Could your CEO or one of your expert spokespeople take part in panel discussions?
It is a format we are often asked about during our media training courses.
It can be a great way to raise their profile, position themselves as thought leaders and gain more coverage for your organisation.
But it can also be a tricky type of media appearance to master, with different voices competing for airtime and often a broad range of subjects discussed.
But Octopus Energy boss Greg Jackson produced a great example of how to thrive during a panel discussion when he appeared on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
The programme, which you can watch here, saw him feature alongside former education secretary Gillian Keegan and housing journalist Vicky Spratt on a panel that covered a range of topical issues.
Although the programme runs for an hour, panellists have limited time to get their message across.
But Mr Jackson succeeded, discussing advances in green energy and arguing how they can be a key part of the economic ‘growth’ the Government is desperately seeking.
Asked if the Government’s focus on growth meant less attention on green issues, he said: “I go around the world, and if you look at China, 59 per cent of all the world’s renewable energy built last year was built in China.
“More than half of the cars sold were electric.
“The air qualities in those cities that were famously so bad – Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen - are better than some western cities.
“You see that they are driving their growth as a nation by building more super cheap clean energy.
“So, we don’t need to see this as being a trade-off. In fact, the industries of the future are clean energy.
“I’ll give some examples. Our company alone created over 3,000 jobs in the UK last year. We are employing people from the south coast of England to the north of Scotland.
“And the technologies we are building here, I think, we export now to 30 countries.”
A clear message backed with strong examples. Excellent.
And he took a similar approach when responding to a question about Government efforts to change planning rules with the aim of boosting housebuilding and critical infrastructure projects.
Here, he pulled on his company’s experience before discussing the changes and what needed to happen.
“I think at one point we spoke about 13 years to build a solar farm in Country Durham, so these are untenable lengths of time,” he said.
“I think they (the Government) have come out of the blocks with a series of strong announcements on planning, and we are now at the stage where the proof will be in the pudding – can we actually see stuff being built?
“We’ve now been able to put in some permissions for onshore wind farms where communities want them. And some of them are going very well.
“There are still one or two tied up with the lack of resources in local authorities – not enough planners.
“These problems have multiple layers, and you need to solve every layer to get there.”
Asked more generally about the country’s gloomy economic outlook, he offered a glimmer of hope.
He said: “There are plenty of signs on the ground that the picture can be positive for growth.
“Getting planning sorted is one thing. I would, of course, talk about energy bills and the cost of housing.
“Talking to voters, the cost of living is the number one issue, and among that is energy bills and we’ve got to get these down.”
Some of the questions the energy boss was asked during the show were on far wider issues – a little bit like the ‘While you are here questions’, often asked at the end of media interviews.
But Mr Jackson was switched on and aware of the danger.
The first question he faced was about Andrew Gwynne being sacked as health minister after comments he made in a WhatsApp group were uncovered by the Mail on Sunday.
“I think, in this case, it looks like it was dealt with quickly and surgically,” he said.
“I’ve got to say, I don’t know how anyone thinks like that.
“When I talk to my kids about things, I say, ‘You never hate anyone’, ‘You never wish anyone dead’.
“I think that discovering someone thinks like that is genuinely shocking.”
And at the end of the programme, he was asked about online safety and social media after a segment about four British families suing TikTok for the alleged wrongful deaths of their children.
“What we saw previously with leaks and investigations into social media companies was that they have the data that shows that negative content, dangerous content, is the stuff that gets people to use the media more,” he said.
“Instead of clamping down on it, they capitalised on it.
“So, I think the irresponsible use of the information they have got by social media corners has done great harm to society and families. We need to clamp down on it.”
Hard Hats Off @g__j ! In terms of communicating around climate change the @OctopusEnergy chief lands the global picture, the advances in China especially, the local UK picture too, with real aplomb. 👏https://t.co/lCRcve2kXb
— David Yelland (@davidyelland) February 9, 2025
Overall, it was a strong performance.
Mr Jackson was well prepared, confident and composed. And he did not get frustrated when the presenter interrupted his answers.
He landed his messages on renewable energy and backed them up with examples.
He shared personal anecdotes.
And he avoided saying anything on the wider, potentially tricky, topics that would create a distraction. Or shock the audience.
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