I do like the phrase 'reading the room'. Sometimes I can’t put my finger on why some words and phrases sound just perfect and others grate. What does reading the room mean though? And what does it mean to you? Reading the room to me is about understanding the mood –...
Stopping tossers and litterpricks
After endless months of limitations, lockdown has been (and continues to be) very slowly eased. With this comes more freedom and more choices - more open spaces re-opening, children’s play parks being un-padlocked (truly one of the saddest sights for me has been...
The end of the press briefings – why?
I was quite shocked yesterday (23rd June) when I read that the government would no longer be holding the daily 5 pm press briefings on coronavirus. I have found them hugely useful (plus irritating, exasperating and whole host of other emotions) right from the start,...
Nudge is not the enemy
Yes, we are still in the midst of a pandemic with a vile virus that will be around for some time. The death toll is staggering, but...but the changes in behaviour in the UK at least (I can only speak for the UK, as it’s where I live) have also been staggering. Right...
Evolving language
A couple of days ago I read a piece about teachers banning slang in classrooms and jumped on a quote in the piece from linguistics expert Ian Cushing, a lecturer in education at Brunel University London who said, "There's no incorrect or correct way of using...
An interview with me
I once went to an event where the late great Victoria Wood delivered her own version of “find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. It stayed with me.
Writing for humans
I write for humans. I always say this to anyone who asks, some that don't and basically anyone who will listen. This is why I'm thrilled to hear about BERT. BERT is not my marketing persona. It's not a fictional human I write for. BERT stands for Bidirectional Encoder...
Communicating about mental health – inspired by #commschat
Mental wellbeing, positive mental health and mental wellness are issues for all of us, not just the oft-quoted statistically one in four that will suffer mental ill health at some point in their life.
Getting the best results through constructive feedback (in copywriting and dog training)
Most dog owners know that one of the principles of basic canine training is rewarding good behaviour and correcting undesirable (bad) behaviour. If you aren’t clear with your dog about what is right and wrong he/she won’t have a clue what to do. Waiting patiently for...
Informed consent
Some months ago I heard about a company that places reps in maternity wards of some hospitals and said reps approach new mums offering up a bag full of freebies and a free bedside photo shoot. Say what? I was genuinely taken aback and assumed this was a new thing, but...