The Internal Comms Podcast

This episode is for everyone. The Internal Comms Podcast is on the road, at the IABC 2026 conference in Toronto, where host Katie Macaulay sat down with comms consultants Lisa Riemers and Matisse Hamel-Nelis to discuss their new book, Accessible Communications: Create Impact, Avoid Missteps and Build Trust. They explore why accessibility is central to excellent internal communication and share the...

For decades, organisations have obsessed over employee engagement. But what if we've been measuring the wrong thing? What if engagement isn't the key to organisational performance after all? In this episode, Katie sits down with happiness researcher, statistician and author Nic Marks to explore why happiness is the foundation of performance. Nic has spent more than 30 years studying what makes peo...

Where’s internal communication heading? Colin Archer has a pretty good idea. In this episode of the Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie talks to the Spirax Group’s head of communications about an initiative Katie describes as ‘one of the boldest, bravest, most innovative I’ve seen.’ The Communicating Organisation is an approach to internal communications that replaces traditional top-down messaging...

All-star IC double act Kevin Ruck and Martin Flegg return to the Internal Comms Podcast to provide a to-the-minute update on where they think internal communication is today. And it’s not looking good for leaders. ‘Trust just isn’t there anymore,’ Martin tells Katie in an episode packed with insight. The authors of the newly published fifth edition of their book Exploring Internal Communication: T...

The podcast’s most frequent guest is back to share more of her invaluable insight, knowledge and IC know-how. Rachel Miller, founder of All Things AI, change expert and author, is synonymous with the internal communication profession. And she has a new book out: Successful Change Communication: How to Inform, Involve and Inspire Your Employees. It’s a practical handbook for any organisation naviga...

In this episode, host Katie Macaulay sits down with one person and three job titles. Alex Zeitz is senior director of global operations, experience and belonging at Virgin Voyages. So, one job title really. But while many organisations would separate these responsibilities out, the award-winning cruise business deliberately brought them together.  Katie speaks to Alex to find out why.  Alex’s firs...

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) is one of the world’s best-known and most extraordinary not-for-profit organisations. One of its core principles is témoignage – to bear witness, to share. Communication, therefore, sits at the very heart of its mission and as Head of Internal Communications, Eva Kongs leads efforts to communicate with staff responding to some of the world’s most...

If you’re tired of the ‘when will internal communication make it to the top table?’ debate, the first episode of Season 15 is for you. Emma Bridger, a psychologist turned engagement specialist, has spent more than two decades helping organisations create more human workplaces. Lee Smith co-founded Gatehouse and launched the State of the Sector survey, now the largest global research study of inter...

The holidays are coming. So, what better time of year to welcome Shanna Wendt, Vice President of Communications at Coca-Cola Euro Pacific Partners, to the Internal Comms Podcast. Coca-Cola is one of the world’s most famous brands. The inner workings of the organisation are however less well-known. In this episode, Katie Macaulay gets to peak behind the curtain and explore a world of IC that mixes...

An internal communication profession in an impenetrable bubble is no use to anyone. It helps, from time to time, to reach out, listen, learn – fill yourself up with a story from outside the corporate carousel. It’s in that tradition that Katie Macaulay invited poet, playwright, author, former university chancellor, official poet of the London Olympics, honorary fellow of Oxford and Cambridge colle...

‘The qualities that matter most are not technical skills, but inner resources’ is the central thesis of comms coach David Norris’ work. Good news if you don’t want to read the IC tech manual. But then again… how do you raise that inner game? You can start by listening to this revealing and captivating conversation between David and Katie Macaulay, recorded for episode number 127 of the Internal Co...

In this episode, Katie welcomes back the Internal Comms Podcast’s MVP, founder and CEO of Dewpoint Communications Victoria Dew. Back in 2022, Victoria featured on episode 61 of the podcast – our most popular yet, with 21,000 listens and counting. She returns three years later with the same incredible insights into our industry, an infectious enthusiasm for all things IC and a clear-minded view of...

