Discovering the hidden GEMS in public speaking

Friends, colleagues and IoIC connections, lend me your ears: when Charles Darwin first hypothesised about the "fight or flight" response, he probably wasn't specifically referring to the fear of public speaking. The fear of public speaking is real and it even has a name as I've learned - "Glossophobia". Although we're all capable of engaging in per...

What are some of the first things that come to mind when you think of the word "happiness"? Perhaps you think of being on holiday in a tropical setting, or maybe even a quiet evening where your only company is that book you've been dying to get to. It's unlikely that when most people think of "happiness," they think about their job, but research su...

What is a work wife?  A work wife is a colleague who has your back at work, providing support and encouragement.  Chances are you or someone you know has a "work spouse." More than 50% of female employees and 44% of male employees have one. A work wife is a colleague who has your back whether you need to bounce ideas off someone, or you j...

Coinciding with the end of the year, Christmastime can be a time of heavy workloads, looming deadlines, shrinking budgets and personal and social responsibilities, all of which can accumulate to make it a time of stress and distractions for employees. Here we look at ways that companies can go about effectively engaging their employees throughout o...

Reading through the raw results from the IoIC's recent 'future of work' survey the one thing that really leaps out to me is how many possible futures internal communication people envisage. Depending on which of the 150-ish responses you pick, internal communication is going to become part of HR or become entirely separate to HR. It is going to be ...

​The end of any year always provides opportunities to pause for a moment and reflect on everything that we have achieved over the last 12 months as well as look ahead to the future. For the IoIC, the end of 2019 provides an even more significant opportunity to just do that as we come to the end of the year in which we've celebrated our 70th anniver...

Since its inception at the start of 2018, FutureNet – the network for newcomers to internal communication – has gone from strength to strength. This year, we've refined the purpose and key objectives of the network – to develop professional and personal skills of IC newcomers; to raise awareness of internal communication as a career of choice; and ...

Internal comms pro Matt Batten reflects on his experience of managing his physical and mental health in the workplace – and the greater support that employers can offer. If you follow me on Twitter (@CommsGuyMatt), you'll already know I talk a lot of b*llocks. I had testicular cancer about three years ago and I have been on a mission to remind men ...

Internal Communications has long been poor relation to its more flamboyant cousins in the External Communications department. But times are changing. Internal Comms and Employee Engagement are increasingly being recognised for what they can do for both profile (traditionally the realm of PR) and sales (where usually advertising stakes its claim). S...

There is definitely something in the air at the moment when the topic of the workplace arises. A whole lexicon is springing up around organisational priorities when it comes to offering employees "the workplace of the future", whatever that means. In an average meeting / brainstorm / casual chat in the staff kitchen on the topic, the word "flexible...