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My three inspirational communicators
Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 6:46 am
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Chris Norton’s tagged me in the “inspirational communicators” meme that’s doing the rounds at the moment. I have to admit that I’ve been quite lax on this, having originally had an email from Andy Wake who started this back in July.
The idea is to “list the three communicators living or dead who have most influenced your way of thinking professionally and perhaps personally too. Who do you think the real innovators are? Who’s been most responsible for kicking the industry forward? And just who are the communication PRunks?”
So my top three are:
Richard Branson - one of those people with a natural and consistent sense of public relations and its value in a business context, as well as someone who hasn’t been afraid to challenge the establishment (before arguably becoming part of it) - a born publicist.
John Lennon - someone who showed the power of words and music combined both with the Beatles and as a solo artist.
Lord Sebastian Coe - a topical one this week, but someone from his time as a world-class athlete, through politics to his current role heading up the organising games for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Having seen and heard him in media interview action on TV and on the radio, as well as face-to-face, he is a consumate interpersonal communicator - a skill I wish I had as much as him.
So that’s my selection. From here I tag James Barbour, Jane Smith and Tom Murphy.
Tags: communicators, don't panic, dont+panic+projects, john lennon, richard branson, sebastan+coe
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Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Good selections — a common theme here is the need to reject the status quo.
Shigeru Miyamoto (Nintendo) would be on my list of inspirational communicators!
Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 6:48 pm
OK, who are the three you admire the least?
Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Laura - thanks for the comment - agree on Lennon and Branson. Not sure sure re Coe - he strikes me as very much someone who knows how to play the status quo pretty well?
Sherrilynne - good question - will have a think over the weekend. It’s all too easy to be critical, so will try to come up with three and some well-considered PR reasons…
Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Perhaps we should broaden the scope and include other nations as well. Nelson Mandela is on my list.
I like your blog, Simon, and will visit more often.
Best regards.
Namibia
Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Ferdinand - thanks for your comment - and with an international perspective Nelson Mandela is a great example of how great communication skills can help effect social and political change.
Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Richard Branson is like the biggest PR stunt ever pulled off! He is a brand!
Thursday, September 11th, 2008 at 10:21 am
[...] Simon Wakeman has tagged me for the ‘Three Inspirational Communicators’ meme. Which, if nothing else, does at least prove that someone reads this blog. In fact, Simon, wasn’t it you who tagged me for ‘Five Things’ at the end of last year? [...]
Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 8:59 am
[...] in August, Simon Wakeman tagged me for a meme on my top three inspirational communicators. Due to the vagaries of the new Wordpress [...]