I hate to mention the “C” word but it’s noticeable that since coronavirus struck the media has never been so keen to speak to experts. Doctors, virologists, epidemiologists, vaccinologists and others are constantly popping up on TV, radio, podcasts and in the print media to offer explanations and insights. Some have come across as interesting, [...]
Human interest. It’s the biggest cliché in journalism. Look at any newspaper, magazine or website or watch any TV report and almost every picture will be of a human being. Go on to read the first paragraph and again the focus will be on a person or a group of people - famous people, infamous [...]
As well as growing demand for our online media training courses, we’re getting a lot more requests from people looking for advice and training on how to run a virtual meeting. This is hardly surprising. The number of daily active users on Microsoft Teams soared by 12million to more than 44million last week. The company’s [...]
Last Saturday Trevor Cox, a professor of acoustic engineering at the University of Salford, popped up on that interesting little final interview slot on the Today programme. Presenter Justin Webb asked him about the effect of the sound quality of interviews conducted by Skype and Zoom on audiences. Professor Cox explained listening on a poor [...]
The woman doing the most important job in Britain right now delivered an excellent media interview last week. Professor Sarah Gilbert, a vaccinologist at Oxford University, is leading the research in the UK to find an effective vaccine for the coronavirus. As a journalist who’s interviewed scores of doctors and scientists and as a media [...]
The current crisis means that all of us are suddenly holding more meetings and doing more presentations online. The number of daily active users on Zoom has increased by 378 per cent year on year on the 22nd of March. Meanwhile, its monthly active users have increased by 186 per cent, according to data from [...]
The Coronavirus has prompted all kinds of organisations to ask us for advice on how to give a virtual presentation. The courses we provide that teach people how to deliver presentations on Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams and other video conferencing facilities have been growing in popularity over the last few years but over the last [...]
One of the most noticeable effects of the Coronavirus on business is an explosion of remote meetings using Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts and FaceTime. Microsoft Teams, for instance, has reported a remarkable 500% increase in usage since 31st January. However good the technology might be and however rapid its growth, many people are still struggling [...]
Like everything else in society, the Coronavirus is having a profound effect on the news business. In particular demand for news, which has seen a slow decline over the last few years has suddenly experienced a significant spike. The BBC News Channel, for instance, has enjoyed its largest weekly audience since 2015. Meanwhile, Channel 4 [...]
Another ping, another email, another statement about COVID-19. I’ve been writing a considerable amount of these statements over the last couple of weeks, as you can imagine. I’ve written position papers, crisis strategies and serious incident responses for all kinds or organisations over the last quarter century but this has led me into new territory. [...]
