We’ve already brought you our guide through the worst interviews of the year.
But what about those that went well? And the people who have proved to be excellent communicators over the past 12 months?
Well, quite a few caught our eye for the right reasons – and not all of them solely because of their media interviews.
We’ve got our ‘good list’ down to five people.
So, here are the communicators who stood out for us this year.
Jonathan Van-Tam
JVT made our list last year, and we make no apologies for including him again in 2021.
The deputy chief medical officer is a skilled communicator.
He’s been a reassuring presence during another year of turmoil. And he has a brilliant ability to explain the complex and put it in terms everyone can understand.
This often involves one of his colourful metaphors.
In November, for example, he compared the emergence of the Omicron variant to a football team where two players had received a yellow card and the rest of the team needed to “up their game” - by getting the booster jab - to avoid going down to 10 players.
“Omicron is like now picking up a couple of yellow cards to key players on top,” he said.
“We may be OK. But we’re kind of starting to feel at risk that we might go down to 10 players and if that happens – or it’s a risk that’s going to happen – then we need everyone on the pitch to up their game in the meantime.
“We’re not going to wait for the red card to happen, we are going to act decisively now. And we’re asking everyone to up their game. We’re asking everyone to play their part in the urgency now of the booster programme, coming forward the moment you are called by the NHS.”
"Omicron is like picking up a couple of yellow cards to key players... we may be OK... but we may go down to 10 players"
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) November 29, 2021
Prof Jonathan Van-Tam says "we need everyone on the pitch to up their game" in terms of booster jabshttps://t.co/CWVYfYUX6I pic.twitter.com/oWPKUw3b03
We tell delegates on our media training courses that metaphors, examples, anecdotes and stories are crucial for bringing interviews and messages to life and showing the human side of spokespeople. It makes them relatable.
And Mr Van-Tam has brought us many metaphors over the year.
Another one that stood out for us was one he used in September to explain why it made sense to give booster jabs early rather than wait for more evidence on post-vaccination immunity.
“I don’t know if many of you are used to crawling into small tents on mountainsides,” he told a Number 10 briefing.
“But if you know a storm’s coming up in the night, it’s better to put some extra guy ropes on there and then, than it is to wait until it’s the middle of the night, it’s howling with wind and rain, and you’ve then got to get out your tent and make your tent secure and by the time you crawl back in you’re soaking wet.”
Deputy chief medical officer Jonathan van Tam doesn’t disappoint on the metaphor front when explaining the point of boosters. ⛰⛺️⛰⛺️⛰⛺️⛰⛺️ pic.twitter.com/GBsRvPuNL0
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) September 14, 2021
Mr Van-Tam’s media skills have turned him into a household name and helped build a reputation of being the government’s most effective communicator.
Gareth Southgate
The England manager has enjoyed a successful year on the pitch, securing the national team’s place in a major final for the first time in 55 years.
And off it, he continues to be seen as one of sport’s best spokespeople.
We’ve long been fans of how the Three Lions boss manages the media side of his job. He has banished the days of journalists being viewed as the enemy to the history books.
In its place are measured, calm interviews – whatever the result. He approaches media opportunities with something to say, displays leadership, and adds dashes of humour and human warmth. And he’s willing to share vulnerabilities, personal stories and address issues that go beyond football.
“It’s lovely that certain generations of fans are seeing England for the 1st time...bless them, they think it’s always like this!”
— Dan Roan (@danroan) July 6, 2021
Interview with Gareth Southgate at St George’s Park as he tells me about impact his side is having on the nation in Euros https://t.co/mSBFmK19GZ pic.twitter.com/eUiRd6lPVy
Whatever happens over the next month or so on the pitch, his tactics, his selections, his football management.... I hope we never lose sight of what a brilliant spokesperson Gareth Southgate is, and has been, in his role as England manager. https://t.co/7ITSEXu6l8
— Oli Bell (@olibellracing) June 5, 2021
Just this week, he has spoken about the importance of vaccines.
"The only way through it is to fight the virus collectively - for health reasons; for the economy; for everything,” he said.
“We all have that responsibility to think of other people as well as ourselves at times like this.
"I don't see another way out of the situation we're in. I understand people had concerns about the testing and what it might lead to. But I think we've got huge medical experience, and if you're listening to the right experts, that should give people comfort in that situation."
But it was writing skills and his Dear England letter that stood out for us this year.
Dear England by Gareth Southgate | The Players' Tribune. Just posting this again as a reminder of what a remarkable man is managing England https://t.co/lNwyPZieoL
— Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) July 3, 2021
The letter was written to defend his team’s decision to continue to ‘take the knee’. And the combination of his memories of his grandfather and watching England as a child, together with a willingness to tackle greater issues, saw it go viral.
He wrote: “I have never believed that we should just stick to football.
“I know my voice carries weight, not because of who I am but because of the position that I hold. At home, I’m below the kids and the dogs in the pecking order but publicly I am the England men’s football team manager. I have a responsibility to the wider community to use my voice, and so do the players.
