Entries by Lindsay Williams

Lunch with Lagarde: the Art of the Profile Interview

I love a profile interview and this week’s Lunch with the FT guest is one of the most impressive female figures on the world stage: Christine Lagarde, current head of the ECB. Martin Arnold’s article is behind the FT paywall but if you do have time, opportunity and inclination, I would urge you to read […]

Show Me the Numbers

One of the key components of preparing a presentation, or messages for a media interview, is to find and then communicate key numbers. If you are at a dinner party or down the pub it is fine to have opinions without numbers. But, if you step into the world of professional communication, my advice is […]

Credibility Matters to Most But Not All Interviewees

A client alerted me to an uncomfortable interview on Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday. New Transport Minister, Mark Harper, ‘took one for the boss’ and accepted an interview on Radio 4’s Today Programme, despite the fact that the media is awash with rumours about cancellations or delays to HS2. The boss, Rishi Sunak, was […]

Why the Seven-Bin Policy Was Doomed From the Start

In my view, the seven-bin policy – which we should all theoretically support – was never going to hit the mainstream. [If you are not familiar with this news story, check out BBC coverage here.] And that is because of a simple but remarkably resilient rule: all lists should be three, at least in the […]

SEXI or Pyramid Communication?

I know which I prefer. SEXI is apparently a mnemonic device used by university debating societies. I only know this because someone pointed out to me that this had featured in a recent Guardian article by Simon Usborne entitled: Don’t steamroll, and go easy on the stats: how to win an argument – without making […]

A Half-Hearted Apology is a Kiss of Death

‘The Kiss’ has dominated news headlines around the world, sadly overshadowing the remarkable and laudable victory of the Spanish Women’s football team in the Women’s World Cup. As ever, we comment on the media lessons rather than the rights and wrongs of an argument. And the media lesson from this debacle is as old as […]

Have you Spotted the New Press Conference Playbook?

Playing with one of the generative AI apps last week I put in: how to run a good press conference. In a few seconds it generated a creditable if bland 500 words which basically covered be prepared, maintain your composure and be respectful to the journalists. Three protocols that were exactly the opposite of what […]