What do you do in a media interview if you get a really uncomfortable question? The answer is remarkably simple: tell the journalist you are choosing not to answer. Daniel Radcliffe demonstrated this on GMB when asked about the Will Smith slapping incident at the Oscars ceremony. Radcliffe did not hesitate: he said he was […]
One of the best news stories of the year so far, was the return of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after 6 years imprisoned or held in Iran. She and her husband Richard Ratcliffe held a press conference in Westminster, and I was stunned at how composed and articulate she was after her ordeal. And also, how fearless […]
Three things came together in my head this Monday morning: On BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, I heard a BBC reporter talking about ‘weaponising history’. He was referring to the story, or the narrative, President Putin has crafted around why Ukraine needs to be part of a greater Russia. This reminded me of a very […]
‘Please can you help us improve our pitch – but, by the way, we can’t change the deck’. This is a brief we get all too often, ahead of Pitch Training or some Presentation Training. In these cases the people we work with know that their slides have too much information on them, too many […]
Volodymyr Zelensky is the man of the moment and reams of video and comment are hitting the internet, analysing his chances of survival and his effect on history. As all readers of this blog know, we look for the communications lessons in current affairs and Zelensky is giving us all a text book illustration of […]
When my parents married they were dirt poor. My father had walked away from a life in the steel mill in South Wales and wanted to be a journalist. Living in a rented flat with two young girls in the early sixties, every penny was counted. He taught himself Pitman’s shorthand – a skill now […]
‘Things could go crazy quickly.’ ‘That’s a world war when Americans and Russians start shooting at each other.’ If you want people to listen and take note of what you say, keep it really, really simple. President Biden wants Americans to leave Ukraine, and leave now. So, he chooses very compelling language. The Guardian pulls […]
If you are going to be the public face of an organisation you need to understand how normal people will react to your words. Bank of England Governor, Andrew Bailey, got it badly wrong last week when he called for workers to moderate their wage demands. A call that predictably and reasonably caused outcry and […]
The news can be dull, repetitive, and tedious despite the best efforts of journalists. But creating or just reporting the witticisms that come naturally from some people, really does make it all a lot more fun. I just loved the ‘Pork Pie Plot’ so-called because one of the alleged political plotters comes from Melton Mowbray. […]
My boss has the attention span of a gnat…how do I get her attention? I’ve been told I need to communicate better…how do I do that? I lose the meeting as soon as I start speaking – what am I doing wrong? I think I am boring people on video calls…but don’t know how to […]