“It’s their duty to continue to interact with the public on matters such as equality, inclusivity and racial injustice, while using the power of their voices to help put debates on the table, raise awareness and educate.
“I have never believed that we should just stick to football.”
Writing skills any leader would be proud of.
This week Julia Belle looks at why Pret is in hot water; how trying to raise awareness of sustainability backfired for one brand; and those government parties. And she is joined by Keme Nzerem - a Channel 4 and ITV journalist - to look at the stories that could be coming up.
Richard Moore
MI6 bosses tend to avoid the spotlight.
In fact, Richard Moore’s appearance on the Today Programme was his first live broadcast interview – not that you would have known it from his accomplished performance.
Mr Moore - known as C - combined serious messages with humour and anecdotes that showed his human side – something we stress the importance of during our media training.
In an interview lasting the best part of 20 minutes – far longer than most broadcast interviews – we learnt that Mr Moore “did some skulking” earlier in his career, that his pen omits nothing more sinister than green ink (a tradition started by the first C a century ago), and that he doesn’t have any nifty gadgets in his car.
“And I can assure you it is not, sadly, an Aston Martin," he told presenter Nick Robinson.
There was even a bit of a history lesson, with Mr Moore revealing that ‘C’ does not stand for chief, as is commonly believed. Instead, it stands for Cummings, after Mansfield Cummings, the first head of M16.
The former secret agent took the James Bond comparisons in good heart.
"It is fiction, it is not reality. But the Bond franchise is a wonderful one,” he said.
“I had such fun watching the most recent film - no spoilers here. But it is brilliant. It doffs a cap to all the great James Bond traditions.
“We embrace James Bond, even though we know it is not true life.”
absolutely cracking interview Richard Moore - loved your wisdom, intelligence, humanity, plain-speaking and fabulous humour - keep keeping the UK safe sir!
— caroline black (@caroblack) November 30, 2021
This interview with Richard Moore, the Head of MI6, is absolutely fascinating. Can’t wait to hear what else he has to say later in the day - there’s a thin line between friend or foe with some key world players is my takeaway from this. “My enemy’s enemy is my…” etc #r4today
— Sara Thornton (@SaraThornton1) November 30, 2021
But it wasn’t all light-hearted stuff. Mr Moore had vital messages to get across. He spoke about the threats posed by Russia and China, which he said has the capability to “harvest data from around the world.” And the importance of working with tech companies.
Mr Moore also expertly handled a tricky opening question – “Why are you here” is the sort of question that get spokespeople off to a rocky start. And he carefully corrected Mr Robinson when he confused agents and officers. There is sometimes a risk spokespeople can appear condescending when they correct a journalist, but Mr Moore handled the situation skilfully.
There was also a sense of openness about past failures, particularly when admitting the assessment of the Taliban's progress in Afghanistan this summer was "clearly wrong".
Perhaps though, we should not have been surprised by Mr Moore’s performance.
He is active on Twitter and appears to feel a public face is now part of the role.
Here’s hoping Mr R Moore has a licence to give many more media interviews.
Anna Blackburn
It has been a year of relentless speculation.
We’ve constantly wondered about the implications of the latest restrictions, what might happen when they are lifted, and the threats of new variants.
Even now, there is constant speculation about what we may or may not be able to do over the Christmas period.
And this has presented spokespeople with some tricky questions, with “what would happen if…?” regularly asked in interviews.
Regular readers of these blogs – and those of you who have been on our media training courses - will know speculative questions can be particularly challenging for media spokespeople.
Anna Blackburn, the CEO of Beaverbrooks, produced a brilliant example of how these questions should be handled.
She appeared on BBC Breakfast in July to discuss the implications for retail of covid restrictions being removed.
And in just the second question, presenter Charlie Stayt posed a hypothetical scenario. He wanted to know what the store’s staff would do when a customer opted not to wear a mask.
He said: “Let me present you with a scenario on Monday that is a customer turns up who may well have been in touch in advance, and you know wants to spend some money.
“And they get to the store and say ‘I don’t need to wear a make anymore, and I’m trying on jewellery, so I don’t have to wear one’ – what happens next?”
Here’s how Ms Blackburn responded.
“Well, our preference will be for customers to wear masks. The feedback we are getting generally is that customers want these measures to still be in place.
“I think that what we would do in that situation is that we would still serve that customer. We will have notices up asking them to wear masks, and we will have masks available if they want them. But because we have the Perspex screen and because our teams will still be wearing face masks, that double layer of protection will still be there for our customers.
“We are not going to enforce something - we don’t want to get into that situation with customers. But we will absolutely be requesting that customers wear them.”
"Our teams will continue to wear face coverings"
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) July 16, 2021
Beaverbrooks boss Anna Blackburn tells #BBCBreakfast 'very little will change' in her jewellery stores from Monday.
In England customers will no longer need to wear masks or socially distance in shops.https://t.co/iOsIKgSfSS pic.twitter.com/OJGvae8UIP
Ms Blackburn answered the question and used her response to repeat her message about the safety measures in her stores.
And while she is clearly in favour of masks, she stopped short of insisting they must be worn.
