What I think

The return to work

This April, I am returning to work for the second time in my career. The ...
Read More

Getting the balance right

We are living in interesting times. Like everyone else, I feel as though I’m living ...
Read More

Top writing tips for internal communications

Last week I ran a writing workshop on behalf of the Institute of Internal Communication ...
Read More

Why you should volunteer for a professional body

Last night at the CIPR Inside AGM it was announced that I will be stepping ...
Read More

The reality gap

In Birmingham earlier this month, CIPR Inside started to change the conversation in internal communication ...
Read More

The Power of Language

"Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both ...
Read More

How to embed your values

Companies all around the world have values. Many of them will include words like ‘Trust’, ...
Read More

Why employee voice matters

If you watched the recent TV show Chernobyl, you will have undoubtedly been fascinated by ...
Read More

How to help your leaders tell compelling stories

How many internal communicators have a leader who’s a seemingly effortless storyteller drawing comparisons to someone ...
Read More

Great expectations

Internal comms is all about relationships. Sadly, they can quickly sour when work doesn’t meet ...
Read More

Why writing will still matter in 2039

“If you want to be a writer, you’re living in the past.” This was one ...
Read More

Creating a brand identity

It’s been three years since I set up Helen Deverell Communications. It feels like a ...
Read More

Transforming line managers into ethical communicators

It’s a dreary Tuesday morning in February when an email pings into every employees’ inbox ...
Read More

Making the uninteresting interesting

Trying to engage people with a notoriously dry but incredibly important topic? Look no further… ...
Read More

How to be an ethical internal communicator

Have you ever run an engagement survey only to be told by leaders to not ...
Read More

How to run an internal communication survey

Surveys are a great way to gain feedback from your employees, especially when they form ...
Read More

How to audit your internal communications for future success

I’m frequently asked to run internal communication audits for clients and it’s one of my ...
Read More

Highlights from PR Week’s Strategic Internal Communication conference

On 6 and 7 November, internal communicators gathered for the annual PR Week Strategic Internal ...
Read More

Discussing the language of cancer on ITV’s Lorraine

This month I was asked to appear in a segment on the ITV morning show ...
Read More

Becoming an IoIC Fellow

I was thrilled to recently find out that I’m now a Fellow of the Institute ...
Read More

Email is not the enemy

Once upon a time email was the answer to all our problems. But in recent ...
Read More

7 top tips for credible communication

Often the perception of internal communication is far from where we want it to be ...
Read More

The privilege of running a focus group

Why focus groups are a great reminder of the privileged role we play inside organisations ...
Read More

Top tips for solo internal communicators

It can feel pretty lonely when you’re an IC team of one, being pulled in ...
Read More

What’s involved in becoming #CIPRQualified?

On Thursday I was thrilled to find out I had passed my CIPR Specialist Diploma ...
Read More

Why internal communicators need a strategy…

On 12 June I took part in a panel discussion at AB Thinks Live, a ...
Read More

Top takeaways from The Big Yak

“There’s a 1000 years of experience in this room.” Benjamin Ellis set the tone for ...
Read More

Follow the leader

It takes one person to have an idea, a second person to validate it and ...
Read More

Eight top tips to network with confidence

Conferences and networking events are an opportunity to learn, share ideas and network. But for some ...
Read More

IoIC Live 18: Transforming reputation from the inside out

It’s a few days on from IoIC Live 18 and my brain is still buzzing ...
Read More

Measuring beyond the IC function

Measurement that demonstrates the value we add as internal communicators is essential if we're to ...
Read More

7 simple ways to make your internal communications more inclusive

As more and more organisations try to attract diverse talent, is it time we took ...
Read More

Be less Rick, Be more Madonna

Like 80s pop star Rick Astley, internal comms campaigns can often be one hit wonders ...
Read More

Storytelling 101 webinar

I recently had the exciting opportunity to take part in a Chuck Chats webinar, hosted ...
Read More

