We’re quoted in today’s People Feature in the Financial Times online service Ignites Europe. By Robert Van Egghen 19 February 2019. Link to original article: https://igniteseurope.com/c/2205803/267543 The internet is littered with examples of top executives making ill-advised public remarks. Gerald Ratner once described his own jewellery as “crap”, while former Barclaycard head Matt Barrett admitted that he … Continued
We all like to stop and buy a copy of the Big Issue – of course we do! But just in case you missed the edition edited by Armando Ianucci I’ll bring you up to date. The main theme of the issue was this: social media doesn’t expand our horizons at all. Quite the reverse … Continued
I always say in my media training sessions “the interview will feel like a conversation. It will sound like a conversation. But it’s not a conversation.” Why oh why did David Davis, the secretary of state for exiting the European Union, fail to remember that? When he told Nick Ferrari on LBC “What’s a requirement … Continued
It was the devastating question from Jeremy Paxman that finished Chloe Smith’s career as economic secretary to the Treasury. She’s now an under secretary at the Northern Ireland Office (or as it’s known at Whitehall, The Wilderness). Paxman was so exasperated by Chloe Smith’s inability to explain a Government U-turn on fuel duty that he … Continued
And here is the news. Forget Brexit, Merkel, Catalonia. Today’s top story is BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg Spotted with a Burly Companion in Brighton. Well we’ve all done that. But this time the man with her has been identified as a former British soldier who describes himself as a media security adviser. Cue outrage … Continued
It’s another question that comes up frequently in media training sessions. “I’d be terrified to be interviewed! I’ve seen what Jeremy Paxman and John Humphries can do to an interviewee.” Well. How can I put this kindly? You won’t be. You’re not the Prime Minister. For a start, Paxman’s retired and now only ever seems … Continued
There are two ways of dealing with awkward questions. You could try to Trump them. You could stun the public with the perfect put-down that really nails them. Here’s Trump talking about the media at Charlottesville: “They’re so bad, and so pathetic”. That has the advantage that it uses language a two-year-old can easily understand, … Continued
It’s a common remark that’s made by someone in practically every course I run. And when I hear it, my heart sinks. How am I to respond? “Well, that’s the top tip. Only be interviewed on a subject in which you are completely masterful, and you know everything”. No, it’s never going to happen. And … Continued
