Hey Reader, Each week in this newsletter I answer a question from a reader. This week's question comes from an internal communications manager in the UK who asks: I've dabbled with a few AI tools but I'm not seeing huge time savings. How are other comms professionals actually using AI to make their jobs easier? If you’re asking the same thing, you’re not alone. I hear from lots of internal comms professionals who have tried ChatGPT or Copilot a few times, maybe got some mediocre results, and...
11 days ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, Each week in this newsletter I answer a question from a reader. Today's question comes all the way from Italy, who says: I work in the HR function. Recently during a career conversation I've been asked to be a more strategic internal communication professional. I've seen your video on where the Internal Comm should sit and I've understood that it would be much better if I would sit in the Communication department. But if this change does not happen - as you can imagine it can't...
18 days ago • 6 min read
Hey Reader, Last week I welcomed a new cohort of students to my Strategic Internal Communication course with the Public Relations Institute of Ireland. We spent our first session defining what internal communication is and how it differs from employee engagement. And I noticed something curious during our discussion: there seemed to be a lot of confusion around the word "engagement". When we talked about engagement in the class, I observed two different definitions at play: Some students...
25 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, Each week in this newsletter I tackle a question from a reader. This week’s question comes from an internal communications manager in London who says: “I really enjoy your content and posts on LinkedIn. So glad I finally discovered your newsletter! One of the challenges I'm facing right now is a noticeable drop in engagement - fewer attendees at our town halls and lower interaction on Slack posts. With budget cuts, organisational changes and general uncertainty, I’m finding it...
about 1 month ago • 6 min read
Hey Reader, Each week in this newsletter I answer a question from a reader. This week’s question comes from an Internal Comms & Employee Engagement Manager, let's call her Lucy, who asks: I know our internal communications could be better, but I’m struggling to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong. How do you diagnose what’s working well and what needs improvement so you can make an action plan? When I read this question in my inbox I had just come across a new diagnostic tool online so I replied to...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, This week I've been reading IC Index 2025 from the Institute of Internal Communication. Let's look at some of the findings from this report and discuss what they mean for you as a comms professional. This report is based on a survey of nearly 5,000 UK employees, making it one of the most comprehensive studies of employee communication experiences in recent years. The researchers explored everything from how employees rate their organisation's communication to what activities make...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Hey Reader, Each week in this newsletter I usually answer a question from a reader. Today I’m doing something slightly different to help you tackle a challenge I know a lot of you struggle with. I’m going to expand on something I shared on LinkedIn last week. I can see from the comments that it really struck a chord with many of you so let’s dig into it deeper and I’ll give you more practical tips and advice. Here’s the topic I posted about: How to decide when content should be posted on 1...
about 2 months ago • 8 min read
Hey Reader, Each week in this newsletter I tackle a question from a reader. This week’s question comes from a comms pro in Canada who read my previous newsletter about helping stakeholders move beyond “creating awareness” to setting clear objectives. [If you missed that edition you can read it here.] She writes: “I love your weekly emails and learn so much from them. Thank you. I enjoyed seeing how this week’s email built on last week’s theme, and wondered if you’d consider continuing this...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Hey Reader, Each week in this newsletter I tackle a question from a reader. This week’s question comes from a Comms Business Partner in London. She read my newsletter last week about protecting your audiences' attention and saying no to sending out irrelevant content and she followed up with this thoughtful question: “Thanks very much for your latest newsletter – great advice here! One thing I struggle with is something you touched on: ‘Every communication should have a clear purpose. We just...
2 months ago • 7 min read