Entries by Lindsay Williams

Think Twice Before you Declare a Crisis

Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a shock press conference to denounce mob rule and threats to democracy on the streets of Britain. For a previously mildly spoken technocrat this was a big departure. The statement appeared to be prompted by the Rochdale by-election which everyone admits was messy. But whilst it is clear […]

The Most Powerful Spokespeople Have a Story Behind Them

The dignity and pain of Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, made her speech at the Munich Security Conference incredibly powerful. She then updated her message and criticism of the regime on video, to ensure it reached as many people as possible. Someone, I assume, who is not used to public speaking, […]

Managing Questions, Managing News

Aggressive questioning rarely comes more dramatically than was experienced last week by social media titans TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew, Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel, Discord’s Jason Citron, X’s Linda Yaccarino – and above all, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta. Of course, this was not a media interview: on the face of it, it was a senate hearing entitled Big […]

Avoid a Hostage to Fortune Unless You Have Really Thought About It

It is a simple but hard-to-follow rule for many leaders: avoid committing or promising something in the future, that may not be deliverable. Rishi Sunak’s political difficulties today are in part created by his bold decision to ignore this rule. Of the Prime Ministers five pledges (easily found here on the government website), two are […]

The Many Types of Media Interviews, and How Training Helps

The curse of knowledge means that while every press officer understands the different types of interviews and the risks or lack of risk attached to each, a surprising number of spokespeople are much less clear. My experience is a little clarity on this goes a long way. Here is my list of the different roles […]

Latest Gaffe: Another Hot-Mic Incident

James Cleverly last week added his name to a long list of senior politicians who said something unwise, only to find it had been caught on microphone and made it to the front pages. It all began when Labour MP Alex Cunningham asked Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister’s Questions, ‘Why are 34% of children in […]

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 […]