Embracing the spotlight: how to make an interview your own
With consumption of news at an all time high in Australia, there would be few in business that underestimate the importance of a positive interaction with the media. But at the same time, news organisations and journalists remain in the unenviable ranks of the most untrusted professions in the country, making those media interactions even more crucial when it comes to a maintaining a company’s good reputation. Some would say the media mistrust is simply a by-product of the age of social media and self-publishing, where false information is often weaponised as ‘fake news’, and opposing viewpoints are easily dismissed as political
Public speaking: worse than death or an opportunity to impress?
If asked to complete this sentence: “Public speaking is…” you might not be surprised to find that “worse than death” is a common response. For many it is the number one fear and a phobia – one by the name of glossophobia, actually – that ranks ahead of the fear of snakes or heights. What might surprise you however is to discover how many famous people, including politicians like Sir Winston Churchill or actors like Laurence Olivier and Nicole Kidman, hated public speaking. Fear of public speaking is not ideal for people in these positions but of course they had little choice
Does your organisation have a change-ready culture?
How did formerly cutting-edge companies like Nokia and Kodak lose their way? Why do some businesses evolve, and yet others get left behind? What is the next Toys ‘R’ Us, or Blockbuster, or Blackberry, poised to go extinct through lack of innovation? Continual change is a guarantee of successful business, not just in terms of the processes you use or the services or products you offer: the culture of a business needs to evolve as well. Nokia is a good example of how a corporate culture didn’t evolve, leaving the company struggling to reclaim a once buoyant market share. Failing to appreciate
30 Newspoll reasons to think before you speak
Accidentally said something you will really, really regret? As Ray Jordan writes, you are rubbing shoulders with illustrious company. Nothing is set in stone, so goes the oft-quoted idiom. Things can change but often with great difficulty. However, it seems that when it comes to realpolitik, some things really are set in stone, no matter how much you would like to be able to change them. There is nothing tangible or physical about words. They are just words. Yet once uttered they are uttered for eternity, as permanent as the ancient pyramids. And, ill-conceived and poorly thought through, they can come back
Why there’s no such thing as “off the record”
In this digital era nothing is not recorded, nor is it forgotten, writes Account Director Ray Jordan When Trump squared off against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election debates it brought the murky, tawdry side of US politics sharply into focus. The rhetoric about making America great again or being the president for all people was punctuated by cutting vitriol that plumbed new depths. The problem was that any chance to focus on the issues that matter, or put election promises and pork barrelling under the microscope, was lost on prurient matters that were not simply a result of Trump’s vile