1) Have a plan.
Sorry if you’re in a crisis now – this is one you should have done beforehand! If the crisis is already underway, put a plan together as quickly as possible. The plan sets out the chain of command […]

When you feel awkward introducing yourself to a stranger at a party or networking event, you’re channelling your inner Early Man (or woman). The original humans lived in groups of families on the plains of East Africa. Everyone in the group knew […]

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The good news is … you’ve had a fantastic idea. The less good news is … now you have to tell people about it. And you’re much better at inventing things than you are at communication.

You’ve probably […]

I don’t want to depress you during your annual ritual chocolate overdose, but part of the reason we observe Easter is that it makes us think about Death.

In the West we’re a bit squeamish about this subject. In Victorian times everyone would […]

In pre-internet days, I covered a great many stories about customer complaints. The normal routine was that an individual consumer would be poorly treated by a large organisation and would get so fed up about it that s/he would complain to the […]

A few years ago, United Airlines’ baggage handlers were careless with a travelling musician’s guitar, and it broke. Their response was cold and uncaring. The musician, Dave Carroll, produced the following brilliant, witty response, which went viral and appeared to assert the […]

I did a successful showcase speech last week at the inaugural meeting of the South West Region of the Professional Speaking Association.

My talk ‘How to find your killer stories’ drew on the fact that when I was a journalist I devised a […]

An interesting take on Donald Trump’s victory and why his supporters either don’t believe he lies, or don’t care if he lies, comes from veteran linguist and cognitive scientist George Lakoff.

Professor Lakoff believes we shouldn’t sweat so much over facts and […]

It’s a maxim of media training that when the jackals are threatening to bite your leg off, it’s a good idea to bring some bones with you.

By lobbing them the occasional bone (from the butcher’s, not your own body… ) […]