Who were this year’s best media interview performers?
Did you know that almost two-thirds of PR professionals are women?
Are you also aware that women hold less than half of top management roles in PR?
How about only 24 per cent of news sources (people seen, heard or read about in the media) are women?
These are some of the issues we tackled during a special Media Team Academy masterclass to mark International Women’s Day.
Elisa Colton, one of our brilliant media training coaches, and Andrea Booth, our senior account manager, were joined by an expert panel.
Communications specialist Louise Chandler, the managing director of Soundbite Media, and Claire Bloor, the former chief executive of Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support who now heads Emerging Futures - a charity that helps people with complex needs achieve independence – joined us in our studios in Winnersh.
And they were joined remotely by Georgia Pickering, managing director at CMS Strategic - a specialist communications consultancy for the defence, aerospace, and security sectors.
Role models – mum’s the word
They began by discussing their role models – and there was a recurring theme.
Louise said: “My role model is my mum. She came to this country on her 17th birthday, having boarded a flight from Barbados, in the Caribbean, to be here. And she came with £5 in her pocket.
“She has always worked incredibly hard and had a passion for life.
“When I was eight or nine, she went back to college and got her qualifications. She has done more than 25 years of voluntary work. She is the first black chaplain at Reading Borough Council.
“She is a 4ft11 powerhouse of fun.”
Georgia added: “It is also my mum – I can’t even think of a second place. She is a trailblazer, becoming the UK’s first female political editor of a national newspaper at a different time.
“She is still working today, age 78, commenting on the radio and newspapers about politics.
“She is a huge source of advice for me. This week, she was looking at copy I had written for a newspaper.”
The mum theme continued with Claire, who added: “My mum was one of the first women in Ireland to become head of the public service, and she did that at a time when there was no childcare.
“She is now the chair of a bank in Ireland, she was on the board of Ryanair, and she is an incredible communicator.
“In her last role at the Department of Transport, she was chairing meetings of thousands of men. She held her own, was true to who she is and didn’t try to adapt to be less likeable.”
Career journeys, highlights and overcoming barriers
So, how did our expert panel get to the positions they are in today and what barriers did they overcome to get there?
Georgia missed her graduation because she was already working at CMS Strategic – a company she now runs.
“I took over the business in 2015, which was a big milestone,” she said.
“My predecessor asked me and I said ‘yes’.
“And that is generally my principle – if you are asked to do something that sounds challenging and interesting, regardless of whether you know what you are doing, try to say ‘yes’.
“I was elected as a Labour councillor in 2023, and that has been another learning curve. From being behind the scenes advising clients, I am now learning how to communicate in the council chamber, chair public meetings and talk to residents.”
Louise’s career began as a journalist at the BBC.
“My route into career was to go through the academic route and do a lot of work experience before getting the paid gigs,” she said.
“And my first job was the one I always wanted – to work for the BBC.
“I never had ambitions to be on air. I wanted to make documentaries and be behind the scenes.
“But what I found walking into a newsroom was that there was no one else who looked like me. There were no other black people or black females.
“So, you start to think ‘I’m quite different here’, which has its challenges but also has its perks.
“There were stories I could tell from a different perspective than other people in the newsroom.
“There were biases. And how I dealt with them was by being honest about what I was dealing with and working out how to navigate it.”
What about Claire?
“When I was at the really influential stage, my mum was working in the Department of Social Welfare,” she said.
“I often joke with her that it could have been finance or anything that meant I would be a multi-millionaire.
“But it was social welfare. And social justice was a massive focus of what we spoke about at home.
“I was always passionate about frontline work and nosey and chatty. So, it was one of those roles where I could be myself.
“As I came through roles and started leading teams, I kept leaning into the bits of myself that I thought were good for leading.
“I worked at Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support for six years, and by the time I finished, I was so knowledgeable about the sector and speak with confidence about the survivors of sexual violence.
“I didn’t have imposter syndrome anymore.
“But now I am right back at the beginning again, which is an interesting change. You are talking about issues people don’t want to talk about. And I am having to learn to talk about a new sector without falling back on jargon.”
Georgia says a key challenge she faces is believing in herself.
“I often find myself in a position where I think ‘Oh gosh, I’m with a bunch of retired military generals talking about defence strategy, what have I got to offer in this meeting?’, she said.
“Research, practise, cribs sheets and getting on with it are key to overcoming that.
“You are there to offer your experience and perspective. And you can add something because they are coming from a different perspective.”
Louise believes there is too much focus on what could go wrong, which can lead to opportunities like media interviews being turned down.
“I’m going to throw a phrase out there ‘What if it goes right?’,” she said.
“We are so hard on ourselves about getting things wrong.