Ryanair flies 200 million passengers to 37 countries in 600 aircraft, a huge operation with a pop-cultural reputation for cheap cheap flights and frank, tongue-in-cheek communication. With 27,000 employees in a range of roles – from IT to operations, engineers to cabin crew – the internal communication challenge is similarly huge. So, what is the comms and culture really like inside Ryanair? Inter...

Episode #124 of the Internal Comms Podcast is a joint interview with returning guest Steve Crescenzo and his business partner and wife Cindy. Together, with host Katie Macaulay, they put the world – and words – of corporate communications to rights. It’s frank. It’s funny. And it’s full of fantastic, practical advice to help your content cut through. Together, they tackle the big IC challenges, fr...

In this episode, host Katie Macaulay learns how to get social media right. Tough ask? Not when you’ve got Roger Christie on hand to help. For the past 15 years the founder of reputation advisory firm Propel has helped senior executives gain the confidence and insight they need to earn trust in a world where trust has become a precious commodity. In this highly quotable episode ( ‘There should not...

Season 14 of the Internal Comms Podcast kicks off with a conversation about happiness. Host Katie Macaulay welcomes Professor Catherine Sanderson to discuss what really makes us happy. The internal comms hook? As internal communicators, we’re often asked to promote wellbeing initiatives at work; the link between happiness and productivity is clear. Together Katie and Catherine – a professor of psy...

In this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, Katie Macaulay is joined by Jo Hudson, Group Director of Internal Communication at Bupa. Jo has spent the past 16 years at Bupa, one of the world’s largest healthcare organisations. She’s worked across internal and external comms, PR, media relations, brand and engagement. Now, she’s leading IC in a complex, global business, with 100,000 colleagues sp...

In this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay sits down with alignment strategist and leadership coach Zora Artis to explore a crucial question: how can internal comms teams unite people around what matters most? It’s no easy task, but Zora brings three decades of in-the-trenches experience. As CEO of Artis Advisory, co-founder of the Alignment People and a partner at Mirror M...

If the platforms you use at work were built by Microsoft, this episode is essential listening. Katie is joined by Alex Graves, Chief Visionary Officer at Silicon Reef — the people-first Microsoft experts — for a fast-paced, plain-speaking conversation on making technology work for people. Alex shares practical strategies for rolling out new digital channels on a shoestring — including what corners...

If you have ever found yourself circling back, touching base, breaking down silos or leveraging strategic synergies — then these guests are speaking your language. Charles Firth and James Schloeffel are the Australian comedy duo behind Wankernomics. Their brilliantly sharp satire holds a mirror up to the strange, slippery and often nonsensical language we only use at work. What started as a comedi...

What does it take to make one of the most scrutinised leaders in the world feel relatable? And how do we build internal comms that truly include everyone — especially the quieter voices? In this episode, Katie Macaulay is joined by personal brand expert, storytelling strategist and award-winning filmmaker Richard Etienne. Richard shares the remarkable story of being summoned to 10 Downing Street a...

Fred Cook’s career proves success doesn’t require a straight line. Now Chairman Emeritus of global PR agency Golin, Fred has spent 35+ years advising world-famous brands – Amazon, McDonald’s, Disney – and visionary CEOs like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs. But his journey began far from the boardroom. Fred’s early resumé includes being a pool hustler, cabin boy and chauffeur for drunks. He describes hi...

Inspiration is everywhere when you stay curious. That’s the thread running through this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, where Katie Macaulay welcomes communication, creativity and leadership consultant Beth Collier. The author of the brilliant Substack newsletter Curious Minds, Beth takes Katie on a journey from her early days working in Hollywood to her role today as a respected comms pro....

What does it mean to be a credible leader? And just how important is that credibility to your team? In this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay welcomes back leadership and internal communication expert Jenni Field to unpack all this and more. Jenni is the author of Nobody Believes You: Become a Leader People Will Follow, and former president of the Chartered Institute of Pu...

In this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay welcomes Jeremy Connell-Waite, Global Communications Designer for IBM, an acclaimed speechwriter and storyteller, and a performance coach for senior executives. In this fascinating conversation, which will challenge everything you thought you knew about storytelling, Jeremy guides Katie through the concept of storytelling design –...