Some big events in 2019 have highlighted how vital it is for leaders to express emotion in media interviews where there are victims or perceived victims. This is where many business and political leaders fall over. Who can forget Jacinda Ardern’s performance after the Mosque attacks in March. All she did was show her sympathy to the victims and tell them what she was doing to help. And that’s all she needed to do and all people wanted to hear. Pictures...

If Prince Andrew prepared for his recent interview with media advisors, he needs to sack them immediately because there were so many things he did wrong. These are common among media spokespeople and have a huge impact when the stakes are so high. Mistake One: Don’t lean back in the chair and cross your legs. It automatically puts you in a defensive position. If you sit up straight with your head closer to the camera than your stomach, you look proactive...

With the Tax Working Group’s recommendations coming out on Thursday, its vital that players on both sides of the CGT debate know how to get their points across. Whenever a debate like this dominates the news cycle, the winner is always the side that focuses on a few key points and uses the most basic language possible. That’s why political parties always have a few key areas of focus in Election campaigns. It doesn’t mean you totally ignore other points, but...

The PR handling of the Sroubek issue by the Government has been woeful and reminds me of how Tiger Woods dealt with all the allegations around his infidelity. The term, ‘death by a thousand cuts’ comes to mind, and there’s no indication that publicity about this will end any time soon. It’s pretty obvious that Immigration Iain Lees-Galloway made some fundamental errors when he initially allowed Sroubek to stay. He didn’t read the entire document about it from his officials, while...

It might be a different view from most commentators, but I think Simon Bridges has done well over the whole Jami-Lee Ross saga and has strengthened his leadership. Firstly, just about everyone thought it was a mistake for him to even have an inquiry into the leak. I disagree. He had to find out who it was so that leaks didn’t keep happening. Imagine if this all came out a few weeks before the next election? It was good leadership to...

I thought NZ National Party leader Simon Bridges came across pretty well in his address to the party’s annual conference yesterday, but he made one mistake so many leaders make without realising it. He did it twice during the day. What was it? He used negative language. At one point he said: “There’s a perception in politics that we on the right don’t care as much as the left do, but it’s not true.” While that may sound fine, people will...

There have been murmurings that the ACT Party may change its name in the hope of getting more attention and votes at the next Election. That’s a great idea and I have the perfect option. I’d call it “The New National Party” in the same way Jim Anderton used “New labour” in the 1990s. Why change? Firstly, I don’t think many people understand what ACT’s actual message is, let alone what the acronym stands for. But it’s clearly a party of...

I’m sure David Seymour is quite happy about the publicity he’s been getting around a letter he wrote warning that social housing in Epsom could bring tenants with ‘Mental Health Issues,” into the suburb. But it brings up an important point about writing anything that might fall into the hands of the media. I often have people show me statements they are about to send to the media on serious issues or allegations. They want me to make any changes I...

There’s been so much debate about who the next leader of the National Party should be and why. Some say experience plus generational change, others say the one who can push Jacinda around the most, while others say a new face is the answer. None of this matters? In my view, none of that is important. That’s because the new leader has to be the one who can bond with swinging voters by showing warmth on camera. End of story. They...

Bill English’s greatly improved media skills were a major reason why National won far more votes than any other party in September’s Election and why he is my Media Communicator of the Year. Why was he so much better? In two words, Body Language. I must admit that I had my doubts when he became leader. I always say that your leader needs to be the person with the best media skills and I didn’t think English was that person. He...