Discovering the Mastery of Communication: A Conversation with Simon Hall, Creative Warehouse Director, and Dr. Thomas Roulet, Cambridge Professor

Simon and Thomas are the course leads for Compelling Communication Skills, a short 6-week online course from the University of Cambridge. They have answered a series of questions below about their interests and experiences in the field of communications, as well as their hopes for learners joining them on the course.

Curious About Compelling Communication? Discover the 20 Secrets of Success in Simon Hall's Latest Book!

Simon: Would you be interested in knowing the 20 most important secrets of success in life? I hope so, because that’s the title of my latest book! I’m fortunate enough to have been commissioned to write a series of books on communication and life skills, and this is number nine. Some of the secrets are my own, but most come from famous and wildly successful people I’ve met in my travels. What’s been fascinating for me in the interviewing and writing process for this book was how many of the secrets of success I didn’t expect to come up. But when you hear them you think – wow, that’s genius! I will, of course, share some of what I’ve discovered in the Compelling Communication Skills course.

Thomas: I am currently writing a book about leadership and mental health. Mental health is a particularly difficult issue to communicate about. Yet there are many ways, well known to psychologists, to develop the right tools to discuss those topics in the workplace. In my more recent research work, I have looked at how religious and political movements communicated their claims to neutralise the early whisky distilling industry in 19th century Scotland (quirky, I know!).

What Do You Love Most About Developing Your Communication Style? How Can Communication Skills Liberate and Empower You? Find Out from Our Course Leads!

Thomas: I absolutely love that people can develop their own communication style. There is not one way to communicate, but many different ways to do so. Yes, there are some core rules that we distill in this course, but we want to enable people to find their own voice.

Simon: I hope this doesn’t sound like an exaggeration, but my favourite part of teaching communication skills is how they can liberate and empower students. By liberate, I mean that people often come on my courses with a fear of communication. They think they can’t write or present well, and know that’s holding them back in life. I like to make communication accessible and enjoyable, and so by the end of a course the students feel they are not just effective communicators but have lost their fear of the art and can even enjoy practicing it.The ‘empower’ part of my answer is linked to that. My absolute favourite part of teaching communication skills is watching students walk away after the course, looking visibly taller as they know they have a wonderful new skill which is going to be incredibly powerful for them, and they can’t wait to use it.

What Compelling Communication Stories Await: From Divisive Leadership to Being a Writer in Residence on Buses?

Thomas: One thing I have studied quite a bit in my career is divisive leadership: when leaders communicate controversial ideas to differentiate themselves, and signal values to audiences that matter to them by alienating others. My latest book The Power of Being Divisive (Stanford University Press, 2020) covers the question quite extensively but I have been talking about it for a while, in particular when looking at current political leaders. In 2016, a few weeks before the US election of Donald Trump, I explained in an editorial in the Telegraph why I thought he was underestimated in the polls, because his divisiveness was making his supporters go under the radar. I happened to be right!

Simon: There are so many! That’s one of the wonderful features of the world of words. It’s full of fascinating projects. But for example, and before you doubt it, this is 100% true… After the launch of my latest novel, The Editor, I was approached by Stagecoach, who run most of the bus services around Cambridge. They wanted to know if I would like to be… wait for it…writer in residence on their buses for a few days! Well, no writer worthy of the name ever turns down a promotional opportunity. So for a few days I travelled on the buses around Cambridge, accompanied by journalists and photographers, reading my new book to passengers and talking about my writing. It was one of the stranger experiences of my communication career, but greatly enjoyable to meet so many lovely people from all different walks of life and talk to them about their passion for books.

Who Inspires Compelling Communication: From Orwell's Simplicity to Kennedy's Charisma?

Simon: Many and varied. On the writing front, George Orwell is my favourite author. Apart from being a visionary, he was a master of beautiful simplicity and making his words all the more effective for that. Simplicity is a much underrated art, as we’ll examine in the course. In terms of presenting, I can’t watch Malala Yousafzai speak without shivering. She’s so calm, yet so authoritative and powerful, and an extraordinary storyteller. I’m also a big fan of John F Kennedy and the charisma he brings to public speaking. It’s as if the air crackles around him. Kennedy’s iconic ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech is a masterpiece of rhetoric, passion and persuasion.

Thomas: Simon mentions Kennedy and there is indeed research about how he completely changed the story at NASA, so he was definitely a communication visionary. We can learn a lot on communication from watching the speeches and the interpersonal relationships of great social changemakers such as Martin Luther King Jr or Emmeline Pankhurst.

Who's the Ideal Communicator? Crafting Compelling Communication for Diverse Minds

Simon: I hope this doesn’t sound strange, but I imagined a mix of the people who come on my communication courses – and they are a remarkably diverse set. They range from younger people, usually not long finished their degrees or postdoctoral qualifications, who are academically brilliant but understand they need to be able to communicate their thoughts and insights to get on in their careers. I teach a lot of entrepreneurs who have great business ideas, but struggle to explain the power of their offerings. Often middle managers come on my courses, because they aren’t getting on as well in their careers as they would wish and fear their communication skills are holding them back. Interestingly, it’s also common to see senior leaders and executives on my courses. They worry that they’re struggling to communicate their visions to their staff and colleagues, and want to find a way to remedy that.

Thomas: I am thinking about both my younger students who are finishing university and eager to make their mark on the world, and very experienced top executives who want to create connections with their audiences and convince.

Unlocking Potential: Empower Your Voice with Compelling Communication Skills

Thomas: I am hoping this course can enable participants to better express their arguments and push forward the change they want to see in their field or organisations.

Simon: Fundamentally, I want them to come away with a strong understanding of the principles of effective communication and an ability to put them into action, whether with writing, presenting or storytelling. But more than that, I want them to be filled with confidence about their newfound communication skills, appreciate how much they can help in our journeys through life, and very much enjoy using them.

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