What can we learn from the crises in 2020. We focus on three, with four main learnings for leaders and corporate affairs folk: - Rio…
Peter WilkinsonDecember 18, 2020
Joe and Jill Biden, and Kamala Harris, have the potential to take the heat out of the division in the US that's been such a…
Peter WilkinsonNovember 12, 2020
We learn a lot about good and bad corporate communications by watching politicians. This week it's been Gladys Berejiklian's struggle explaining her intimate relationship with…
Peter WilkinsonOctober 14, 2020
What have we learnt about working from home? The Australian fantasy - working at the beach - may now, for many, be a reality! Being…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 28, 2020
There's a lot to be learnt from apologies that fail. Apologies are now so common, the public can mostly discern what's genuine. To be perceived…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 3, 2020
The AMP and icare disasters: how many directors are taking an easy ride on the gravy-train of Australia's highest-powered boards? Failures in governance at AMP…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 2, 2020
Kylie Moore-Gilbert is still in jail in Iran. Two years on, 'quiet diplomacy' has failed the Australian academic. We contend it's an outdated strategy, flawed…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 2, 2020
Can Dreamworld repair its reputation? We say yes, conditionally. This week saw the company, not individuals, charged over the tragedy that killed four people. Liam Cox and Peter…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 2, 2020
Is it simply a bad habit that so many politicians and some business leaders dodge answering questions? What's so hard about a simple 'Yes' and…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 2, 2020
The shattered trust between European and Indigenous Australians provides lessons in what not to do. Littered with failed outcomes, broken commitments and disappointment, it is…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 28, 2020
Former High Court Judge Dyson Heydon is facing shocking allegations of sexual harassment. Liam Cox and Peter Wilkinson dissect the three key communications aspects of…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 28, 2020
A COVID-19 outbreak occurs at your school or office. Do you speak to media? Do you write a press release? How do you keep other…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 28, 2020
Your mobile rings; it’s from a journalist asking for a response to a damaging story being published in an hour or two. What happens next…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 28, 2020
How do we video-conference better during COVID-19? Liam Cox speaks with Peter Wilkinson and award-winning film maker Fred El Harris, who between them, have over 50-years experience behind and in…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 28, 2020
Your mobile rings; it’s from a journalist asking for a response to a damaging story being published in an hour or two. What happens next…
Peter WilkinsonMay 21, 2020
Coronavirus presents a time of unparalleled uncertainty, making it the greatest communications challenge of our time. Calming nerves will be much easier if we think…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 24, 2020
Think of your social media asset as a classroom, and you are the teacher. How do you use the carrot and the stick to inspire,…
Peter WilkinsonOctober 7, 2018
Crisis PR is perhaps the most stressful type of communication. It usually involves intense media, which can be merciless, and for a period we will…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 26, 2018
Crisis PR Overview Crisis PR is perhaps the most stressful type of communication. It usually involves intense media, which can be merciless, and for a…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 20, 2018
Crisis PR: Overview After over 30 years as a journalist, and 15 as a public relations consultant, mainly in Crisis PR, I've learnt the discipline of…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 13, 2018
Media Training: Overview Photo: Channel 7 News In this now hyper competitive environment, CEO’s must be able communicate on behalf of the company to external…
Peter WilkinsonMay 1, 2018
The power behind the school student uprising that’s taking on the NRA over the US gun laws, is a warning to governments (and large companies)…
Peter WilkinsonFebruary 26, 2018
It’s pretty clear that we are now entering a painful period for many people, mainly women but also men (scoundrels, yes, but good men too)…
Peter WilkinsonNovember 20, 2017