Finding the simplicity in complexity

What IC pros can learn from comedian extraordinaire, John Oliver, about making the complex simple ...
Read More

What a chicken crisis can teach us about language

Chickens and communication don’t usually have a lot in common. But in recent weeks the ...
Read More

Storytelling with Chuck Chats

This week I had the honour of chatting to the excellent Chuck Gose as part ...
Read More

Finding stories in the ordinary

A story about how internal communication brought me a little closer to a grandad I ...
Read More

Leap in to agency life

Considering making the leap from in-house to agency? Unsure about what to expect? In this ...
Read More

Are you ready for GDPR?

GDPR is coming and internal communicators need to be prepared. Coming into effect on 25 ...
Read More

Keep calm, it’s only Christmas!

The ability for people to differentiate between urgent and important is difficult at the best ...
Read More

Everybody’s talking about reputation. Are you?

From Taylor Swift to Uber, gender pay gap to GDPR, reputation keeps hitting the headlines ...
Read More

Six highlights from #SmileLondon

On Monday I attended #SmileLondon hosted by Simply Communicate. As always it was an event ...
Read More

Inspiring ideas to boost your professional development

We all know professional development is important, but when you barely have time to make ...
Read More

What do CEOs really think about internal communication?

This is what the CIPR Inside committee wanted to find out through their first ever ...
Read More

Ready, set, change!

Soggy bottoms, erect biscuit structures and a rather inappropriately shaped snail. It can only mean ...
Read More

Get a 1/3 off Smile London

This November communicators will be gathering to learn about and discuss the Future Digital Workplace ...
Read More

Who’s afraid of the big, bad boss?

The perks of being an internal communicator are well-documented, but even the best jobs have ...
Read More

Making it count: CIPR Inside research

At the Making it Count conference in November, the CIPR Inside committee will be revealing ...
Read More

Black Box Thinking – book review

In this week’s #ICBookClub, we discussed Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed, a book about ...
Read More

Why so serious?

Have you heard the one about the security guy, the IT pro and the safety ...
Read More

Getting down to business

As more and more business leaders are sitting up and taking notice of internal comms, ...
Read More

Being busy is a choice – book review

Last night I took part in CIPR Inside’s #ICBookClub on Twitter, expertly run by Annique ...
Read More

Measuring the value we add

Having spent last weekend judging a few categories in the IoIC awards, the topic of ...
Read More

Lost in translation

At some point in our career, we’ve all received a brief that’s vague at best ...
Read More

Reaching the unreachable

Being married to an engineer has its advantages and disadvantages. There are times when walking ...
Read More

Our key takeaways from Smile Expo 17

Chat bots, social amplification, and ESNs were just some of the key themes to come ...
Read More

How to avoid magpie syndrome

Magpie syndrome: an irrational affinity for shiny objects. Or in the case of IC pros, ...
Read More

Freelance life – one year on

It’s been a whole year since I set up Helen Deverell Communications and I’ve spent ...
Read More

What IC pros don’t do

Communicators are well-versed in answering the age-old question, “what is it you actually do?”. But ...
Read More

Lessons I learnt from my Writing Masterclass

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of delivering my first Writing Masterclass in London to ...
Read More

A lesson in PR from Melissa McCarthy

Fictional political press secretaries have long been immortalised on our TV screens. We’ve aspired to ...
Read More

Dusting off the DeLorean – how IC pros can become time travellers

Ever wished you could time travel? Chances are if you work in internal communications, you ...
Read More

The power of storytelling

I love stories. As a little girl I would lose myself in books. One minute ...
Read More

A lesson in marketing – what IC pros can learn from their glamorous communication cousins

There’s a great quote that goes “Don’t envy what people have, emulate what they did ...
Read More

Does your brand colour tell a story?

