Dear comms...

If you're pulling together your stakeholder map mid-crisis, it's too late. In the final episode of this season on stakeholder management, Imogen and Amanda look at why we should build relationships before we have anything to talk about. They look at why stakeholder management doesn't just sit in comms and why it's important to top up our reputational piggy bank.  Imogen Hitchco...

Are your stakeholders difficult... or just misunderstood?  “Ugh, they’re a nightmare.” We’ve all said it about a stakeholder. But very few people start out difficult - something's happened to get them there.  In this episode, Imogen and Amanda look at what’s really behind challenging behaviour and how you respond to the issue rather than the emotion. They talk about why, no matter how temptin...

Stakeholders: mapped Conversations: had Consensus: missing Episode three in this series on stakeholder management looks at what happens when you've gathered every perspective and there's still no obvious answer (which, let's be honest, is most of the time). Imogen and Amanda work through how to get clear on what the real decision is, who needs to make it, and how you can make a choi...

Stakeholders don't always agree with us. More often than not, they push back. Your first instinct might be to go through your argument once more (just to make sure). Don't.  In episode two of their stakeholder management series, Imogen and Amanda look at what to do when it feels you're not only on a completely different page from your stakeholder, you're actually not even readi...

If you're in comms, you'll probably already have a stakeholder list. But the question is... are the right people on it?  In the first episode of a new series on stakeholder management, Imogen and Amanda start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). Who counts as a stakeholder? And which ones are the most important? Influence rarely sticks to hierarchy and org charts - and the...

The launch goes well. The energy is high. Everyone's talking about it.  Come back in three months.  The final episode in the series tackles the part most organisations get wrong: what happens after the initial momentum fades and the stresses and strains of the day job loom. Without deliberate reinforcement, old habits will win out every time. Imogen and Amanda share five practical ways to mak...

Sometimes everyone understands the change perfectly. But...  nothing actually changes.  Understanding and doing are not the same thing. Episode four looks at how you move people from knowing what the change is all the way through to owning it. Imogen and Amanda share the Know, Imagine, Believe, Act framework they use with their clients, and talk through how you might apply it in your role. They co...

You've made the announcement. You've sent the slides. You've done the town hall. And people still aren't getting it.  The problem isn't the information. It's that change communications isn't a campaign...and you can't treat it like one.  In episode three, Imogen and Amanda look at how to communicate when your team is emotionally all over the place. Some are...

Most change programmes go wrong before they've even begun. Not in the rollout... but in the room where leaders agreed it was a good idea.  Episode two is about preparation. Or, more specifically, what needs to be in place before anything is announced. Real alignment is not just agreeing the change is happening, but finding consensus on what it means, what the story is, and what different grou...

Change is coming. Everyone knows it. So why is no one acting like it? Most leaders spend months on the strategy, the timeline, the business case. Far less time on the thing that will actually determine whether any of it works: how it feels to be on the receiving end. In this first episode of our series on leading change, Imogen and Amanda start with the human side - denial, anger, bargaining, doub...

The hardest part of building a high-performing team isn't creating the team... but how you make the change last.  In the final episode of this series, Imogen and Amanda talk about why improvements unravel (it's usually not about willingness), what structure actually looks like in practice without tipping into bureaucracy, and why leadership behaviour matters far more than any document ga...

Clarity on paper means nothing if it doesn't change how people actually work. Now we've worked through the purpose of the team, let's make it reality.  In this episode, Imogen and Amanda get into the mechanics of day-to-day performance: why most teams fail not because of strategy but because they don't talk to each other properly, how a simple "now, next, later" rhyth...

Most teams aren't short on motivation. What they're missing is clarity. Clarity on purpose, priorities, roles, and how decisions get made. In this episode, Imogen and Amanda look at what alignment actually means in practice (and no, it's not all about workshops and piles of Post-it notes).  They cover the difference between a corporate purpose and a team purpose, why implied ownersh...

