They don't teach you that at college

No matter what type of comms qualification or experience you have, some things you just can't train for.

You may have either got along to the UnAwards Masterclass event in Birmingham (well done if you bagged a ticket) or been able to join the online webinar last week.

And, as always, it was brilliant to hear the stories behind the award-winning work - how it was planned, created and executed.

(By the way, one of the top comms hacks out there is the Comms Files archive, which is the library of ALL the entries for the UnAwards over its 10 years for you to search and steal from.)

But some of the best bits for me were hearing about the unexpected moments, the curveballs, the parts that no PR course can ever prepare you for.

Like Wandsworth Council's Magda Ibrahim going to pick up a tripod from Argos on the morning of a video interview only to discover it was a pack of Pokémon cards. And also having to search for the pet tortoise that survived WW2 to feature in the video.
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Like Bedfordshire's Local Resilience Forum members getting a GCSE geography lesson to learn about strata (look it up) to explain a major incident in Bedford.
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And like Lewisham Council having to diplomatically field some of the “interesting” social media ideas from their Young Mayor for his social account.

In a similar vein, I've shared these LinkedIn posts from comms pros Oly Woodcock and Freddie Onadeko recently on their comms adventures and showing behind the curtain.

So, if you've got any golden comms stories of the unexpected or unpredictable, hit reply and I'll share them here or on LinkedIn (if you'll let me!)

​CONTENT: the Cure for Dull​

If you've been hanging around this newsletter a while (and thanks if you have) you might remember reference to a report from a year or so ago called The Extraordinary Cost of Dull.

It analysed thousands of piece of content and ads and found that most elicit no emotional response whatsoever and so are pretty much ineffective.

Well, a follow-up report has emerged with some answers. The Cure For Dull does throw up some genuinely useful findings when it comes to our content, including that emotion takes time to build (40-60s video shows more emotive reaction) and that melodic sound and humour have big impact.

​USE THIS: content and campaign ideas​

And talking of humour for impact, if you want your signage to be effective...

(Get this type of creative and content inspiration first on the Creative Catch of the Day WhatsApp channel.)

​FREE COMMS LEARNING: webinar archive​

According to this recent report, webinar catch-ups are one of the most valued forms of video.

So it felt only right to remind you that you can catch up on various webinars on campaigns, content and comms on the YouTube Channel.

SOCIAL: The Round-Up

• ​You can adjust your algorithm on Instagram to see more or less of things​
• ​Meta launches Snapchat-style app ​
• ​Emoji reactions to specific words in posts in Threads​
• ​Meta sees first daily active user fall ever 👀

COMMS: keep it simple

I had a great day in beautiful Derbyshire talking campaign planning with their fire service comms team and this whiteboard that was stationed in the corner of the training room was a timely reminder of the power of simplicity!

​PUBLIC SECTOR COMMS SURVEY 2026​

The largest benchmarking survey of local public services in the UK is live, so help provide valuable data to help improve communications across the sector.

ABOUT US

​Turn The Page is a story-led communications consultancy, using the power of stories to create memorable, measurable campaigns, strategies and narratives.

Campaigns and comms led by stories are measurably more successful and improve engagement and trust.

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