Quick Wins from the When It Hits the Fan team is our how-to guide to being better at your own PR and navigating the world of work like a pro. In these special short episodes, David Yelland and Simon Lewis give you lots of useful tips that might just change your working life – and it’ll only take a few minutes of your time. In this episode they share their advice on how bosses and HR departments should best deal with making people redundant. Managing expectations and compassion are key. And remem...
Apr 08, 2025•11 min
In this special episode David Yelland and Simon Lewis answer PR questions sent in by When It Hits the Fan listeners. First off, they are just two little words but they carry a lot of meaning... why 'no comment' can be both a good and bad thing to say - and what you might be able to say as an alternative. Also, they have some great tips for how to deal with a boss who's demanding national coverage despite having nothing newsworthy to report. There's advice for small charities on how to get your m...
Apr 01, 2025•20 min
In this special episode, David Yelland and Simon Lewis unpick the PR levers being pulled behind the Heathrow airport shutdown caused by a fire at a local power substation – which left 300,000 passengers stranded, 1,300 flights cancelled and its CEO in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Was it wise to let it be known that CEO Thomas Woldbye was asleep when the decision was made to shut the airport? Or was it a leak? In any crisis there is always a blame game - who are the winners and losers...
Mar 25, 2025•26 min
Letting the cameras go behind the scenes of a company is always a risky strategy - but did it pay off for Thames Water? David Yelland and Simon Lewis assess whether BBC2's Thames Water: Inside the Crisis is a PR victory or a PR disaster for the much maligned utility. The frontline staff emerge as heroes, but is the real story being told? Also, how bad PR can kill a business - will the Tesla brand survive being tainted by Elon Musk? And how Prince William is using Aston Villa and football as soft...
Mar 18, 2025•28 min
Across the world reputations are being set by how leaders react to Donald Trump, including those of Keir Starmer and the King. Now Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, has seen his standing transformed by his "elbow’s up" anti-Trump stance. But in the country’s upcoming election, the Canadian question will be binary – who is the best candidate to deal with Trump’s America? Plus Abrdn’s reverse ferret and the decision by the investment company to return all its missing vowels following a wid...
Mar 11, 2025•28 min
In the wake of Donald Trump's decision to pause all US aid to Ukraine, David Yelland and Simon Lewis reflect on the breakdown in the relations between presidents Trump and Zelensky. How far was his humiliation in the Oval Office press huddle orchestrated in the Trumpian echo chamber? Was deploying the stabilising effect of the King both before and after that car crash press conference the wisest use of royal PR in decades? Also - how toy giant Hasbro managed to interrupt the global crisis to ann...
Mar 04, 2025•28 min
David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss how best to navigate the 'disinformation bubble' that appears to be parked over Washington DC. Could business take a lead from the media on drawing lines in the sand? Following Peter Mandelson's apparently off-the-cuff remark that Donald Trump's speech, in which he called Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator, was "interesting", what's the best way to deal with uninvited questions from a reporter? Is silence always golden? And, how long should people who've held pos...
Feb 25, 2025•28 min
David Yelland and Simon Lewis look at the £75billion PR battle currently waging between BP - one of the UK's biggest companies - and American activist investors who say it’s too weak and too woke. Also, the world’s top banker is caught ranting about work-from-home GenZers. Is it good PR or bad PR? And will the claim from conservative influencer Ashley St Clair that Elon Musk is the father of her baby derail his White House bromance with President Donald Trump? Do such 'scandals' matter in the US...
Feb 18, 2025•28 min
David Yelland and Simon Lewis take you inside the woke war rooms in which some of the world’s biggest companies have been sitting these last few weeks with their PR teams, working out whether to abandon their diversity, equity and inclusion programmes following Donald Trump’s ban. With net zero and US foreign aid also coming under the umbrella of what Elon Musk calls the 'woke mind virus’, is the war on woke the great PR distraction trick of our time? Also, 'Illuminating and electrifying!' Are b...
Feb 11, 2025•28 min
How do you PR a pivot and change the mood music as a politician? David Yelland and Simon Lewis take a look at the language Rachel Reeves is deploying as she tries to go for growth and what might lie behind the timing of AstraZeneca scrapping its UK vaccine plant. Also, the split that divides the world's PR elite - the political and business world is having to decide whether to follow Donald Trump's language or resist it, kowtow or fight. How do we all talk to America now? And a PR take on the pu...