Before you can fix a team, you have to understand it. Not what you assume is happening - what's actually happening.  In this episode, Imogen and Amanda talk about how to diagnose the real causes of underperformance: why anonymous surveys rarely tell you what you need to know, why leaders say they want honesty but often struggle with what comes back, and why the most revealing answers are ofte...

Most teams don't fail dramatically. They fade quietly. Work feels harder than it should, decisions drag on, everyone's busy but nothing's quite moving. In the first episode of our series on high-performing teams, Imogen and Amanda unpick the early warning signs that something's not right - and explain why jumping straight to solutions usually makes things worse. If your team is...

For the final episode of our storytelling series, we’re pulling everything together into ten practical, no-nonsense tips you can use straight away. Whether you’re trying to spark action, shift behaviour, calm nerves, or get leaders on board, these are the essentials every communicator needs. We’ll even give you tips on how to sell storytelling into even the most sceptical leader.  Imogen Hitchcock...

Think your organisation is story-free? Think again! In this episode, we’ll show you where you can find stories and how you can connect them to action. We’ll look at Steve Denning’s eight narrative patterns and look at why your stories aren’t working the way you want.  By the end of this episode, you’ll know where to look for stories and how to choose one that’ll actually work.  If you'd like...

You’ve done your prep. You’ve survived the science. Now it’s time to actually build a story. Hoorah!  In this episode, we break down the six key ingredients every story needs — from characters and conflict to that all-important “secret weapon.” We’ll show you how to use a simple narrative arc that works for any corporate message (yes, even launching a new data management system). An episode which...

In the second episode of our storytelling series, we’re still not letting you write anything. Nope, we’re heading into your brain first.  In this episode, we unpack the science behind why storytelling works — and why facts alone won’t make people care. From cavemen to cortisol, dopamine to data, we explore how stories light up your brain and why numbers need meaning. Motto of the episode: “you can...

Everyone loves to say “we need a story.” Fewer people stop to ask why. In this first episode of our five-part storytelling series, we take a step back from the shiny stuff — the metaphors, the structure, the hero’s journey — and talk about the prep that actually makes stories work. We’ll unpack why audience and objective are your storytelling anchors, why content pillars are your secret weapon, an...

Government affairs is something that used to be done behind closed doors (or over long lunches). Not anymore. In this special bonus episode, we're joined by Katarina Wallin Bureau - General Manager of Strategic Relations at Microsoft - to unpack how government affairs, communications, purpose, and influence now sit firmly on top of each other. Katarina shares what effective policy engagement ...

If you’ve ever wished for a crisis handbook you could keep in your top drawer - this is probably as close as it gets. In the final episode of our Crisis Series, we bring everything together into ten practical rules to help you lead, communicate, and stay sane when things go very wrong. Whether you’ve been with us since the first episode or you’ve skipped straight to the cheat-sheet, this conversat...

The headlines have faded, but the real work’s only just beginning. In this episode, Imogen and Amanda look at what happens once the immediate crisis has passed - and how to rebuild trust for the long term. They share their three Rs framework - review, rebuild, reassure - and unpack what meaningful recovery looks like in practice: visible leadership, clear communication, and consistent follow-up. W...

What do you say when everything’s going wrong — and how do you say it without sounding like a corporate robot? In this episode of Dear Comms… , Imogen and Amanda dig into the language of crisis. From holding statements and empathy to legal sign-off and tone, they explore what makes a message land when the pressure’s on. Expect practical frameworks (the four Cs: concern, control, clarity, commitmen...

In the second episode of our crisis comms series, we're now in the thick of it. The phone's ringing, your inbox is having a meltdown, and someone's just uttered "Crisis Team - Assemble!) We'll break down how you handle those first chaotic hours, how to tell if it’s really a crisis or just a very noisy issue, and why the best teams make decisions fast (and avoid endless com...