The jobs that taught me how people think

When I was eight I told my parents that I wanted to be a newspaper writer when I was older. I used to write them newspapers on my typewriter. I’d write stories and diaries every day. I would read Sweet Valley High and Goosebumps, getting through six books a week sometimes!

As I got older, my reading interests changed but writing has always been therapy for me, and reading is my escape into another world and insight into other people’s minds.

Fast forward ten years and I was working multiple jobs to save for a trip travelling around the world, to Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and across the USA.

I would coach children’s gymnastics classes in the morning, then rush to an afternoon shift selling shoes in Beales in Poole, and then go to my bar job until midnight. Then, sometimes on my way home from working at the bar, I’d pick up drunk people waiting for taxis and charge them for a lift home!

During university and beyond I went through jobs such as working with children with disabilities, pre-school work, shop work, cafes, student union admin, an elf in Santa’s grotto, management in care work, teaching English as a foreign language.

My elf ears!

Every single one of those jobs put me in front of a completely different kind of person, expecting a completely different kind of me. 

A drunk stranger in the back of my car doesn’t want the same conversation as a foreign student struggling with English grammar. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I was building my experience and empathy to understand what makes people listen, what makes them switch off, and what makes them trust you in the first ten seconds. That’s not something you learn from a textbook.

All my life experiences and jobs have taught me lessons that I carry with me.

All the films I have watched in my lifetime that would have had happy endings if the people in the film had just communicated clearly with each other!

When I was studying English Language and Media, I had decided that my top job dream would be a film director. But now I have the chance to direct and produce films, on a slightly smaler scale 😉 I am living out my top job!

I eventually found my way into communications and I’ve never looked back.

Working in communication planning, PR, marketing, videography, social media, campaign planning, websites, strategies and problem solving, complex messages made simple.

I have spent my whole life noticing how good communication is the base of all good relationships.

I’ve always had a habit of hearing something complicated and automatically trying to simplify it. Someone starts explaining a policy, a process, or a piece of jargon (the NHS loves an acronym), and my brain starts breaking it down while they’re still talking. What are you actually trying to say, and who needs to hear it? Same with a confusing website or a page full of jargon, I can’t read it without mentally rewriting it. It’s just how my brain has always worked, and it turns out it’s exactly what most organisations need.

Some examples and tips -

Using capital letters in your text? This is harder to read for people with dyslexia and for those with English as a second language.

Want the clearest font for people with dementia? Black text on a yellow background.

Want kids to be interested in what you’re saying? Gamify, less text, more fun and imagery.

From my year on a hotel reception - want people to calm down and listen to you? Show you are listening to them first. Nod and use body language. If you want people to listen to you, you have to really listen to them first.

Good communication starts with understanding who you’re trying to reach.

I founded Comms With Style, because if you are going to say it, then say it well.

Contact me if your organisation is not being heard, seen or experienced, and you want to make sure the right people know who you are.

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