ARTICLES
JPQs (Joe Public’s Questions)
Former Foreign Secretary William Hague, canny political operator that he is, used to coach the then leader of the Opposition David Cameron for Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs). The trick, Hague says, is to phrase the question so that it is unanswerable, as an...
Picture Power
The memory does not like complexity. When we are coaching speakers or work- shopping crisis media management, our advice often boils down to: keep it simple. Whether it’s a speech or a statement, you often have to frame your message just as you would a picture. You...
All the News About Bad Reviews
Nadine Dereza was asked to facilitate the HBAA Forum last month. And if you haven't heard of the HBAA before, well it's a dynamic trade association for the hotel booking agency, apartment and venue community, and so the audience was formed of the great and good from...
Positive impacts: sustainability in events
Taking care of the planet is a bit like any good habit: you diligently recycle the papers and sort out the plastics, but once in a while, you’re working late, it’s bin day tomorrow… and those black bags are opaque, aren’t they? Most of us try to do the right thing,...
#DistractinglySexist
It isn’t every day that we let the blog slide into cinema review mode, but last weekend, myself and the popcorn addicts of the PS Programmes team took in a British movie called Pride. During the film, the fundraisers find themselves at the sharp end of a smear...
Business Behaving Badly
It's been a rough few months for Thomas Cook, but not as rough as it's been on the parents of Christi and Bobby Shepherd, the two children killed my carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty heater in their hotel bedroom. In the face of human tragedy, it feels very...
A woman’s place is in the House of Commons
So the votes have been cast, the results have come in, and Britain is slowly finding out what a majority Conservative government is going to mean for the next five years. Gone are the LibDems (a soft-hearted check on the political rudder or an ineffectual nuisance,...
And the winner is…
Soothsayers and oracles knew that the hazard of prediction was that if you live long enough, you'll find out how wrong you were - so better to couch the future in metaphor and symbol. And if you've ever read or seen Macbeth, you'll remember that even if the news is...
Campaign special: ticks and tropes
With the General Election in the UK on the horizon, here are things to look for from the candidates who will be appearing soon (too soon; and possibly, for too long) on the media outlet of your choice as they vie for your vote. The problem with blanket coverage, is...
Enterprise Nation: Speak so the audience listens
Coaching is our bread-and-butter at PS Programmes Towers. Client confidentiality is something we take very seriously, and as such we wouldn't dream of spilling the beans on our dazzling roster of celebrity clients, however many times they are on TV and radio or...