Most people working in communications are trying to do the right thing. They want to steady the situation, reduce harm, and keep trust intact. But "strategic comms" can slide into defensiveness easily, and the response can end up sounding more like protecting credibility than listening.

I would like to stop hearing the exact same phrase dished out to every question a journalist asks from multiple interviewees.

For years, we’ve treated communications as a desk job. Writing statements. Monitoring channels. Managing approvals. Reacting to headlines. Producing content at speed, often at arm’s length from what we’re supposed to be explaining and off the back of SLT requests. It’s efficient because it’s measurable – you always know where they are. Increasingly, it’s a massive problem.

You don’t need to find your story. You already have one. And it is every campaign you’ve run, client you’ve helped, the challenges you’ve solved for customers.