Nigel Oakes Lecture at CSCC, Department of State

On January 24, 2012, Nigel Oakes, CEO of the Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) Group and Founder of the Behavioural Dynamics Institute (BDI), spoke at a Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC) seminar on “The Most Common Mistakes in Designing Influence Campaigns”.

Nigel highlighted four very common errors made in designing influence campaigns, especially if one is trying to induce significant behavior change:
• Attempting to change attitudes instead of behaviour
• Focusing on individuals or audience segments, not groups
• Using broadcast messages, instead of working with existing motivations
• Using survey methods for audience analysis instead of group diagnostics

Short Clip of Nigel Oakes giving a Lecture at CSCC, Department of State

Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC)

The CSCC is a multi agency collaboration and coordination body that operates from the DOS.
The center provides best practice guidelines for government agencies involved in strategic communication for counter terrorism. Nigel Oakes was asked to present some of the latest thinking on strategic communication to the intra-government center. The entire presentation covered important standards for maximising engagement with the target audience, understanding audience context and the latest advances in MOE Measurement of Effectiveness.