Katie Macaulay’s guest this week is a leading light in efforts to advance the careers of under-represented groups in IC. Advita Patel is a qualified coach, mentor, public speaker and owner of her own consultancy firm, CommsRebel. She is also one of a trio of women who host the Calm Edged Rebels podcast, a board director for the Chartered Institute for Public Relations (CIPR) and co-founder (with previous guest Priya Bates) of A Leader Like Me – a global initiative to assist people from minority ...
Apr 28, 2021•1 hr 9 min
This episode sees the return of the brilliant business communications strategist, international public speaker and podcast host Jenni Field. The immediate past chair of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations joined host Katie Macaulay to discuss the ideas and frameworks outlined in her new book, Influential Internal Communication: Streamline Your Corporate Communication to Drive Efficiency and Engagement. As this essential volume is a field guide (pun intended) to taking your organisation f...
Apr 14, 2021•1 hr 3 min
The life and career of this week’s guest has been a literal roller coaster. Mark Webb fell into PR and media relations by chance, after spotting a job ad for the new Eurodisney theme park (later Disneyland Paris) while on his way to work another season as a ski rep. His impulsive decision to apply for that post has shaped much of the following 30 years. After experiencing the famous Disney magic as an A-list guest liaison, escorting the likes of Michael Jackson around the park, Mark took that se...
Mar 31, 2021•1 hr 14 min
Katie Macaulay’s guest for episode 44 of The IC Podcast is Canadian comms expert Prarthna Thakore. After beginning her career in Calgary and then moving to London, Prarthna has accrued more than 10 years’ experience working across sectors in business-to-business and business-to-consumer, developing expertise across the comms disciplines. Until very recently, she was the Head of Internal Communications at ISG, a global construction company employing 3,000 people across 24 countries. This conversa...
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Every year since 2008, internal comms pros have responded to the Gallagher State of the Sector report. Because it’s been running for 13 years, and because similar questions are asked year-on-year, this report has become a useful way for the IC community to benchmark our activities and ambitions. So, with the 2021 report hot off the press, host Katie Macaulay wanted to reach out to an experienced and thoughtful in-house comms practitioner to really get to grips with its findings. And who better t...
Mar 03, 2021•52 min
Katie Macaulay kicks off Season 5 of The IC Podcast with a riveting conversation with business storytelling specialist Gabrielle Dolan. Gabrielle is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker and trainer, and the author of six best-selling books. She first realised the power of storytelling in a business context while working in senior roles in corporate Australia, when she recognised the importance of bringing humanity to the way business people communicate. Gabrielle has shared her ex...
Feb 17, 2021•1 hr 15 min
With the new season of The Internal Comms Podcast just around the corner, we wanted to whet your appetite with a selection of the best bits from Season 4. For this special best-of compilation, host Katie Macaulay has chosen her favourite moments from eight fascinating chats with communications experts across a range of disciplines, from the NHS frontline to hostage negotiation. We hope such insights, advice and wisdom helped get you through a difficult autumn.
Feb 10, 2021•56 min
The NHS has never been far from our hearts and minds over the last few months. As the national jewel in the UK’s crown, the National Health Service has battled many difficulties over the last 72 years. But in 2020, in the face of a global pandemic, it’s faced its toughest period to date. For those handling its communications, it’s been an incredibly challenging time with highs, lows and everything in between. For the last episode of 2020, as focus shifts once again to the tireless NHS workers wh...
Dec 23, 2020•1 hr 8 min
What prompted the creation of the first IC agency back in 1964 and what convinced those first chief executives that they needed external help communicating with their employees? We always strive to explore and inspire with every episode of The Internal Comms Podcast and at AB we like to think of ourselves as the future of IC – but did you know we’re also a big part of its origins?! Although we can’t take credit for laying all the groundwork for the discipline, we can certainly relay the story an...
Dec 17, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Coming soon in season 4 of The Internal Comms Podcast
Dec 09, 2020•1 min
Recent research shows measurement is particularly challenging for many internal comms professionals. Katie’s guest on this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast is Benjamin Ellis – a data cruncher – who is on a mission to change that. A self-confessed tech geek, Benjamin realised that the problem with technology is often the end user, or in IC terms – people – prompting him to study psychology. Having worked at the cutting edge of technology and communication for more than three decades, his exp...
