Happy 2026!
News-wise it’s been a crazy roller coaster start to the new year.
To borrow from a prominent popular new movie title, 2026 is already looking like being a case of “One Battle After Another”.
The year’s also unfolding in line with another prominent movie title: “Everything Everywhere All At Once”.
This sudden upsurge in the acceleration of change at the start of 2026 makes communicating to our various audiences more of a challenge than ever before.
It means your communication targets – inside and outside your organisation – have more fast-moving things happening to keep track of than ever before.
And the impact of big unusual goings-on can easily distract them from your message.
This means your communication needs to be more cleverly and thoughtfully executed now than ever.
Before 2026 struck, this millennium was already suffering an excess of so-called “VUCA” – Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.
But then U.S. President Donald Trump started acting more than ever like an elected dictator – sending armed kidnappers to remove the Venezuelan President and putting him on trial in New York and killing a high, but still unknown, number of Cuban body guards along the way.
This triggered the world into thinking that he might be serious about kidnapping other leaders he doesn’t like – whether they’re in South America, the Middle East and beyond.
President Trump then became a pirate – seeking to send out warships to steal Venezuelan oil and the tankers transporting it.
Overall he’s started to resemble the black-hatted cowboy going mad in the Wild West – hence the production of this mug.
His behaviour became so erratic it made people wonder if his outrageous threats to take over Danish territory in Greenland – because America “needs it” – might not be so far-fetched.
He began repeatedly telling the world he’s a man of peace who deserves the Nobel Peace Prize after accepting the lesser tin-pot “trumped up” international footballing FIFA Peace Prize.
Despite ordering his so-called “ICE agents” to arrest people in American cities like Minneapolis and Portland – resulting in deaths that he’s struggling to justify – Donald Trump’s begun threatening the Iranian regime to stop the killing of pro-democracy demonstrators.
It’s easy to see why many people – who your company needs to connect with – could easily have attention on things other than whatever you are seeking to focus their minds on!
The good news communications-wise in all this is that – despite the speed of change in 2026 – great communication remains a learnable skill.
You and your people can learn how to formulate a message that cuts through amidst bonkers goings on in the White House and elsewhere.
You and your colleagues can learn how to back up your messages with the right real-life examples and relevant facts and statistics – and deliver them with style.
You can do this in broadcast interviews – after media interview response training with enlightening playbacks and critiques:
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/media-master-classes/
You can persuade through company presentations – after sessions in “Presenting With Confidence, Impact & Pizzazz”:
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/presenting-with-confidence-impact-and-pizzazz/
And you can deploy impressive answers to the tough questions you face – from clients, prospects, officials and members of your own team – when you learn to apply the golden formulae for giving great answers:
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/give-great-answers-to-tough-questions/
So let’s have a look at how someone living far away from Washington – whose career Donald Trump is seeking to destroy – is responding calmly amidst bizarre Trans-Atlantic pressure.
He’s the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, who Donald Trump has called “a terrible, terrible mayor”.
President Trump also personally blames Sir Sadiq for London’s murder rate.
But following news that London’s murder rate has just fallen to its lowest level in the over a decade, Sir Sadiq has just taken the opportunity, in an interview on Sky News, to hit back at the president’s claims.
Sir Sadiq remains remarkably calm throughout the interview – despite challenging questions.
He clearly chooses not to name Donald Trump – while providing evidence which refutes the president’s claims about London crime rates.
Sir Sadiq shows how carefully considered positive messages – backed by relevant examples – can win out.
MEANWHILE DOWN UNDER…
2026 is the year of the Michael Dodd Professional Speaking Tour Of Australia which takes place in March and April.
You can check out details in this video.
If your company has people in Australia who would benefit from sessions or conference speeches on “Give Great Answers To Tough Questions” in March or April 2026, do get in touch!