Feb 04, 2025•28 min
In a rare, open and frank discussion, David Yelland and Simon Lewis go behind the scenes of The Sun newspaper's historic apology to Prince Harry, including for 'serious intrusion' by The Sun and unlawful activity by private investigators. There's no suggestion that any Sun journalist broke the law. But as a former editor of the paper during this time, what light can David shed on practices at Rupert Murdoch's company then - the use of private investigators and oversight of this, questioning sour...
Jan 28, 2025•28 min
In the wake of Donald Trump’s inauguration, David Yelland and Simon Lewis decode what it means for how the 47th US president does business. For the tech billionaires in the court of King Donald, as in the days of yore, proximity to power is key. The court can be a risky place if your king is capricious, so stay close, give him what he wants and prove your loyalty – and hope you can still look yourself in the mirror. Also, what TikTok, crypto and the PR tactic of “flooding the zone” reveal about ...
Jan 21, 2025•28 min
As the LA wildfires continue to burn, David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss the challenge looming for US insurers that find themselves on the frontline of climate change communications - because it looks likely it's not the world's politicians who are going to explain to people the consequences of our warming planet, it's the insurance companies. Also, a fan-hitting Hollywood feud that has PR at the centre of it. What does the lawsuit between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni reveal about t...
Jan 14, 2025•29 min
Quick Wins is our how-to guide to personal PR from the When It Hits the Fan team. David Yelland and Simon Lewis share their expert advice on how to navigate the working world like a pro. In these special short episodes, you'll lots of useful tips that might just change your working life – and it’ll only take a few minutes. In this episode David and Simon answer a listener's question on how to leave a job when you've only just started. They explain how to tactfully u-turn and quit before anyone n...
Jan 07, 2025•8 min
Quick Wins is a series of short episodes from the When It Hits the Fan team to help you navigate your own personal PR. In this episode, David and Simon answer a listener's question on how to use storytelling when presenting to your boss. They run us through their dos and don'ts when it comes to telling stories and presenting like a pro. Producer: Ella Blaxill Executive Producer: Eve Streeter Music by Eclectic Sounds A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4
Dec 31, 2024•8 min
Quick Wins is our how-to guide to personal PR from the When It Hits the Fan team. David Yelland and Simon Lewis share their expert advice on how to navigate the working world like a pro. In these special short episodes, you'll lots of useful tips that might just change your working life – and it’ll only take a few minutes. In this episode they discuss how to recover from embarrassment at work. Mastering the art of the apology is key and remember, it may feel like the end of the world but no one'...
Dec 24, 2024•9 min
David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss the use of 'royal sources' in Prince Andrew's China crises and reflect on the big ideas that have shaped our world in 2024. What are the common themes that might help us understand and navigate our increasingly uncertain world a bit better? They discuss how the Royal Family is the canary in the PR mine when it comes to dealing with the coming era of algorithms that work to channel negativity and disinformation, as well as the consequences of social media alg...
Dec 17, 2024•28 min
Quick Wins from the When It Hits the Fan team is our how-to guide to being better at your own PR and navigating the world of work like a pro. In these special short episodes, David Yelland and Simon Lewis give you lots of useful tips that might just change your working life – and it’ll only take a few minutes of your time. In this episode: how to survive the office party. Should the "hub and spoke" or the SAS-style approach be your strategy for the night? David and Simon share their work wisdom ...
Dec 13, 2024•7 min
David Yelland and Simon Lewis assess one of the biggest fan-hitters in the history of the media industry - Rupert Murdoch’s failure to win the legal battle to control who takes the reins of his media empire. What does this defeat mean for the world’s most famous media mogul and his legacy? Also, in the wake of the shocking, fatal shooting of healthcare executive Brian Thompson in New York and the online reaction to it, how might this tragic event reshape the way business leaders relate to the wo...
Dec 10, 2024•28 min
David Yelland and Simon Lewis take a 360 degree look at the Gregg Wallace/MasterChef crisis. They examine the errors of Wallace’s ways after one particularly ill-advised – or possibly unadvised – social media video post. What are the implications of the surfacing allegations for Banijay, the low-profile but hugely wealthy production company behind MasterChef, and the BBC? Also, following Australia's ban on social media for the under 16s, how big tech is using ‘cynicism PR’ in an attempt to stop ...