Nov 25, 2020•1 hr 27 min
Amid the turmoil of 2020, with IC pros thrown into the spotlight as we strive to keep colleagues informed and connected, it’s not surprising that many of us are feeling a degree of anxiety and self-doubt. These are classic symptoms of Imposter Syndrome, which is that nagging feeling you will be found out at any moment as a fake or a fraud. Research suggests that those of us in creative professions are more likely to suffer from Imposter Syndrome. And even if you don’t suffer from it yourself, th...
Nov 11, 2020•55 min
If you want to take your communication skills to the next level, then this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast is for you. Katie’s guest is a formidable negotiator and expert at persuasion – former hostage negotiator Chris Voss. Chris was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He spent 24 years with the Bureau persuading terrorists, bank robbers and kidnappers to change their behaviour. At one point he was in charge of every response to the ...
Oct 28, 2020•58 min
In this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast we meet digital expert Frank Wolf. Frank spent seven years as a business consultant at Accenture. Then at T Mobile, he was responsible for social technologies and collaboration solutions. He co-founded Staffbase – the employee app and intranet. He is also the author of Social Intranet. Today we seem to have endless opportunities to connect with people in new and dynamic ways but for many of us, digital communication is not where it can and should be ...
Oct 14, 2020•1 hr 17 min
In this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast we meet Steve Crescenzo, a witty, straight-talking and charismatic speaker, workshop leader and coach from Chicago, USA, who has spent decades working alongside – and training – thousands of IC professionals. Steve is on a mission to take the corporate out of corporate communications. He says the job of communicators is to “make the important interesting.” He also wants us to “do less but do it better”. Too often, he believes, we’re writing for the a...
Sep 30, 2020•1 hr 3 min
The Internal Comms Podcast is now in its fourth season – and to kick it off Katie sat down with Tasneem Chopra for some honest and open conversation. The self-styled “professional disruptor” helps businesses address the important issues of diversity and inclusion within their workforce. As a cross-cultural consultant, and champion for social justice, she helps leaders identify where social problems in their business may lie, and crucially, how to solve them. In this episode she talks passionatel...
Sep 16, 2020•1 hr 12 min
Before the curtain lifts on Season 4 of The IC Podcast, we wanted to leave you with some food for thought from Season 3. And what a season it was; we had a whole host of remarkable guests with sharp insights and valuable advice to help us through what has been a truly challenging time for IC professionals. In this special compilation reel, Katie takes us through some of her favourite moments.
Sep 02, 2020•24 min
The goal of this podcast is to bring you meaningful, in-depth conversations with people who are helping to shape the world of internal communication: practitioners, leaders, authors, creatives, and consultants. People like Shel Holtz, Dr Kevin Ruck, Bill Quirke, Rachel Miller, Russell Grossman, Liam Fitzpatrick and Sue Dewhurst. When Katie Macaulay asked many of these amazing people who inspired their thinking, one name kept coming up: Roger D’Aprix. He can be rightly described as the pioneer in...
Jul 08, 2020•1 hr 12 min
President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), Jenni Field has more than 16 years’ experience in communications. She is the founder and director of Redefining Communications, a consultancy that transforms organisations by improving communications. Jenni has honed her expertise across multiple industries, from pharmaceutical, to advertising and hospitality. The topic of Jenni’s first book, due out in April 2021, is about moving organisations from chaos to calm. In this episode, ...
Jun 24, 2020•1 hr 7 min
The Internal Comms Podcast has gone truly global with our latest episode featuring three speakers from three countries. In episode 31 Katie tables a roundtable discussion with Jennifer Wah, Brad Whitworth and Neil Griffiths, who are all fellows of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). A fellowship is the highest honour the IABC can bestow on its members. Jennifer – based in Canada, Brad – the USA, and Neil – the UK, join Katie to discuss what the industry could expect i...