“But we are not robots. We might say a word or two wrong. It is not the end of the world.
“Nerves are a thing. But think about how good it will feel once you have done it and got your point across.
“It is the ‘what if I get it wrong?’ that stops you from doing it. And someone who is less knowledgeable steps in and does it.
“We can get it right even if it takes a bit of practice and preparation.”
Claire is a regular media spokesperson, having had media training with Media First.
“The Media First training was amazing because it takes all of the things you think you know and gives you a framework for being able to use it practically,” she said.
“Some of the women from my team who did the training were so nervous at the start. One of them felt so sick beforehand I thought she was not going to come through the door.
“But she has grown in confidence since the training and is doing interviews.
“It’s important to remember people want you to do well. They are not sitting there thinking, ‘I hope they screw this up’.
“Put yourself out there. It will go right lots of times. It will go wrong sometimes. But you have to keep giving it a go.”
That’s a view shared by Elisa who spoke about an interviewee from her time at Al Jazeera.
“We had some amazing guests, and I was striving to ensure there was a gender balance," she said.
“I tracked down a woman who had written a book about the subject we were covering and asked her for an interview.
“She said she thought she did not know enough about it to go on air.
“I told her I respected that but would have to go to the next person, a man we have spoken to before, even though it is not his area.
“I told her a man would do it even if he knew 50 per cent of the subject.
“A couple of months later, one of my colleagues called her about the same subject. She said that advice had stuck with her and that she would say ‘yes’ and would give it a go.”
The value of mentors (even informal ones)
What about mentors and coaches?
What role can they play in helping women in helping women fulfil their potential?
“When I worked for the BBC for almost 10 years, I had a mentor,” Louise said.
“I had another when I made the transition into PR and comms. And I had one when I started to run my business.
“As much as mentoring is brilliant and helps you support your potential, you have to be open to honest feedback.
“My mentor at the BBC said some things to me that were hard to hear.
“You can deal with that one of two ways. You can take it and internalise it and make yourself smaller.
“Or you can take a deep breath and say, ‘If I’m going to get better, I’m going to take this on board’.
“I’ve had brilliant ongoing relationships with all three mentors because I respected their time and respected it was not always going to be the easy answers.”
Claire said: “Sometimes people can be a mentor without realising it. There are people I have looked up to in comms and watched what they have done.
“They are an informal mentor because they have no idea. But it can be helpful if you don’t have access to mentors.
“Think about the women you look up to, what draws you to them and what you can learn from them.”
Louise believes it is vital women know it is ok to ask for help.
“We think we are super woman and can juggle 20 plates.
“But actually, it’s ok to say, ‘I don’t know how to do this, I’m going to ask for some help.”
Georgia says that although she runs her business, she regularly asks her team for help.
She said: “I tell my team that they are all critical to our small business, that they all bring different experiences and perspectives, and that I need to learn from them as much as they need to learn from me.
“I was writing an op-ed last night and threw it out to my team to say ‘what does everyone know about NATO banks?’.
“I’m not the expert on everything. And I value and rely on the expertise of the people I employ.”
What advice would you give to your younger self?
What essential advice would our experts give to their younger selves or other women starting their comms careers?
“The thing I would tell my younger self and myself now is to trust your instincts,” Georgia said.
“When I mess up and something doesn’t go to plan – and I have to spend time unpicking it all – it is because I haven’t trusted my instincts.
“Trust your instincts and fact-check them with a trusted ally or colleague.”
Louise believes investing in training and personal development is crucial.
“Invest in yourself,” she said.
“We are all juggling 20 different things in one go. But invest in yourself with training where you feel you have a skills gap.
“This could be presentation skills, time management – whatever you think.
“Even if it is just an hour a month, that investment will reap rewards and give you that injection of confidence and self-esteem.
“You network and meet other people and learn new things about yourself.
“The other one I would add is enjoy it. When I was managing short-term contracts in the media, I was so busy.
“I would work on fantastic stories. But I was constantly on the conveyor belt and didn’t have the time to enjoy it. Give yourself the credit and see the benefits.”
For Claire, support is crucial.
“One of my big bits of advice is to surround yourself with people who support you,” she said.
“People who will give you honest feedback and who are positive.
“And I think the other thing is that it is ok if people underestimate you.”
What are the key takeaways for other women in comms?
It’s not easy to pull all of this great conversation into some crucial takeaways.
But our panel had a go.
“Have a journey for what you want and believe in, and know that journey will have some bumps in the road,” Louise said.
“And seek the support and skills you need to get there.”
Georgia added: “Say ‘Yes’ to everything you get asked.” And Claire said: “You’ve got this.”
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