Insights
Case studies from our courses, practical drills and our thinking on communication.
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Why I ask CEOs what drugs they are taking
Prescription medication is an unrecognised barrier to executive presence. SSRIs flatten emotional range. Stimulants kill pause tolerance. The most medicated generation in history is leading from behind a pharmaceutical glass ceiling.
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How to answer difficult questions (now that the old tricks backfire)
How can we remain authentic and truthful while handling a question that simply can’t be answered straight? Practice these universal strategies from the science of media training and you'll be well equipped to handle any difficult question that comes your way in an interview, at work or in life.
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The Curse of Knowledge: six reasons experts lose their audiences.
Understanding and compensating for the Curse of Knowledge is a powerful way for all of us to become better communicators in all kinds of professional and interpersonal interactions.
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What to say in a crisis: 16 principles of crisis positioning
One of the prime challenges in crisis communication is figuring out what to say, in the most difficult circumstances. Following are 16 principles of crisis positioning that together cover almost all the bases for choosing the right wording.
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The art of arriving: how to own the room before you say a word
There’s a powerful moment that can fall through the gap between preparation and performance. I’m talking about the art of arriving: how to make the most of those precious seconds just before you open your mouth to begin.
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The Homer Simpson rule of public speaking
Two strategies and seven tactics to keep your audience hooked
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How to prime your nervous system before you speak
Body language, posture and voice are crucial. But what you need to do to get them right doesn’t happen during the performance – it happens before you start.
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Body language: the new science of embodied leadership
Discover how mind-body priming helped a CEO land a $6.3B deal. Learn the science of executive presence and how to speak with authentic confidence.
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Employee advocacy: your best brand voices already work for you
Most communication directors can tell you exactly how much their company spends on brand content. Few could tell you what their own employees are saying about the organisation on LinkedIn.
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Forget power poses: body language drills that actually work
Almost everything that you can do in practice to improve your physical presence happens in advance. Just before you need to perform, follow a ritual of movement to warm up and prime your body. forget about trying to control your body language, and instead trust your body to hold its space.
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Vocal drills to prime your voice for public speaking and interviews
When you’re preparing to speak in public, whether for a speech, presentation or media interview, it can be very useful to run through some of the same vocal warm-up drills that singers and stage actors use to maximise vocal projection. You will sound better without even having to think about it.
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How to manage media photo opportunities
Photographs and video from a set-piece protocol or media event can magnify its impact on public perceptions and on the reputation of institutions and VIPs. The following guidance will help ensure that photo opportunities are stage managed to facilitate the best quality images.
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Beyond follower counts: the end of the influencer
Marketers are realising that choosing social media partners is not just about the number of followers an individual has – it's about the impact they can create.
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Case study: Shell Brent Spar — the danger of being right
Shell's public battle with Greenpeace over the decommissioning of a North Sea oil platform showed that it's not enough for a company to be in the right, if it also fails also to engage with stakeholders and convince the media
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Case study: how IKEA won at Cannes by admitting it was second best
Whereas most companies promote their products as being the best, IKEA ran a marketing campaign intentionally positioning itself as “proudly second best” – earning a coveted Film Gold Lion at Cannes 2023.
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Case study: a tale of two crises — why Nike survived its scandal and Adidas did not
The top two global sportswear brands – Adidas and Nike – have both taken a reputational hit from scandalous comments and social media posts by high-profile celebrity partners. The circumstances were parallel, but the way each company responded to its crisis had profound implications for damage limitation.
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Case study: how botched communication fuelled the second-biggest failure in banking history
Botched communication contributed to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). What lessons can communicators learn from the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history?
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Case study: OnStar -- the art of unspoken messaging
Some of the best communication campaigns are those where the company creates and gives away something genuinely useful, and has the courage not to spoil it with commercial messaging.
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Case study: the university that asked ChatGPT to mourn a mass shooting
Authenticity is essential both in general communications and in crisis positioning. Inauthentic content or tone is a trigger for outrage, as Vanderbilt University found out when it used ChatGPT to author a crisis statement.
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