‘Greenery’ has been officially announced as the Pantone Color of the Year 2017. I have ...
Read More

Employer Brand Management Conference 2016

I’m thrilled to be a media partner of Transform Magazine’s Employer Brand Management conference. It’s ...
Read More

Coaching 101: a guide for communicators

Being a communicator can be pretty awesome. We get to wear many hats whether it’s ...
Read More

Turning lemons into lemonade – how I experienced the power of storytelling first hand

Humans have been storytelling for thousands of years, however it was often confined to the ...
Read More

Communicating communication – are we our own worst enemies?

Have you ever had your hair cut beautifully by someone who has theirs scraped back ...
Read More

The communication conundrum

An internal communicator, HR manager, and an L&D manager all walk into a CEO’s office ...
Read More

How important are awards?

I was thrilled to be asked to judge one of the categories in the IoIC awards ...
Read More

Wake up to employee branding

Internal communicators have been rolling their eyes for a while now, as our organisations slowly ...
Read More

Closing the gap

As a member of the CIPR Inside committee, I’ve been involved in planning the next ...
Read More

Creative failure

Imagine if Mozart had been so afraid of people’s reactions to his music, that he ...
Read More

Delivering a top notch community service

Community is making a comeback. While we still may not know our neighbours, many of ...
Read More

Going for gold – what internal communicators can learn from Olympians

While you could argue the likes of Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah aren’t ...
Read More

How to write riveting copy

Ahead of my writing masterclass in November and my guest spot on #commschat this Monday ...
Read More

Writing in a world of wonky comms

In a world of wonky comms, do internal communicators still need writing skills? Absolutely. I ...
Read More

Shhh…I’m having an idea – introverts and creativity

"We need a creative idea and we need it now.” The phrase guaranteed to send ...
Read More

A lesson in future proofing

How often do we as internal communicators take the time to look ahead and consider ...
Read More

Talkin’ bout a reinvention

When we were planning #ioiclive16, we knew we wanted to be bold, to challenge thinking ...
Read More

My first week as a freelancer

With my first full week as a freelancer firmly under my belt and a glass of wine ...
Read More

A royal lesson in leadership

Gun salutes, beacon lighting and a cake baked by the winner of the Great British ...
Read More

With a little help from my friends…

A while ago a friend asked me how many followers I had on Twitter. When ...
Read More

Lost in translation – the language of cancer

As an internal communicator, I’m used to being invited to take deep dives off burning ...
Read More

Why do I blog?

Every couple of months I have the same conversation with my colleague Paul Thomas. I ...
Read More

Fancy winning a day’s consultancy with All Things IC?

Let’s face it, who wouldn’t? Rachel Miller has very kindly donated a day’s consultancy and ...
Read More

The return to work

At the beginning of June I returned to work following a six-month absence to receive ...
Read More

Shaking the world gently

I wanted to share with fellow introverts an exciting new development from Susan Cain, author ...
Read More

Creating a community – my interview with YBCN founder Victoria Yates

Since my recent breast cancer diagnosis, I’ve been a member of the Younger Breast Cancer ...
Read More

Controlling the message: how I told the world I had cancer

In this age of social media, there is a running joke that it didn’t really ...
Read More

In the shadows

Having reached the one year milestone in my first in-house role, I’ve found myself reflecting ...
Read More

The Big Yak: a snapshot

There's not many conferences where people happily give up their Saturday to attend and the excitement ...
Read More

The power of Jam – live blogging at our partner conference

As a child I dreamed of being in the centre of the hustle and bustle ...
Read More

Is video on your Agenda?

It’s not often you get to while away the afternoon in a TV studio all ...
Read More

The introverted revolution in internal comms

Having faced accusations of being too quiet or shy for most of my life, I ...
Read More

Future proofing – the IoIC annual conference 2013

In keeping with the theme of ‘the future’, I predicted on Twitter that the IoIC ...
Read More

Be brave

Awards ceremonies used to be glamorous Hollywood affairs where actors and actresses were congratulated and ...
Read More