Communicating and Influencing: Civil Service Behaviour Examples
What Communicating and Influencing assesses, how to show tailored communication to specific audiences, and worked STAR examples at EO and SEO level.
**TL;DR.** Communicating and Influencing is one of the 9 Civil Service behaviours. Assessors look for evidence that you tailor your message to the audience, use appropriate channels, and move stakeholders toward a specific outcome. Strong examples name the audience, the adaptation you made, and what changed as a result.
Worked EO example (250 words)
*As an EO in a policy team, I was asked to brief our deputy director ahead of a stakeholder meeting where she would explain a controversial new regulation. Our existing briefing template ran to eight pages; the deputy director had ten minutes to read it. I asked her what she actually used in the briefings she read, and she said the first page and any direct quotes. I redesigned the template to a one-page summary with the key message at the top, three anticipated questions with short responses, and one supporting evidence quote. I tested it with her in a 20-minute review and refined it based on her feedback. I used the new template for her next three stakeholder meetings. After the third, she told me the briefing helped her handle a difficult question, and asked me to share the template with three other policy teams. I drafted a short note explaining the format and two teams adopted the template within a month.*
Worked SEO example (250 words)
*I led a workstream to redesign how my division communicated with five external stakeholder groups. I interviewed each group to understand what they actually used in our updates — three said they used less than 20% of what we sent. I drafted a tiered communication structure (daily flash updates, weekly summary, monthly deep dive) and presented it to my Grade 7 with a costed implementation plan. I ran a four-week pilot with one stakeholder group, measured engagement (open rates, query volume, action completion), and refined the structure based on the pilot data. The new structure cut outbound communication volume by 40% while increasing stakeholder action completion by 25%. It was adopted by two adjacent divisions.*
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Frequently asked questions
What does Communicating and Influencing assess?
The behaviour assesses whether candidates tailor communication to the audience, use appropriate channels, and move stakeholders toward a specific outcome. Assessors score the adaptation you made (not just the communication itself) and the measurable change that resulted.
How do I evidence influencing upwards in a Civil Service application?
Describe a specific moment where you persuaded a senior colleague to change their view or accept a recommendation. Name the stakeholder, the resistance you navigated, the evidence or reasoning you presented, and the outcome. Panels score this highly at SEO and above.
Should Communicating and Influencing examples include the audience response?
Yes. The audience reaction is the Result of the behaviour — did your communication move the audience toward a decision, change a view, or trigger a specific action? An example without a measurable audience response is incomplete.