<![CDATA[The Comms Desk - Communications and Change]]>https://www.thecommsdesk.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hfnj!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F589e643c-4788-41fe-9d13-30ae323061fa_256x256.pngThe Comms Desk - Communications and Changehttps://www.thecommsdesk.comSubstackSun, 10 May 2026 02:06:44 GMT<![CDATA[The Difference Between Simple and Clear Messages]]>https://www.thecommsdesk.com/p/the-difference-between-simple-andhttps://www.thecommsdesk.com/p/the-difference-between-simple-andSat, 25 Oct 2025 13:49:58 GMTWriting simply is standard writing advice. I learned it in journalism school.

You may have learned it in your first communications role. Or from your first editor, or in that work style guide gathering dust on your desk.

But somewhere along the way, we shaped our writing to fit the modern appetite for speed. And in our rush to make things shorter and cleaner, we started trimming not just words, but their meaning.

And in the process, guess what? We’ve sacrificed something far more important. Understanding. Comprehension. Context. Depth.

How on earth did this happen, you ask? This is my observation from years of communications experience in the workplace:

we mistook simplicity for clarity.

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]]><![CDATA[The Little-Known History of Cleanliness and the Pioneers of Handwashing]]>https://www.thecommsdesk.com/p/the-little-known-history-of-cleanlinesshttps://www.thecommsdesk.com/p/the-little-known-history-of-cleanlinessTue, 14 Oct 2025 14:21:59 GMTTo mark this day, I’m republishing this open-access article from Frontiers in Public Health titled The Little-Known History of Cleanliness and the Pioneers of Handwashing, published October 2022 in the Section on Infectious Diseases: Epidemology and Prevention.

It traces how doctors in the 1800s once resisted the now-obvious idea that washing hands could prevent deadly infections, and save lives. And how a few determined pioneers, often shunned by their peers, changed medicine forever.

Credit: Charing Cross Hospital: Stanley Boyd in the old operating theatre. Photograph, 1900. Wellcome Collection.

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]]><![CDATA[What does a crisis communication expert actually do?]]>https://www.thecommsdesk.com/p/what-does-a-crisis-communicationshttps://www.thecommsdesk.com/p/what-does-a-crisis-communicationsSat, 11 Oct 2025 15:18:32 GMTIn brief

A crisis communication expert helps an organisation prepare long before disaster strikes.

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