My guest today is a man of many careers, but in all, and most importantly – he is a communicator.

All of the professions Alastair Greener has worked in have focused on being able to talk to people: - hospitality, sales, acting, presenting and performing, and teaching other people how to present well.

I’ve known Alastair for some years, and as you’ll hear in our conversation, we have collaborated on a few occasions, and we plan to work together even more later in 2024.

He talks to about the importance of being your authentic self and how particularly important that is as a speaker – hence the title of today’s podcast – a quote by Oscar Wilde.

He shares some excellent tips on what makes a good speaker; the importance of planning, and how to deal with the unexpected when speaking, including hecklers in the audience.

Lastly, he talks about a fascinating and valuable project he has begun, complete with valuable data about generational communications, particularly in the workplace. This comes from his passion for communicating effectively with different audiences – we have to understand each other.

To contact Alastair:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alastairgreener/

Website: https://www.presentyourself.co.uk/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alastairgreener

If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

Today’s guest is a fellow journalist, Sue Kinnear who is the voice of afternoon bulletins for BBC Wiltshire and Gloucestershire and also an experienced radio producer and presenter.

In her current role, she has to produce three minutes of news for her bulletins. This means she has to find, write and present bulletins every hour, between 2pm and 6pm – and it has to fit three minutes precisely.

Sue has years of experience in both radio and TV, and like me, she loves telling stories.

Most of us have no idea how incredibly hectic it can be gathering the information together for each day from the morning journalist, ready for the afternoon radio shows, plus being aware of breaking news. And remember this isn’t for just one station, but two! You’ll be fascinated to hear how down to the last minute this can be.

Also like me, Sue loves being engaged with local news. She has sole responsibility to make decisions about which stories go out in her bulletins. It is her job to keep everyone in touch with what’s happening nationally, but also for the local area – because listeners’ communities are important to them. She in turn loves the relationship that she can build with local listeners.

We talk about the importance of including where you are based when you send a story to a journalist. If someone sends a story to Sue and it doesn’t say Gloucestershire or Wiltshire at the top, it will get deleted because she has so many emails and having to work to such a tight schedule, she can’t waste time with stories which are irrelevant to the areas she covers.

Also, Sue underlines the importance of building a relationship with journalists – she recognises the names of people who have helped her with good stories previously, and so is more likely to use them again.

To contact Sue:

Email: Sue.kinnear@bbc.co.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SueKinnear

If you would like to contact me, you can visit my www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe

In today’s episode Fiona speaks to Mike Rees, who is standing as an independent candidate in the upcoming election of a new Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner.

Mike stood as a candidate back in 2021 and came second to the person who secured that post representing the Conservative Party. With no political party support or apparatus, backed by volunteers and a small budget from supporters, Mike spent his own money and time to stand up for what he believed in.

In this podcast Mike shares why he’s going for the role again – a role he actually believes should not exist. Given that it does, he feels that the person who oversees the county’s police force should not be influenced by party politics.

He was inspired by the recent success of another independent candidate David Tully who stood as an MP for Rochdale. With no experience in campaigning and no political agenda, David came second. His campaign was all around caring for his community and the issues of importance in Rochdale. He lost to George Galloway.

Mike talks about his first campaign and also how much he learned and this time he’s ready for the fight at hand. With the support of his family, he’s ready to hand over his business to a manager and devote his time totally to the role.

For Mike, there are many issues to tackle within Wiltshire Police:

• a demoralized and frightened grass roots police force.
• too much spin among the police leadership and poor leadership.
• a lack of transparency over monies and how they are being spent.
• a lack of detail over performance when it comes to solving crimes.
• a lack of public access to the police.

As PCC, Mike says he would be honest about any challenges. He believes there has been a lack of investment in the police nationally, including Wiltshire and that needs to be addressed. Anyone who wants to keep in touch with Mike and his campaign can do so via his Facebook page here - https://www.facebook.com/MikeReesPCC

If you want to find out more about Fiona & Scott Media why not join her group on Facebook – Fiona Scott’s PR Tribe – here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe