Weird Public Speaking Situations

Presentation Skills / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

We were recently asked to provide public speaking skills training to an executive who was going to speaking on a platform that was surrounded on all side by the audience. What in theatre is known as ‘presenting in the round’. So here are some tips for how to manage presenting to an audience that you [...]

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Media Training for Receptionists & Security Guards?

Media Training / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

Watching the extraordinarily cack-handed response of Ask.FM to the suicide of Hannah Smith following her being cyber-bullied on their website, have a look at this video clip from Sky News doorstepping an employee of Ask.FM here. http://news.sky.com/story/teen-suicide-site-refuses-to-answer-questions-10437918 When covering your organisation's issue or crisis, journalists will try to speak with senior executives. If your organisation

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Parliamentary Committee Woes

Case Study, Media Training / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

Mike Ashley’s appearance today before the Business, Innovation & Skills Parliamentary Select Committee today has all the makings of a classic. The self-confessed loudmouth who had called MPs a “joke” was done up like a kipper, particularly by Labour MP, Paul Blomfield (a star in the making?). Electric Airwaves published our latest short animated video

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During crisis, be consistent and be aware

Leave a Comment / Case Study / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

The decision made by Cincinnati Zoo seemed like a no-brainer. A three-year old boy had climbed over a fence and fallen into the enclosure of a 4001b Gorilla named 'Harambe'. Even though the gorilla did not appear to be attacking the child, even though the gorilla was from an endangered species, Zoo Director Thane Maynard

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Getting Your First Crisis Statement Right – Even For Online Crises

Crisis communications / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

Here's a nice storm in a crisis teacup underlining the importance of organisations having a clear social media policy AND clarity in your crisis media statements. Last week, the pastor of an American church in St. Louis went with her congregation to a restaurant, part of a chain, called Applebee's. The receipt for the meal

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The Good Communications Director

Communications Function, Help For Communication Directors, Research / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

Guest Blog: Ros Kindersley, Chair, JFL Ltd What makes for a good Communications Director? There was a time in the 1990s when I would be regularly approached by a particular type of PR consultant. Exhausted by pitching for new business, looking after clients and running an agency, they wanted to move to an in-house

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What will the Communications Department look like in 2020?

Research / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

Andrew Caesar-Gordon reports on research among 430 PR Practitioners in conjunction with PR Week. It’s no secret that the world of the PR and Comms is changing rapidly. But despite recognition that the PR canvas is changing, there appears to be less consensus on how that plays out in the detail, according to a survey

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Being Sorry & Being Human

Corporate Story, Crisis communications / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

Any crisis situation for an organisation is highly emotional – for those involved and for the audience watching. Any tragedy involving children evokes particularly strong emotions. Blend the two and you have a potentially volatile reputation crisis. How should a PRO advise their leaders on what and how to communicate? When do you say sorry?

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Can you get away with controversial media comments?

Case Study, Media Training / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

When an organisation's leader says something contentious in public, its PROs often cringe. A press release is issued to 'clarify' the comments in "'order to restore calm to troubled waters; the executive may be urged to take a holiday. But if the comments are not on the scale of BP' s Tony Hayward "I want

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Damned if you do … how a corporate story can help

Corporate Story / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

I was at a seminar this morning about corporate storytelling. Evening Standard journalist, Anthony Hilton, suggested that PR teams often over-react to what should be seen as low-level criticism, especially online. His thesis was that even intelligent people can't remember yesterday's newspaper headline. Therefore reacting to every little negative is a waste of time because

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Crisis Communications: A Canadian Blame Game

Crisis communications, Media Training / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

You would have thought that with over 50 people dead following a runaway train destroying the heart of Lac-Megantic in Canada, the rail company would be focused solely on the human impact of the tragedy. Not so if you are Edward Burkhardt, chairman of Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway. Generally, his media interviews have been

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