Dec 03, 2024•29 min
Jaguar’s rebrand video has sent the internet into meltdown, and the insults are piling up. The car manufacturer’s wildly uncharacteristic advert has even tempted Elon Musk into the conversation. David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss the PR strategy Jaguar might be employing and whether they’ll come out of this unscathed. Also, how the late Lord John Prescott managed to navigate a lifetime of fan-hitters to go down in political history as a legend. And, how and why has the lure of reality TV capt...
Nov 26, 2024•29 min
Is it time for the business world to enter the great public debates of our time - and is it bad PR if you don’t? Its absence has left a vacuum for misinformation to spread and CEOs like Greg Jackson from Octopus Energy are stepping up. David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss this, as well as a fascinating crisis at ice-cream makers Ben & Jerrys and big pharma in the wake of Robert Kennedy Jr's nomination as the next US health secretary. Also - what does the exodus from Elon Musk’s X to Bluesky...
Nov 19, 2024•28 min
In his first presidency, Donald Trump vowed to “drain the swamp of Washington DC” - PR agents and all. So, how can a second Trump presidency possibly look promising for PR? David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss how change can create opportunity. In this episode they explore how Trump’s return to office might impact business both in the US and abroad, how powerful players go about influencing the new president and what does money (lots of it) have to do with it all? Also, how condescending critic...
Nov 12, 2024•28 min
In this special episode, David Yelland and Simon Lewis let When It Hits the Fan listeners set the agenda and answer questions sent in to the Fan postbag. They discuss the truth - when to tell it, and when to hide it. If fly-on-the-wall television comes calling will it always result in good publicity for you? And how far does PR drive the news agenda? Also, from Queen Camilla to Boy George, what are the best reputation comebacks? And, "as I was just saying to Bono...", does namedropping really oi...
Nov 05, 2024•28 min
David Yelland and Simon Lewis lift the lid on the rarely talked about world of establishment PR and the great battle for influence happening behind the scenes in modern Britain. It’s why Peter Mandelson, William Hague and 36 other hopefuls are all vying to be the next Chancellor of Oxford University. Also, how the new CEO of Starbucks is trying to reverse a recent decline in sales with the help of some back-to-basics internal communications. And the great cheese heist… how taking the financial h...
Oct 29, 2024•28 min
In the wake of the death of the One Direction star Liam Payne, David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss the role of protection in PR. Advisers are often the first people to know about a problem, and the first to try to fix it. Could celebrity publicists learn something about duty of care from the world of corporate PR? David and Simon talk fame, addiction and the importance of creating private space. Also, the FA has walked into an apparent PR own goal appointing a German head coach to manage the E...
Oct 22, 2024•29 min
David and Simon discuss Kamala Harris’s interview on the hit US podcast Call Her Daddy. What can British politicians and business leaders learn about the power of being three-dimensional and opening up? Also, it’s a game of two halves – the PR behind the football civil war that is Manchester City versus the Premier League. And the LinkedIn job status update. To varnish, or not to varnish? Producer: Eve Streeter Editor: Sarah Teasdale Executive Producer: William Miller Music by Eclectic Sounds A ...
Oct 15, 2024•28 min
Why does Keir Starmer need to start taking people behind the Number 10 bikesheds and having a quiet word? David Yelland and Simon Lewis explain 'bikeshed PR' and how to move a news story on. Also, knowing when to step back and call your PR battle a day is not always easy, as the ongoing Strictly Come Dancing fan-hitter shows. What can we learn from this and the returning saga of Wagatha Christie? And, the email you didn't mean to send.... David and Simon share tales of their personal gaffes and ...
Oct 08, 2024•28 min
Is there such a thing as too much good PR? It seems everyone is talking about the weight-loss drug Ozempic - David Yelland and Simon Lewis look at why might this be causing jitters in the company boardroom. Also, Phillip Schofield’s desert island TV return - will the "last roll of the dice” PR strategy work for him, or is Hillary Clinton's 1992 interview alongside her under-fire husband a cautionary tale? And with the release of the drama series A Very Royal Scandal, David and Simon look at how ...
Oct 01, 2024•29 min
Following the BBC investigation into Mohamed Al Fayed, David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss the circle of reputational protection that existed around the former Harrods boss and allowed him to commit serial sexual abuse for so long and get away with it. Also, inside the Murdoch family's succession feud and the importance the results could have on the political state of global media. Producer: Eve Streeter Editor: Sarah Teasdale Executive Producer: William Miller Music by Eclectic Sounds A Racon...
Sep 24, 2024•28 min
