Why I think mums make the best communicators…

Today is mother’s day and I think it is a truth universally acknowledged that mums make the best communicators.

I don’t need heavyweight academic theories to back up my musings – I’ll just look to my own experience. My mum – in my view she is officially a fantastic internal and external communicator.

Let’s look at the roles communicators play and draw parallells to the wonder that is the mother:

PR/Managing reputation – we’ve all had parents evenings at school when we’ve been grateful to have our mum on our side to give our perspective, face up to criticism, present a positive image, resolve disputes and apologise for our behaviour and promise to do better. 

Crisis comms – whether it’s fighting fires to diffuse situations their child has got into, or devising the best response to an incident, mums seem to have an internal crisis comms manual that has the best response prepared and delivered for maximum impact and effectiveness.

Collaboration – starts at a very young age by encouraging children to share their toys, work together on projects (building treehouses, completing puzzles) and even write to the French/German penpal you’ve been saddled with by your school.

Engagement and motivation – mums really know how to engage and motivate children to do things they may not neccessarily want to do. By outlining the key benefits (If you tidy your room you’ll come across toys you’ve forgotten and can then play with) and constantly being on side to cheer you along, mums are queen of the crop when it comes to inspiring you to continue.

Reward and recognition – mums know exactly how to reward and recognise their children. Whether through gold stars, attending sporting matches, sweets and treats or pocket money, mums give reward and recognition by the bucketload.

Branding – “You’re not going out dressed like that” – surely a branding exercise at its best. The majority of comments made by mums on choice of colours, clothes, venues and music are said in the best interest of their children to help maintain a brand identity that aligns to your family and presents the brand values she would like you to have.

Story-telling – throughout life the role of mums as story tellers shifts from reading hardback books with large pictures, to speeches at weddings, to the annual Christmas letter to far-flung relatives and finally as the informal network/grapevine in the family. No media training needed – mums instinctively know the key messages they want to get across and the strategy to coax the desired response from their audience.

So to all you mums out there, happy mother’s day, and to those who have sadly lost their mums, I hope the above made you smile and brought back some memories.