Jun 10, 2020•1 hr 11 min
Chief Executive of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), Adriènne Kelbie has an exceptional understanding of the true power of communication and engagement. The first woman to take up the lead role at the ONR, Adriènne describes herself as an outlier, markedly different from other chief executives. Winner of the Northern Power Women’s 2019 Transformational Leader Award, Adriènne is a passionate advocate of values-based leadership, and of transparency, accessibility and diversity in all its fo...
May 27, 2020•1 hr 19 min
Katie’s guest this week is someone who is no stranger to crisis communication. Amanda Coleman was the Director of Corporate Communication at Greater Manchester Police when, on Monday 22 May 2017, a suicide bomber detonated a homemade bomb inside Manchester Arena. Twenty-three people died and 139 were wounded, more than half of them children. This was just one of the many tragic incidents Amanda has faced in her 20-year career. She worked alongside police and civic leaders during the Manchester r...
May 13, 2020•53 min
Katie’s guest this week is one of the world’s leading authorities on internal comms and the management of change: Bill Quirke. As managing director of IC consultancy Synopsis, Bill has helped many global and blue-chip organisations align their leaders, engage their people, and turn strategy into action. He is also the author of two seminal books – Communicating Corporate Change, and Making the Connections – plus numerous tools, strategies and models that have profoundly influenced our professio...
Apr 29, 2020•1 hr 35 min
This week Katie speaks to renowned communicator Shel Holtz. As listeners continue to grapple with keeping workforces informed, galvanised and feeling connected during the corona crisis, Shel shares his guidance, advice and good humour to help us all through this difficult time. Shel’s career began in communications in 1977, more than a decade before the invention of the World Wide Web. In 1994, he came up with the idea of using an intranet, a year before the word was introduced. Today, he is dir...
Apr 14, 2020•56 min
This episode is recorded as the majority of the UK is in lockdown while the country attempts to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic. Katie Macaulay’s guest, Rachel Miller, is a prolific blogger, educator and keynote speaker. One of the most respected voices in the internal communications industry, Rachel is a fellow of the Institute of Internal Communication and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. IC expert Rachel has contributed to best-selling books and runs bespoke masterclass...
Apr 01, 2020•1 hr 24 min
Katie Macaulay recorded this special episode on Friday 20 March 2020 in response to the rapidly developing situation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Her guests to talk all things crisis comms are Sarah Pinch and Tamara Littleton. Social media pioneer Tamara founded The Social Element in 2002, way before the explosion of social media. Today she leads a global team of more than 300, working with some of the world’s biggest brands to deliver consultancy-led social media services. Their aim is to...
Mar 25, 2020•48 min
In this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, Katie puts her first CEO in the hotseat: Marc Barone. Marc is chief executive for continental Europe at AECOM. This Fortune 500 company is one of the world’s largest professional engineering design firms, employing 57,000 people in more than 120 countries. Its projects are impressive and diverse: the world’s longest cable stayed bridge, disaster recovery programmes, and the tallest tower in the western hemisphere. A cursory glance at Marc’s LinkedIn...
Mar 18, 2020•1 hr 14 min
In this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast Katie talks to one of world’s most qualified communicators, Priya Bates, from Canada. Priya has an Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) and was one of the first Certified Strategic Communication Management Professionals (SCMP). She received a Master Communicator (MC) from the Canadian chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators and was later made an IABC Fellow, a global lifetime achievement award in recognition of her contri...
Mar 04, 2020•57 min
State of the Sector is the longest-established and most in-depth survey of the internal communication profession, based on responses from more than 1,000 professionals around the world. Over the past decade, this annual survey has become a go-to source of information for IC practitioners, helping them see what’s going on across the industry, benchmark their own IC function against competitors and build a business case for investment or development. This year’s survey report is the biggest yet – ...
Feb 19, 2020•55 min
During Seasons One and Two we covered a lot of ground in IC and beyond. As we begin Season Three, brace yourself for more fascinating insights as we delve into the very heart of communications. This episode sees Katie chat with the voice of IC himself, Chuck Gose. Chuck is the founder of ICology, the ground-breaking podcast that, since 2015, has given IC pros a global platform to share experiences and insights. He’s been in comms for 20 years, including time with Rolls-Royce and General Motors, ...
Feb 05, 2020•1 hr 8 min
