Ethical Communications; Part 4: Facts and Not Fiction

http://ncc.imanet.org

IMA - 100 years and counting

Nation's Capital Chapter - 88 years and counting

Ethical Communications; Part 4:

Facts and Not Fiction

In Part 1 of our series, Tom Dean's lead off message was that "truth can't be relative" and in Part 2, Leigha Kiger took us on a grand tour of using Plain English writing techniques when communicating with your audience. Building on both themes in Part 3, Lauren Laurie focused on taking your ego out of communications and avoiding hyperbole. Now in Part 4, Keegan Maguigan takes us deeper into how we should communicate the facts no matter how cold or hard they may be in order to reveal the truth.

What is ethical communication and why is it important? Does it even exist in our digitized world where instant communication is often valued more for its speed and response time than its content or sentiment? How can you trust what you are hearing and are you in fact, an honest communicator or do you just hear and say those things that correspond to your biases?

These are tough questions to answer if you're going to be truthful with yourself but don't worry, we've identified an outstanding slate of 6 speakers this year who just don't talk the talk, they walk the talk. They come from different disciplines and backgrounds and will share with you their insights on ethical communication. We'll be covering such diverse topics as communicating in plain English; advocating for resources and budget increases; how story-telling can be used to address sensitive or taboo topics; building emotional connections with people; and sticking to the facts so as not to mislead.

We plan on concluding our 6 speaker series with an open panel discussion where you will be invited to ask questions of these expert practitioners, but a warning is in order. If you keep an open mind and are honest with yourself, you will probably realize that some, or maybe much of what you've been hearing or saying doesn't fall into what would be considered ethical.

Now, with that warning out of the way, please come join us and let's welcome Keegan as he continues to open our eyes, ears, mind and heart concerning ethical communication.

Presenter

Keegan Maguigan, Senior Auditor

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Learning Objectives

After this session, you will be able to:

Realize the importance of evidence driven communication
Improve your critical thinking to overcome inherent biases
Identify and assess processes that generate information to assess degree of reliability
Encourage action without exaggerating a crisis
Succeed at communication.

About Our Presenter

Keegan Maguigan, Senior Auditor

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Keegan Maguigan is a Senior Auditor with the Financial Management and Assurance team at the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington, DC. Keegan works on audit engagements and projects that examine financial management issues at federal entities as well as for the U.S. government as a whole. Prior to joining GAO, Keegan worked as an Accounting Clerk at a local township in Pennsylvania, a Bookkeeping Assistant at an antiquarian bookshop in Delaware, and as a Civil Engineer-in-Training at a small civil engineering firm in Delaware where he designed and implemented practical solutions for complex problems. Throughout his career, Keegan has helped transform financial management to enhance accountability and transparency, use data for decision-making and to improve results, and to adapt with technology. Keegan received a Bachelor of Science in accounting, summa cum laude, from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in engineering technology from the University of Delaware.

https://www.gao.gov

Nation's Capital Chapter

Institute of Management Accountants

http://ncc.imanet.org