Take a sandwich – what the covid briefings can teach us about communications

Five years ago (Wednesday, March 12), the government gave the first Downing Street briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.

It was when then-prime minister Boris instructed anybody with symptoms to stay at home for at least a week and when, more than ever before, he needed to change behaviour.

But it wasn’t just the three-word slogan of “hands, face, space” that was effective. The other crucial communications lesson in that briefing was hidden in its structure.

We know structure is essential when trying to engage people – we remember around 40% more reliably when we see or hear information presented in a structured form than when it is not – and these briefings were built around a simple sandwich.

This briefing began and ended with the key messages delivered by the prime minister.

In between were two fillings that explained that message. Sir Patrick Vallance began by showing the predicted spread of the virus using a simple visual – in this case, a graph. Within a few days, he developed that into an analogy, likening the spread to the trajectory of a pole-vaulter while in that first briefing, Johnson likened the shape to a sombrero, which his advice was hoping to squash.

The second explanation came from the as-yet unknighted Chris Witty, who used the latest scientific evidence to explain what we knew about the virus and why we should all follow the government’s advice.

Once both fillings had been delivered, the prime minister took questions before concluding with his key points.

There are many reasons why this structure is effective, but none are more important than these three that have stood the test of time.

The first was that the instructions needed to be repeated – both to emphasise their importance and build credibility.

The second was that some of the audience would engage better with visuals – whether seen or imagined. Both the graph and the imagined squashed sombrero connected with these people.

And thirdly, another part of the audience needed reasoned persuasion, and to hear the facts that underpinned the advice.

Had they been delivering these briefings 2,300 years earlier at the Lyceum in Athens, they may have referred to those three points as ethos, pathos and logos.

But even in modern day Britain, this sandwich structure uses all those ingredients to make the contents memorable for everyone.

And it’s not just press conferences that this structure is useful for.

Too often we fill presentations or quotes with proof points but discard the images and metaphors, or we deliver presentations built around three key points, then throw away our control – and often our impact – by ending with questions.

Use the sandwich to repeat your point, illustrate it with analogies or anecdotes and underpin it with facts and figures, and you are far more likely to be memorable – and hopefully change behaviour.

By Chris Marritt, Director of Crisis and Issues at Citypress