A Moderate Voice on Northern Ireland

This weekend I greatly enjoyed listening to Jonathan Powell on this New Statesman Vodcast.

It is easy to assume that measured, moderate voices are inevitably boring. And with our Media Coach lens we would particularly expect ‘boring’ in the use of language. Clients constantly reach for bland almost meaningless phrases because they want to avoid controversy and sound considered. But actually, technical language, boring phrasing and bland generalities are not essential parts of an intelligent analysis.

This interview by the New Statesman’s Rachel Wearmouth and Tony Blair’s Chief of Staff, who was one of the main negotiators of the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago, shows how it is possible to be a voice of calm reason but still be very interesting.

But look at his colloquial (and quotable) use of language:

• He asserts the Good Friday agreement has ‘stood the test of time’.
• He claims it ‘ended the war” and allowed more normal politics to become established.
• He believes the agreement ended a period in which he suggested Northern Ireland had been ‘imprisoned by history’.
• He says that Brexit created weakness in the Good Friday Agreement, in particular it put ‘the poison of identity politics’ back into the debate.
• Later he speaks about Boris Johnson’s ‘deliberate vandalism of the peace process in Northern Ireland’.

Ok, so perhaps he is not measured or respectful about Boris Johnson (or actually Boris Johnson’s government) but overall this interview feels like a statesman speaking, but in a way that ordinary people can relate to.

That is the trick. Wisdom with a common touch. No jargon. Clarity of argument. And for my taste less shrill than so much of the political debate.

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Lindsay Williams

Lindsay Williams is the founder and MD of The Media Coach. She has been an expert media trainer, communication coach and consultant since 1998. Lindsay hosts a range of bespoke communication skills courses which include Media Training, Presentation Training, Crisis Media Training and Message Building. Her particular forte is CEO Communication Coaching. Lindsay is the person to hire when you want C-Suite Communication Training.

Lindsay Williams is based in London but runs training sessions in multiple time zones, including the US, Europe, Africa and Asia, working online or travelling to host small and large scale training events. With 20 years of experience as a communications consultant with corporations and international organisations, Lindsay also runs Personal Impact Training and Pitching Via Zoom courses.

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