Good at what you do, but struggling with your communication skills? Igotchu! 😎
The cruelty is the point...
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Sometimes, the cruelty is the point! Communicator of the Week Award goes to Shabana Mahmood (the new Home Secretary), who this week set out the Labour Party's new strategy to tackle the perennial political problem of immigration. Labour has an identity problem. Its roots are working class. Its heart is progressive. Its head is neo-liberal. And its fear is that it is being outflanked by the far right. What to do? Whether the new approach to immigration she announced will work is way above my pay grade (and who the hell knows if we're being honest). But one thing is for sure - she's got everybody talking. The Conservatives are complimentary but claim that she is stealing their ideas. The Left are incensed because she is betraying their liberal sympathies. The Far Right are positively effusive because they sense that they are winning the argument. And the voters in the middle are just pleased that someone in the government is finally speaking with conviction and taking action (even if they have no idea if that action is right or wrong). When you want to communicate a controversial message, the single most important element of your communication must be conviction. You have to say it like you mean it! No puff; no preamble; no prevarication. You must force people to engage with your message, rather than speculate about your capability. Certain parts of Mahmood's policy have been described as performative cruelty. Yet, rather than shirking from that harshness, Mahmood has embraced it, even doubled down on it. It has led to comparisons to Thatcher and speculation about her leadership credentials. All of that is overblown and I give it a week before the sheen starts to fade. But for now, she is dominating the political narrative, and that's good politics. ​ Kolarele ​ |
Build your Communication SuperSkills
Good at what you do, but struggling with your communication skills? Igotchu! 😎
Show don’t tell. As Albert Einstein reportedly observed: ‘if you cant explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough’. Communicator of the Week Award goes to Gordon McKee MP for his now viral and brilliantly simple explanation of the impact of the UK’s national debt. Here is the video itself to watch Most politicians are terrible communicators, so when an effective one comes along, it’s worth taking note. Gordon McKee has been building a steady following with short TikTok videos...
Always consider if someone before you has said it better! Communicator of the Week Award goes to my friend, Alex Ktorides for the moving eulogy he gave on the sad passing of his father. Eulogies are tough to get right. Should you go through the whole life of the departed one or just give snippets? Should you be funny or sombre or a mixture of both? Do you let your emotions show or button them up to get through it? And what theme can you use to tie it all together? Alex’s answer to the ‘what...
Message discipline matters. Communicator of the Week Award goes to newly elected New York Mayor, Zohran Mamdani. There is a lot of excitement about the new young Mayor. He is a good-looking, eloquent, social media savvy progressive politician. No doubt the excitement over his election will fade once the reality of governing vs the fantasy of campaigning comes into stark focus. But there is one simple reason that Mamdani won (and won handily). Despite the wide-ranging attacks from the...