The comms blog

How to communicate: a tip from Sir Terry

At the height of his broadcasting fame, Sir Terry Wogan was apparently asked how many listeners he had. He was the much-loved presenter of Wake up to Wogan, Radio 2’s popular breakfast show, at the time. His actual listening figure was around 10 million. But his answer to the question? “One.” Communication genius I am … Read more

How do you make a dry subject more interesting?

This week I will be speaking about procurement communication at the LUPC & SUPC Conference 2018. I do a lot of work with procurement teams, helping them find ways to engage their internal audiences with the need for compliant action. The teams are lovely, hard-working experts in their field who are striving to do their … 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

10 tips for your internal comms strategy

If you’re currently working on your internal communications strategy, you’re not alone. I’m working with two charities at the moment to help them develop theirs and strategies were the topic for yesterday’s CharityComms special interest group for internal communicatiors. It’s great to know that so many organisations are recognising the strategic importance of effective internal … 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

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

How many emails have you received today?

Emails are generally held up to be the bane of business life. In fact, whilst planning this piece, I asked some fellow freelancers about the communication problems their clients faced and over-reliance on email took the top slot. I don’t personally feel that email is inherently evil in itself. I completely agree that it causes … Read more

10 checks to supercharge your communications

Sometimes you have a long time to hone and perfect the communications you need to produce about your project or organisation. And sometimes you don’t. When you are pushed for time, you need a reliable tool to help you through. My clients will often look to me for ways in which they can make the … Read more

Solving motivation & productivity problems

This is the second in my series about how to solve problems at your organisation by improving your communication. Until next time Sarah Other articles in this series: Solving process problems through effective communication Reducing silo-working The perils of no communication The link between fundraising and communication

20 questions to ask yourself for a brilliant communications plan

There’s a lot to remember when you’re putting together a communications plan for your project. Who are you trying to reach, would a newsletter be better than a tweet series, what do you want to say and so on….. Use this handy checklist of questions to make sure you don’t forget anything. 1. What is … Read more