The comms blog

What if… leaders prioritise kindness?

This month I am delighted to bring to you a ‘What If’ blog piece from communications manager, Nafisa Shafiq. She shares a personal experience of kindness from a manager and talks us through actions that leaders can take to prioritise kindness. It was 9.47 on Saturday morning when I heard my phone ring. I was … Read more

Tips to articulate your kindness stories

At a time when charities are #NeverMoreNeeded, expressing the impact you have in the world is more important than ever. As a sector we need to show how we remain relevant in a rapidly-changing world. Your organisation is making the world kinder: how you express that will depend on your audiences. You need to identify … Read more

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

How to put the case for internal communication resource

Most internal communications people I know would love to have more resource in their team. (Let’s be honest, some would simply like to have a team or even an internal comms-focussed job description.) These internal comms professionals know that even a small increase in head count could enable them to make a bigger difference to … Read more

The importance of links

Earlier today I was in my local supermarket, trying to decide which of the 3 fantastic charities I should give my green token to, when I suddenly remembered a recent conversation with a friend who was looking for an organisation to support her through a difficult emotional time. One of the charities I was reading … Read more

Comms training for Small Charities Coalition

Last week I ran an Effective Communication for your Charity training masterclass on behalf of Small Charities Coalition. With attendees from a range of different organisations in the room we had lots of discussion, lots of practice of communication skills and techniques and some laughs too. They may have come from different organisations with a … Read more

3 communication lessons from the CharityComms IC group

Earlier this week I had the great pleasure of chairing a panel discussion at the CharityComms Special Interest Group for internal communictors. This fantastic group of people with responsibility for IC in the not-for-profit world comes together quarterly to compare notes, share experiences and learn from each other. This month our speakers came from other … Read more

8 great tips for conversation and listening

Last week I enjoyed having conversation with a room full of my fellow internal communications professionals at the Public Sector Internal Communications Conference. I came away inspired with ideas and tips to use with my clients. I liked this quote from Mandy Dryden, Head of Internal Communications at the Department of Health and Social Care, … Read more

Communication with volunteers

The literacy charity for which I am a trustee, ABC to read, was recently awarded the Investing in Volunteers quality mark. Like many organisations, we are only able to do the work we do, changing children’s lives, because of our amazing volunteers. So we were delighted to receive recognition for the support we offer them. … Read more