Recently, there was a thread on Twitter about public speaking by an academic called Dr Nicholas Coles. He’s a Research Scientist at Stanford University and one of his friends had critiqued a talk which he had given. These are the lessons he learned: A year ago, a non-academic friend listened to a talk I gave. […]
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling
How much can the movies teach us about making a point, or presenting your key message? Quite a lot, as it turns out, because learning how to tell a good story is one of the most important lessons we convey when we talk to people about delivering their key messages during media and presentation training […]
24 tips to help you ace your job interview
Preparing for a job interview, and responding to the questions you’re asked has a lot in common with giving both media interviews and presentations. We run job interview skills workshops on behalf of our client the Institute of Conservation. These are delivered by our team member – and BBC presenter – Martine Croxall. The workshops cover […]
Four crisis communications mistakes by Yorkshire CC
Over the past few weeks, Yorkshire County Cricket Club have been engulfed in allegations of racism – with the issue spreading across cricket in the UK and plunging the game into an existential crisis. Few can fail to be shocked and moved at the testimony of both Azeem Rafiq and former Yorkshire academy players Irfan […]
Video Content Curation: eight top tips
If you are producing a lot of videos, whether using a smartphone or a video camera, it is important to be organised, with good content curation, or you’ll find your equipment doesn’t work or vital shots can get lost or be deleted. Here are some tips on how to organise your content curation to make […]
Rocket fuel for story ideas
So often, when I am training PR people, especially those working in agencies, they complaint that they’re expected to promote stories which they know are simply not very interesting. I am a strong advocate of being honest with clients and managing their expectations – ie making it clear that their story is unlikely to get […]
Education secretary Williamson fails to make the grade
It is amazing how forgetful people can become when things get uncomfortable. One recent example was Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s interview about A level results on the commercial radio station LBC. After commenting on grade inflation and congratulating students and teachers alike on their achievements, Mr Williamson was asked about his own A level results […]
Script-writing advice
On a recent writing course, we were asked to include some script-writing advice, for the company’s corporate videos. I canvassed the opinions of the wonderful Rough House team, who have made thousands of documentaries, news reports and corporate videos between them. Here is their top script-writing advice: Planning (aka pre-production) As with all pieces of […]
The dangers of confused messaging
Credit where it’s due, the government has done extremely well with the rollout of Covid-19 vaccinations. On May 25 the vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi told MPs approximately 72% of all adults in the UK had received their first dose and 43% had received both. The figures are impressive but unfortunately one cannot day the same […]
Successful panel facilitation
Chairing or facilitating a panel discussion is a particular skill. When many experts and specialists in their field are asked to do this, they discover that it is not as easy as they imagined. Pitching and introducing the session, involving everyone, promoting audience engagement, dealing with difficult panellists and ending the discussion can all be […]
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