My 91-year-old mother was not impressed with King Charles III’s first address to the nation last Friday. ‘What was wrong with it?’ I asked ‘Not very kingly.’ ‘You mean too emotional? ‘Yes. Sentimental and emotional. That is not his job!’ My mother belongs to a dying generation where a stiff upper lip really meant something. […]
We have a new Prime Minister – the third UK female prime minister. Some will love her, others will hate her, but it it’s another step forward for equality of opportunity in the UK. That said, and despite the recent diversity on UK front benches, we are still missing out on hearing the voices of […]
As a senior leader, your PR team may feel like another species. You may be slightly suspicious that they do not truly back your enthusiasm for something. You may wonder why they are paid so much. The wider world remains sceptical that PR people do anything useful; they tend to be treated as passengers, and […]
Plenty of others are commenting on the political implications and the relative merits of the two candidates for party leader and prime minister in last night’s debate. As you’d expect, I was watching with a more specialist lens. Before going further, I would say these debates are incredibly difficult for the candidates and a small […]
Whatever you think of the political reality, and the extraordinary events that led to more than 50 ministers resigning from his government, Boris Johnson’s resignation statement was well written and – given the circumstances – extremely well delivered. It was also short and to the point. For those of us who present or speak in […]
Why is it that we cringe when we hear a recording of ourselves? It’s because you normally hear yourself speak from inside your own head. You are used to hearing your voice before it fully escapes your skull. It is only when it is a recording that you hear it as others do. The good […]
Mick Lynch, leader of the RMT, has emerged as one of the most articulate political voices for a generation. His robust interview style and the confidence to respond witheringly to journalists’ questions are winning him fans in the most unlikely places. Perhaps because people are, in general, fed up with the chatter of the chattering […]
Clients often express horror and disgust at the idea of using a cliché in an interview. They feel, as serious professionals, that they should not be using what they see as trite, overused and near meaningless phrases to talk about their important issues. Well, there are some clichés I hate and would never use but […]
As a media trainer, one of my roles is to warn people that it is all too easy to misspeak in public life – with very significant consequences. I have recently been working with a couple of senior leaders from very different backgrounds who both, in my view, greatly underestimated the danger of misspeaking. One […]
Rather than focus on one story this week, here is a brief comment on several: the PMs statement on the Sue Gray report, the Temporary Targeted Energy Profits Levy, Jacinda Ardern’s Harvard speech and Woke Capitalism. Tone Matters in a Public Apology If you are going to apologise and ‘take full responsibility’ our advice would […]
