Opinion piece by Kim Harrison

Written and posted 2 Feb 2019

Presenting to senior executives is a daunting proposition. They are extremely busy and have to make many decisions under great time pressure. Your presentation needs to solve a significant business problem or create a strong opportunity if it is going to stand out. They are not going to let you make a nicely detailed presentation […]

Written and posted 25 Jan 2019

Developing an annual communication plan is a complex task. You need to gather information from a range of sources about organizational activities that need a communication program to make them more effective. Then you use your professional judgment to prioritize the activities, checking that they support the achievement of your organization’s corporate and business unit […]

Written and posted 15 Jan 2019

In this era of growing technological sophistication, we need to keep reminding ourselves that the most effective type of contact is directly with other people. We tend to forget this amid all the clamor on automation; AI; VR; chatbots; smart assistants; robots; smart speakers; WhatsApp, Slack and other communication apps; social media apps, etc. Many […]

Written and posted 13 Jan 2019

Calls to action are vital to make in your internal and external business presentations because they are the key moments to persuade decision-makers to take action to support your case. If you don’t include a call to action in each presentation, your results will fall short of their potential. The most vital moments in your […]

Written and posted 13 Jan 2019

Time to strengthen your creativity and innovation skills! Future demand for these skills will grow stronger in the changing business environment, according to a Future of Jobs survey report by the World Economic Forum. Over the next 5 years, employers will be giving priority to those who are strong on analytical thinking and innovation, as […]

Written and posted 13 Jan 2019

The secret to successful sponsorship proposals is to invest the time to get to know your prospects and what they want. You need to do your homework! If you are seeking to land a major sponsorship, the odds are you will have to work hard to get it and provide good value for money to […]

Written and posted 11 Dec 2018

How often you have found other people misunderstanding your communication role. I can think of many times in my own corporate career when other staff had little idea of our strategic value. Typically, they thought we were merely a support function involved in low-level activities. The big difficulty is that organizational communication is a complex […]

Written and posted 11 Dec 2018

When you introduce employee recognition activities, whether in your work team, business unit, or in the whole organization, you create the opportunity for major positive results, including measurable improvements in employee engagement and organizational performance. This is not just hopeful thinking about a ‘feel good’ subject – the proof is in the consistent detailed data […]

Written and posted 28 Nov 2018

How effectively is your PR/communication department performing? And how well are you dealing with your internal stakeholders? The important thing is to identify only the matters for which the communication team has sole responsibility. For example, corporate reputation isn’t valid to use as a full indicator of PR performance because corporate communication is only one […]

Written and posted 6 Nov 2018

The best way to write a headline is to first take the time and effort to learn about the subject so you gain enough perspective on the key elements of the content. This applies to press releases just as much to advertising and marketing material. Legendary copywriter and advertising guru, David Ogilvy, did exactly this, […]