The comms blog

Organisational and personal values

Values are important to me. Maybe that’s why I work in the not-for-profit and academic sectors. It certainly helps with running my own business – the values that frame my working life are entirely my own, not something that has been dictated or developed by others. This ensures that the work I choose to do … 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

Retro post: how to understand culture through tea

Since I work with a lot of different organisations, I get to work with many teams and in a variety of environments – the best way to understand their culture is to suss out the tea and coffee making facilities. Back in 2014 I wrote a blog about the things I’d learnt from the humble … Read more

Retro post: What’s on your to do list?

This summer I’m going retro. I don’t mean with my choice of beach wear, but with the blog posts that I share. Each week during August I am going to re-publish something that I’ve written in a previous summer. Today I share with you something which I wrote way back in 2011 – it’s hard … Read more

Never assume: you know what they say……

…. are you making an ‘ass’ out of ‘you’ and ‘me’? Or at least out of someone you know? Apologies for starting with such directness, but sometimes we need to ask the tough questions. Of course, what I’m really asking is are you making assumptions about people around you and what they mean by the … Read more

Guest post: How to improve communication with SEO

In this month’s guest post, we learn from digital marketer Emily Weston about how to use SEO to communicate more effectively about your organisation. How to optimise your website for Google when you know nothing about SEO Search engine optimisation (SEO) is not as complicated as big digital marketing agencies like you to believe. It’s … Read more

How to avoid hidden messages and misunderstandings

One piece of communication can send many messages, some of which may not be immediately obvious to the person sending it. For example, if you are reporting company feedback and choose to only publish the views of external stakeholders, you may be sending out the message that your employees’ opinions aren’t important. Similarly, if you … Read more

10 freelance communication experiences

Today is the 7th anniversary of the date I officially set up my not-for-profit and higher education communications limited company. I’m celebrating by sharing some of my favourite moments. I love my work When I left Cancer Research UK after 7 happy years, I needed to earn an income, but I also wanted to carry … Read more