News + Views
Posts: Tom Barritt
Communications Training: Better than a Gym Membership
by Tom Barritt| February 6, 2020
Around New Year’s Day, many of us made resolutions to eat right and exercise more often. (Too much champagne and cake can do that to you.) But experts say 20 percent of most resolutions are broken in by the second week of February, which means the odds are good you’ve already stopped heading to the […]
Navigating the Language of Diversity and Inclusion
by Tom Barritt| March 28, 2017
The story of diversity and inclusion is a people story – a story directed to, and about people with, identities, hopes, desires and dreams. It is also a story of language and aspirational ideas. So, how do we communicate the complex concepts of personal identity, unity, fairness and respect? What kind of place do we […]
Putting the Talking Head to Bed
by Tom Barritt| February 27, 2015
We hear predictions that social media will completely replace traditional broadcast news as the primary channel to reach important audiences. There may be some truth to that. Each day, social media and digital content wiggle their way further into every corner of our lives. Content shared socially can be simple, edgy, immediately accessible, and often […]
Move from Storytelling to Authorship
The word “storytelling” is all the rage in the communications world. We’ve abandoned the time-honored tradition of “messaging” and switched to swapping stories with each other. The notion is simple. The public has rejected artificial messaging. They crave authentic stories with descriptive language and personal anecdotes. This evolution makes sense for many reasons, but comes […]
Getting Physical on Camera
by Tom Barritt| January 2, 2013
As is often my habit, I was sitting in an airport lounge recently, involved in one of my favorite business-travel entertainments— watching cable news with no sound. The folks on the big screen are engaged in what is possibly the least desirable interview format for participants: the “Brady Bunch” format, with several talking heads shown […]
The Presidential Debates, Empathy and the Wisdom of Mister Rogers
by Tom Barritt| October 4, 2012
We all want to be loved. That’s a universal truth and something that presidential candidates and all communicators need to consider. It’s a simple, human desire to hope that somebody out there cares about us. If Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s now infamous “47 percent” quote has any impact on the 2012 election it is this. […]
