The comms blog

Have you got a communication plan for the unexpected?

Many households in the area where I live have today been affected by a lack of water – apparently it was something to do with a problem at the local reservoir and it has given the water company a chance to demonstrate their abilities with customer communications. As it happens, my house isn’t one of … Read more

Retro post: what’s your communication preference?

Five years ago I published this piece about communication preferences and it’s something I still talk to my clients about today – knowing their audiences’ preferences is a key part of effective communication… In the woods near where I live, the leaves on the trees are now displaying a beautiful array of colours. I always … Read more

Audience insight – where to get it and what to do with it

Last week I attended the Public Sector Communications Conference. It was a great day, with really interesting speakers and useful conversations with my fellow delegates to develop ideas further. It was the sort of day where you go home with a spring in your step and ideas buzzing round your head! As you might expect, … Read more

Communicating effectively with your members

Until I started working for myself, nearly 7 years ago, I had no idea how many membership organisations there are. I was aware of professional membership bodies, such as the Institute of Internal Communication and CiPD, but not of the multitude of others. Since then I have come across many more, including CharityComms (one of … Read more

Communicating internally at organisations with high public profiles

I have just started a communications project with an organisation that has a high profile with the public, with content regularly appearing in the traditional media as well as on social media. This coverage can be mixed in terms of being positive and negative, based on fact and based on rumour and hearsay. It means … Read more

How I help my clients put together communication strategies and plans

We’ve all heard the old cliché “Failing to plan is planning to fail”. Personally I’ve always found it a bit smug, but like most clichés, there is a truth at the heart of it. Regular readers of this blog will know that it has become my mission in life to inspire organisations to be more … Read more

Don’t embarrass your mother and other thoughts on effective communication

This afternoon I am talking to the local Women’s Institute (WI) group about ABC to read, the literacy charity of which I am a trustee. It’s a chance to spread the word about the work we do to change children’s lives by supporting them to develop their literacy skills. As with many small organisations, we … Read more

3 tips for connecting with hard to reach audiences

Just about every organisation I know has groups of employees that are hard to reach, so as an internal communications professional you are not alone. But who are these groups? Their exact make-up will vary from organisation to organisation, but there are some characteristics that we can all identify with. Many of these groups are … Read more