I recently met with a client — the CEO of a non-profit organization — who announced that he wanted a communications plan. Having been around the block a few times I knew enough to ask a tough, penetrating question: "What exactly do you mean?"  Continue reading...

I don't pretend to be a great public speaker; I think I had more nerve as a 14-year-old debater than I have now! But I was keenly motivated by the gleam of trophies in high school and I learned the tricks it takes to do reasonably well at speaking.

In later years, I also wrote speeches for industry leaders and CEOs. So when a friend emailed to request advice on how to write speeches, I decided to summarize the seven things I know.  Continue reading...

It's been snowing where I live. Okay, I know it's winter and all, and that might not seem like a strange complaint (unless you live in, say, Australia) but I'm in Vancouver -- the wet capital of the world.  Continue reading...

I was in high school when former U.S. president Richard Nixon resigned. I don't remember seeing him give his official TV farewell, but I strongly recall his gravelly voice, his pursed lips and his shuffling gait. I devoured All the President's Men when it was published in 1974 and saw the movie starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as reporters Woodward and Bernstein when it was released two years later.  Continue reading...

Back when I was a freelance journalist, I had to source all my articles properly. This meant getting objective proof of facts and assertions, typically by interview or with reference to government or company publications. I try to carry this attitude through into my corporate work.  Continue reading...

In November, I had a stroke. My second one in six years.

Both strokes were established in similar ways -- the puzzling outcome of having had mild abdominal surgery. I'm not trying to make you crazy here. It doesn't seem logical to me -- or to many doctors -- either. Although I have freakishly low blood pressure and exercise regularly and eat healthily, there's something about my body that doesn't like surgery. I have surgery and the main source of blood flow to the brain, my carotid artery, breaks apart (this maneuver is called a dissection) and a stroke spins off into my brain.  Continue reading...