The comms blog

10 quick and practical tips for communication that works

For this week’s blog I asked on my Twitter and LinkedIn pages for practical tips for communicators in a hurry. The results cover a wide range of areas, from planning and strategy to intranet and message suggestions. I particularly like the ideas in relation to sign-off, an area that can easily slow us down as … Read more

CharityComms Inspiring Communicator Awards 2019

The CharityComms Inspiring Communicator Awards and Winter Social is one of my favourite evenings of the year. In recent times we have become used to hearing a lot of negativity about our sector (and many other things). So it’s nice to take time to learn about some of the amazing people doing their level best … Read more

How effective communication solves problems #1

I believe that effective communication solves problems by motivating people to take actions. But which problems? And which actions? To help my readers understand where communication can support them and their organisation, I have written a series of blog posts covering different problems you can solve by communicating well. This week I am looking at … Read more

Guest post: comms lessons from an 11-year-old

Thanks to the Easter school holidays I’ve spent much of the last couple of weeks hanging out with my daughter. Like many 11-year-olds she’s very wise and tells it like it is, so I interviewed her about her views on communication for this month’s guest slot. Listening to young people more is something we should … Read more

10 key points from the Strategic People conference

This was my second year at the Strategic People Conference from Agenda Consulting. This year’s theme was ‘Thoughtful leadership for a healthy culture’. Once again I came away with lots of new ideas and questions to consider in my work with my clients. Throughout the day there was ample opportunity to learn from different perspectives … Read more

Great communications from 2018

Whichever way you look at it, 2018 has been quite a year. There have been countless examples of communications, good and bad, that have influenced opinions and changed behaviours; helped people to live their lives and just plain entertained them; made them angry, made them laugh and made them cry. I asked some lovely people … Read more

#YouMadeItHappen – my favourites

This week charities have been using the hashtag #YouMadeItHappen to thank their supporters and celebrate the difference they make. An email from NCVO’s Aidan Warner, sent to members to launch the imitative, said, “When we ask the public what they want to hear from charities, one thing comes through loud and clear. They want to … Read more

Guest post: Becoming an IC trusted adviser

With the summer holidays drawing to an end, offices and workplaces will start to fill up again and it’s time to start (re)building working relationships. This month’s guest post comes from internal comms expert, Advita Patel, who shares some tips for becoming a trusted adviser. If you’ve ever worked as an Internal Communications professional you … Read more

Retro post: 8 tips for an effective presentation

Last summer I shared some tips for communicating effectively if you are called upon to give a presentation at work. If you will be doing something similar in the autumn, why not take a look and see how you can up your game. So far this year I have presented to groups large and small … Read more