Today’s General Medical Council story on complaints about doctors reaching record levels contained an intriguing statistic: the number of allegations about doctors’ communication skills has risen by 69 per cent in the last year. We shouldn’t let bald stats blind us to the fact many doctors are brilliant at talking to patients, but clearly some […]
Clearer, better, simpler: Let the anecdotes begin
As I listened in the Paralympic Stadium on Sunday night to the speeches by LOCOG chairman, Lord Coe, and the President of the International Paralympic Committee, Sir Philip Craven, there was a crucial lesson in both for anyone who might do a media interview, make a conference speech or deliver a presentation to a potential […]
Why the aces in any shuffled pack are the great communicators
There has been much talk this morning about how David Cameron would be keen to appoint good communicators in his reshuffle today, with an election just two years away. Communications skills are now seen as important in a politician’s or executive’s armoury, as a mastery of economic policy or marketing insight. After all, what’s the […]
The bottom line on media training
BBC Radio 4’s Evan Davis discussed media training last week on his “The Bottom Line” programme – a regular round-table show, where captains of industry and major organisations mull over business issues. It raised a few interesting points, which are worth further scrutiny and provide useful lessons for anyone about to face the media, whether […]
Key lessons you can bank on in a crisis
So, following days of mounting pressure after the interest rate-rigging scandal broke, Barclays boss Bob Diamond has resigned. Aside from what lessons may be learnt about financial best practice, there’s plenty all companies can glean from this City saga about how to handle a crisis: – Crises can quickly make a business appear reactive, not […]
Taking a pounding – lessons from a treasury interviewee
There’s a saying among journalists that when it comes to interviewing politicians, we start with the mindset of, “What ‘porkies’ are you going to try to tell me, you b***stard?” This might seem harsh, but I wish I had a pound for every delegate in a media training session who has said, “What I really […]
Food for thought: How to make numbers more palatable
People flying into Heathrow airport today will be greeted by a huge painting on a playing field of British heptathlete Jessica Ennis, according to a radio report I heard this morning. Just as I was trying to work out how “huge” it would have to be to spot from a 747, the reporter helpfully added, […]
How to stop social media becoming anti-social
Remember when you used to hear about a crisis first on the Six O’Clock News? Now many bosses probably long for their dirty laundry to get its first airing there, because it might just give them an hour or so to plan a response. These days within minutes or even seconds of your catastrophic commercial […]
The eyes have it – where to look in a TV interview
When faced with a media interview, most people are frightened of expressing something the wrong way. In reality, many an interviewee has been let down by looking the wrong way (and I’m not talking about their appearance). It’s their eyes that are the problem, not their mouths. There’s something about a TV camera that is […]
How to come across as Captain Courageous in a crisis
For a transport company, it’s hard to imagine a bigger crisis than a crash, which becomes the focus of a global audience. How can you possibly come through that? Under extreme pressure, any attempts at managing a news-hungry media mob are only going to make you look like a business in panic, on the ropes, […]
