be clear and concise when it comes to explaining complex issues to the public.
One of the most important learning points in media training is the importance of using key messages. We work with a lot of spokespeople who have to explain complicated situations to the public. It might be why an NHS trust can’t fund a particular treatment, why a fire station is going to close or why an unpopular planning application is approved.
The explanations need to be simple, because people can’t take in too much. We are all constantly bombarded with information and it is difficult to process it all.
So choosing two or three messages to get across to the public is vital. It means that when you hear someone speaking you get the gist of what they are saying. Tell me two or three things over and over in a four minute radio interview and I will get it. Include lots of information and I won’t take it in.
It also means that if the interview is edited down to a soundbite or quote then it’s likely to be one of your key messages that’s featured.
In the EU referendum the Leave campaign picked three main messages and stuck to them. The Remain campaign seemed unsure of what they were trying to say. They said a lot, but it was hard to know what they were saying.
The only messages they kept repeating: ‘safer, stronger and better off’ was too much of a slogan, and lacked actual facts.
Leave on the other hand said: Immigration will be reduced, £350m will be saved and Britain will be great again after we take back control of our borders. And they said it over and over and over again.
They followed the rules of dealing with the media over complex issues: have two or three simple, memorable key messages; make sure the content and language are relevant to the audience; make sure the messages are more than just a catchphrase; all stick to the same messages, and repeat them over and over.
It seems using the formula worked.
But the one rule they broke, which will come to haunt them, is make sure the messages are true. Tactically and morally that was a big mistake.
Kate Betts is the director of Capital B Media, a Yorkshire-based media relations company, which helps organisations deal with the media in good and bad times.
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