Ian Narev (Commonwealth Bank), Ahmed Fahour (Australia Post), Deb Thomas (Dreamworld) are all defined by events in which they lost control of the narrative. Their…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 21, 2017
Criticism imposes confronting choices on an organisation. And repeated criticism, particularly in the media, starts a downward spiral, eroding trust, inspiring more criticism, further eroding…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 4, 2017
Little destroys a political party’s or a company’s hopes faster than the loss of trust in the leader; think Trump, Turnbull, Narev (Commonwealth Bank). We…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 7, 2017
In Australia there's a conversation, an undercurrent, about replacing PM Turnbull. Some say "Why, who else is there?"; others say "Why not replace one lack…
Peter WilkinsonJune 19, 2017
We can learn a lot about how to deal with crises and crisis PR from studying others under extreme pressure. It’s hard to imagine what…
Peter WilkinsonJune 10, 2017
This week on Channel Seven’s Sunrise I was asked how Schapelle Corby, incarcerated for almost a decade, can get on with her life, particularly when…
Peter WilkinsonMay 30, 2017
James Ashby (Hanson’s chief-of-staff) was caught on tape describing a way to describing a way to ‘skim’ money from taxpayers and the party’s candidates. There…
Peter WilkinsonMay 24, 2017
Watching Trump carries lessons for us all, especially for practitioners in Crisis PR. If your boss doesn’t have values grounded in solid foundations, beware. That…
Peter WilkinsonMay 16, 2017
Crisis PR is about probabilities – there is no certainty. So I think it was reckless for the CEO of United Airlines to commit to…
Peter WilkinsonMay 3, 2017
Crisis PR & Communications Some entrepreneurs think change is easy – “I’ll lead, you follow.” For others, it’s hard; we like what we are doing,…
Peter WilkinsonApril 5, 2017
So, we’ve had our crisis and it’s been flagged we need to transform our communications team. We can use history to inform us but not…
Peter WilkinsonJanuary 23, 2017
We’ve all seen that Dreamworld, and its parent company, displayed a woefully inadequate crisis plan. What are the lessons for the rest of us? How…
Peter WilkinsonNovember 2, 2016
There are two distinct phases in a crisis: • First, stop it • Then, repair the damage It is generally a mistake to try and…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 6, 2016
Eddie McGuire might have got away with his 'drowning Caroline Wilson' comments, but for social media. For years he’s been making these outrageously inappropriate comments,…
Peter WilkinsonJune 21, 2016
Justice Lindsay Foster is a Federal Court judge in Sydney. He is presiding over the class action brought by lawyers against Volkswagen over the ‘defeat…
Peter WilkinsonMay 3, 2016
Absolutely. I know this is a sensitive and emotionally charged issue, so I’ll do my best to tread lightly, but I’ve held this view for…
Peter WilkinsonApril 24, 2016
Crisis PR: the killer This past week two clients have been threatened, one overtly and one implied. One is a threat of a negative media…
Peter WilkinsonApril 19, 2016
Public Relations can’t spot a well hidden crime, or deceptions or lies. What Public Relations can do is help instill a culture of integrity and…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 8, 2016
Crisis PR is perhaps the most stressful type of communication. Some people around us will lose their cool, others try and interfere and think they…
Peter WilkinsonFebruary 9, 2016
The VW deception - what not to do This morning in the Australian Federal Court, VW Australia explained it had no knowledge of what head…
Peter WilkinsonNovember 26, 2015
Case study in Crisis PR: Recently the office supplies store, Officeworks, failed to deliver some paper to us, having promised a same-day service. It created…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 22, 2015
I’ll be watching on Twitter as the verdict in the #AJretrial is read out this Saturday evening, Sydney time. I’ve worked with the Greste family…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 27, 2015
This story in the SMH (here) is a lesson in Crisis PR; it reflects a lot of current sentiment, and you can see plenty of…
Peter WilkinsonJuly 24, 2015
I think apologies are now overrated, simply because they have become overused in Crisis PR, even if the apology contains all the required elements (see…
Peter WilkinsonMay 11, 2015
From Andrew and Mike Greste: "Peter Wilkinson was recommended to us in late July 2014 as someone who might be able to help campaign to…
Peter WilkinsonApril 14, 2015
Abbott should have been fired this week. It would have happened in a successful business with a clearly focussed board. The kind of paralysis that…
Peter WilkinsonFebruary 14, 2015