Religion Communicators Council Learns What it Takes to Make An Idea Stick

The Nashville Chapter of the Religion Communicators Council (RCC) meets monthly to talk about topics of interest and hear from professionals in religious communications.  

How come some ideas stick while others fade? This is what religious communications professionals learned during their monthly meeting in January. The Religion Communicators Council (RCC) is an interfaith association of religion communicators at work in print and electronic communication, marketing and public relations.

“It’s important to know how to get an idea to remain relevant and interesting,” says Julie Brinker, Communications Coordinator of the Nashville chapter of RCC, “People of faith need to stay on top of current ways to communicate their message to people, otherwise religious influence could fade.”

The meeting took place on January 8^th at United Methodist Communications over lunch. The guest speaker was Laura Buchanan, Senior Creative Content Specialist at United Methodist Communications. Her passion for writing, strategic messaging and connecting with audiences comes from a 12-year career in nonprofit fundraising and faith-based communications. Her topic on “What makes an idea memorable?” comes from the book, “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.”

Buchanan’s presentation covered six basic ways to make content relevant and interesting: 1) keep it simple and easy to understand, 2) drop in something unexpected to grab attention, 3) make it concrete so they remember, 4) ensure the information is credible, 5) create an emotional connection with the content, and 6) tell a story.

The RCC has members from every faith group and walk of life including Baha’is, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Scientologists, Sikhs, Hindus and more.

The RCC, founded in 1929, is an association of communications professionals who work for and with a diverse group of faith-based organizations in the areas of communications, public relations, advertising and development. The RCC provides opportunities for communicators to learn from each other. Together, RCC members promote excellence in the communication of faith and values in the public arena and encourage understanding among religious and faith groups. For more information about the Religion Communicators Council, visit religioncommunicators.org/nashville-chapter.