In a special report, authors Anne Gregory, Ph.D., Bill Nichols, Ph.D., and Professor John Underwood examine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for professional communicators in the English National Health Service (NHS). Specifically, they look at the first three months of the pandemic from March 2020 to the beginning of…
Throughout this COVID pandemic we all know frontline healthcare workers have been doing extraordinary work and working under exceptional stress. A few weeks ago, between Christmas and New Year’s, one physician in London, part of the NHS system, made a comment on Twitter that caught the ire of public relations…
Cancel Culture is a neologism meaning it’s a newly coined term. It’s essentially the phenomenon of publicly shaming, rejecting, and ceasing to provide support to people, companies, or stores if they are deemed unacceptable. Celebrities are frequent targets but not exclusively. The shaming, for the most part, is done through…
This is an episode about “Positivity” which has everything to do with communication. It’s a state of mind we all want but let’s be honest, it can also be really annoying. False positivity is an irritating personality quirk. The official definition from the Oxford Dictionary implies that positivity is not…
Stress is almost an evil word in our lives today. Nobody wants stress. Do we? Actually, could you imagine life with no stress? In this episode we speak with a neuroscience expert who says we can all benefit from the right kinds of stress. Guest: Sue Langley, Langley Group, Australia…
According to 2015 numbers by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the total number of men working in public relations and related services and advertising, 5.9 percent are African American. In this episode we speak with a PR Executive who has researched the perceptions, experiences, and possible barriers for…
By membership the Public Relations and Communications Association is the largest PR Association in the World; 35,000 members and growing. Based in the UK, the PRCA has offices in Dubai and Singapore, and now Buenos Aires as it ventures into Latin America. In this episode we catch up with Isobel…
Presentations are stereotyped. A speaker stands in front of an audience, uses PowerPoint to guide a talk. And says very little that departs from the slides being shown. Frequently, the speaker provides a handout or electronic version of the PowerPoint as a record of the talk. Depending on the nature…
Work is the place we get learning opportunities through professional development. Many of those opportunities introduce sophisticated communications strategies intended to be work lessons but let’s be honest, they’re life lessons too. Some of those strategies and tips are so good, we can’t help but use them at home and…
The political pundits have lots to say about the 2020 US Presidential election. In this episode we examine the result and the leadership styles through a neuroscience and psychological lens with a leading high-performance team psychologist who works with businesses, sports teams, and the military. Guest Dr Jeremy Holt, Ph.D.…
Earned media is always valuable but the opportunities to create your own channels and your own stories have never been better. Gone are the days organizations needed to rely on the news media filter to get their story out there… today it’s Journalism DIY. And best part? This works great…
It’s a powerful tool that can solve complex problems, build resilience, create empathy, and develop space for human determination. Psychologists have found creativity is more a personality trait than the result of a high IQ; and those traits are most commonly found in people we might call nonconformists, curious, or…
Change Management exists as a process and strategy because change is both inevitable and critical in business. In simple terms, it’s so important, the change must be managed. But modern trends are moving away from controlling every aspect of those strategies and are seeking to empower team members to play…
Watch a good comedian on stage and it just seems so easy. But we all know what goes into it… timing, structure, body language, the ability to think on their feet, heckler management… everything that goes into a great presentation at work. Those are serious skills and many leaders looking…
Everything begins with an idea. Talia Beckett Davis had one a few years ago to start a networking, coaching, idea-sharing, and training group dedicated specifically to women. That was in 2014. Today there are chapters all through the Americas from Canada to Buenos Aires. Guest: Talia Beckett Davis, Founder of…
The Institute for Public Relations has issued its 2020 Report measuring how Americans perceive intentionally misleading news or information. Guest Tina McCorkindale, Ph.D, APR, President and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations @tmccorkindale https://instituteforpr.org/contact Link to the full study: https://instituteforpr.org/2020-disinformation-report Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dougv)
The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience, ultimately driving desired action. Key word? Valuable. In this episode, we speak with Amanda Milligan of Fractl, a Content Marketing Agency…
"Society is changing... there's a new elite emerging and those elite have huge amounts of power." Professor Anne Gregory, Ph.D., BA, FRSA, HonFCIPR, Huddersfield University, a.gregory@hud.ac.uk (mailto:a.gregory@hud.ac.uk) "The problem with algorithms is they... discriminate almost by design. They're missing on diversity and inclusion, so you have to get in there…
Why is coffee so perfect for conversations? In fact, coffee houses were born in 18th Century Austria as a place for middle-and-upper class society to meet and discuss ideas. They spread to England quickly. Fast-forward to today and it seems everything coffee means every social, and perhaps the secret weapon…
In digital media, Reach can be defined as the total number of people who see your content and Impressions as the number of times your content is displayed. But it’s not that simple. Older concepts like pass-along rates and generic multipliers are resulting in some fuzzy math leaving us scrounging…
Understanding how our brains operate in a crisis can help leaders think more clearly and effectively manage emergencies. In this episode Dr Steve Joordens, Psychologist at the University of Toronto Scarborough, helps us understand why sometimes our brains have a mind of their own… and what we can do about…
Some of the key benefits of mentorship in professional communications include the ability to foster an exchange of ideas, friendship, and expertise in an industry that is constantly changing. Guest Tamara Vineberg @TamaraVineberg Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dougv)
Are office workers really more productive working from home? Truth is, the idea is so novel, we aren’t too sure. With COVID-19, there’s a better opportunity to explore the medium and long-term effects of the concept. One thing is for sure, there will be substantial impacts to how we communicate…
In a world of seemingly never-ending clichés the best interviewers find a way to make it not feel like an interview at all, but rather, a conversation. In this episode we speak with Bryn Griffiths, a broadcaster who has conversed with athletes around the world, always seeking to help them…