Strategic communications · Media · Engagement
Being right is not the same as being heard.
I advise organisations whose work is difficult to explain and consequential to explain well.
Start a conversationThe problem
Your evidence does not speak for itself.
I started in journalism, which is where you learn that a good story and a true story are not automatically the same object, and that the gap between them is where most organisations lose the argument.
Nearly twenty years later that is still the work. Researchers, engineers, clinicians and program teams produce work of real consequence. Ministers, boards, journalists, partners and the public encounter it cold, without the context, and decide what they think in about fifteen seconds.
Closing that gap is not a matter of simplifying. It is a matter of finding the version of the story that is entirely accurate and also genuinely interesting. Both are almost always available. Most communications settles for one.
What I do
Counsel, campaigns and the confidence to speak.
Strategic communications and public affairs
Strategy, reputation, issues and counsel to executives and boards.
Media relations and campaign leadership
National and international campaigns from strategy through to coverage.
Executive communications and media training
Preparation for leaders, spokespeople and technical experts.
Stakeholder engagement and partnerships
Government, industry, academia and community, including bilateral contexts.
Selected clients and programs
- RMIT University
- KONEKSI
- Cowater International
- Australian Government development programs
Advisory and campaign work delivered across Australia, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Pacific.
Recipient, RMIT Research Service Award 2024, for service excellence in research communication.
Media training
Most interviews are lost before they start.
Technical experts are rarely poor communicators. They are usually unprepared for a format that rewards clarity over completeness.
Half day and full day programs, one to one or in groups, with recorded mock interviews and studio based simulation.
Get in touch
Tell me what you are trying to get heard.
Say what you are working on and where communications is currently getting in the way. First conversations are free and usually clarify quickly whether there is a project here.
- will@willwrightmedia.com
- Melbourne, Australia