Create a visual library that tells your business story. (Not everyone else’s). I issued an intruder alert in my last blog post. I’m not scaremongering, but have a group of strangers gate-crashed your website and your social media? By strangers, I mean the people who crop up in stock business images. Presentable and well turned… Read more
Are beautiful body snatchers depriving you of leads?
Imagine cutting a photo of a model out of a magazine. He or she looks good in front of the camera, with a dazzling smile. The angle is right, the lighting is perfect, the figure is poised in a way that draws you in. You snip it out carefully and then you turn to your… Read more
Get your company noticed. Bring a new perspective.
When you take an audience by surprise, you grab their attention. Challenging assumptions is a good way of getting your business noticed. A couple of caveats: be sincere in your opinions and, if they are particularly controversial, make sure you can back them up. Here’s an example of how a conversation gave me a new… Read more
Snapshot stories. The Community Chef.
Every time I interview someone, I come away with a ‘snapshot story’. It’s a vivid mental image, created by their words and feelings. It can hang around in my head for weeks, even months. Snapshot stories make you memorable. So if you want a message to stay with your audience, try illustrating it with an… Read more
Obama was my warm up act. No pressure then.
Interviewing Sir David Attenborough about his brother, Lord (Richard) Attenborough, for the University of Sussex. Richard Attenborough was an Oscar-winning director and versatile actor who appeared in more than a hundred films. Perhaps less well known is his long and fond association with the University of Sussex. It began in 1968, when he was directing… Read more
Help yourself. I find it invaluable. You will too.
In the course of a normal working day, I get through a hell of a lot of words. Some I write myself; others I read. I’ve been stockpiling countless books and articles about the best way to communicate. Now I’m in ‘New Term Decluttering’ mode and you’ll benefit. As I clear out my hard drive… Read more
Hit home with your message. Get an ‘oooh’ from your audience.
I was shopping and I saw this display in a chemist’s window: “Good grief!” I thought. “Is that how much sugar is in a pot of yoghurt? I had no idea”. Well, I did have an idea. I’d probably skimmed over the ingredients countless times. But the facts only made an impact when I saw… Read more
Yes, images can speak a thousand words. But you need the right photographer.
They’re used to being parachuted into any situation. They size it up in seconds and take shots that quickly capture the story. There’s no fuss. There’s no wavering. Blink and you’ll miss them – although they miss nothing, of course. Reading this back, I make them sound like a creative version of the SAS. And… Read more
Daphne Todd: the Big Painting Challenge and why boilers and bricks deserve their moment of fame.
Daphne Todd has come to the nation’s attention as one of the judges on BBC1’s The Big Painting Challenge. There was also a flurry of headlines when Daphne revealed she’d secretly painted horns beneath a portrait of one of her sitters. People were a bit surprised that a former President of the Royal Society of… Read more