Had she said they would refuse to serve customers without masks, the story would have had more of that trouble element we discuss during our media training courses. It probably would have generated extensive media coverage and seen the company name trend on social media.
It felt like a carefully prepared response to a question that had been anticipated. And it showed other media spokespeople how to handle this type of question.
Kate Bingham
There are no politicians on our good list.
But there was another government communicator who caught our attention this year alongside Jonathan Van Tam.
Cast your mind back to January, and you may remember an excellent interview Kate Bingham gave on the Today programme.
The former chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce appeared on Radio 4 after it was announced a fourth covid vaccine – Novavax - could be approved in the UK in a matter of weeks.
The interview began with presenter Nick Robinson asking if she had a “smile on her face” following the news about the Novavax vaccine.
Now, you could rightly argue that is a pretty gentle opening question.
But as we have shown in our media training blogs before, innocuous-looking questions often cause spokespeople the most trouble.
But not Ms Bingham. She had seemingly prepared for a question like this and took the opportunity to add in a personal anecdote, which instantly brought a human element to the interview.
“I have a massive smile on my face, and when I heard the news last night, I’m afraid I broke the dry January rule and celebrated with a glass of wine,” she said.
"I have a massive smile on my face, when I heard the news I broke Dry January."
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) January 29, 2021
Kate Bingham, who headed the UK Vaccine Task Force, tells @bbcnickrobinson the new vaccine is a massive help although it won't be rolling out tomorrow. #R4Today https://t.co/OaDZnHXYMB pic.twitter.com/cfMdnNy4Qs
Suddenly, this spokesperson who held the job of shaping the country’s vaccination efforts is someone we can relate to and warm to.
It is worth highlighting, it was this part of the interview the programme’s social media team decided to use in its tweets. And it was a line that was picked up by other journalists.
From that strong opening, Ms Bingham spoke informatively and with clarity about the benefits of the Novavax vaccine.
“I think the fact we have seen efficacy against both the Kent variant and the South African variant is really important,” she said.
“And it is also likely to be effective against severe disease. So, I think it is a massively helpful set of results that is going to help save lives.”
As the interview went on, Mr Robinson tried to get the businesswoman to comment on the vaccine row that has been building between the EU and AstraZeneca – a subject containing the ‘trouble’ element we’ve already talked about.
Asked whether the UK’s contract ensured it got the jabs before anyone else, Ms Bingham said: “I’m not going to get into the details of the contract.
“But one of the things the CEO of AZ did not mention was the fact we started scaling up the manufacturing for the Oxford vaccine from February. So, yes, we agreed terms with them in May, but actually, the work to scale up the manufacturing had started months before. And it is that early work that was done by the industry voluntarily – not based on contracts or requirements – that has made the difference on why we are so far ahead on manufacturing.”
Mr Robinson continued to try to draw her into this subject, asking several more questions. Each one was dealt with confidently - and without displaying any sense of annoyance.
“That’s beyond my paygrade - that is a political discussion,” she said in response to a question asking how she would feel if she found out doses of the vaccine would be leaving the UK for the EU.
“I know we have basically got the supply in place. We have got a fabulous team that is making these vaccines, and how the politicians solve this is for them, not me.”
Kate Bingham very impressive on #r4today and quite rightly refuses to be drawn on political issues, despite Nick Robinson’s efforts.
— Paul Emanuelli (@UnpubWrites) January 29, 2021
Heard Kate Bingham on #r4today: clear-eyed, straight-talking, practical, effective. She kept saying she’s not a politician but perhaps she could give our leaders a masterclass in how to get stuff done well? #CovidUK #CovidVaccine
— Anjana Ahuja (@anjahuja) January 29, 2021
Another part of the interview I liked, which came right at the end, saw Ms Bingham move the story forward by talking about how vaccines could be made more efficient in the future.
She said: “We need to improve the vaccine formats because, frankly, two injections delivered by healthcare professionals is not a good way of delivering vaccines.
"We need to get vaccine formats which are much more scalable and distributable. So, whether they are pills or patches or nose sprays, we need to find better ways of developing and delivering vaccines, and we'll do that in collaboration, just as we've been doing that over the last few months."
This was something newspapers seized upon - ensuring the interview reached a wider audience.
Media interviews tend to be easier when you’re riding the crest of a wave. And, perhaps, we should expect Ms Bingham to perform well considering she has previously made headlines for reportedly paying a PR firm £670,000 to advise her.
But this interview was still filled with potential pitfalls which needed to be negotiated carefully and skilfully.
It would have been easy to get drawn into the controversy surrounding the EU, to appear self-congratulatory given her success, or explain the vaccine strategy in a way listeners would struggle to understand. And that opening question could have made her appear robotic and distant.
Instead, she delivered a performance as impressive as the country’s vaccine rollout at the time.
As Mr Robinson said at the end of the interview, “Kate Bingham – pour yourself another glass.”
And that seems like a fitting place to end our look back at the year. Thanks for reading our blogs this year - we’ll see you on the other side. Happy Christmas.
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