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Claire Doole to speak on audience engagement at the IOM Spring Symposium
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Claire Doole to speak on audience engagement at the IOM Spring Symposium

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Spring Symposium welcomes Ms Claire Doole, a sought-after communications trainer and conference moderator. She promises to equip attendees with strategies to keep their online audiences engaged – a crucial skill for medical professionals in today's digital era. 

Doole’s ability to simplify complex topics and communicate them effectively has been a hallmark of her career. 

She was a correspondent with the BBC in Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, and London, interviewing global leaders like Nelson Mandela, Emmanuel Macron, and Antonio Guterres. She later worked as a spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency, International Federation of the Red Cross, and WWF International. 

Her enduring commitment to clarity and effective communication led Doole to share her expertise as a trainer and moderator. Reflecting on her time as a journalist, she says, “When you’re a journalist, you’re always looking for people to be concise, clear, compelling and quotable.” She adds, “I worked in very institutional environments as a reporter. What you find in these institutions is they tend to talk in jargon and their language, and that doesn’t resonate with the public at all. So, you have to work very hard as a journalist sometimes to get a clear and concrete answers from people.” 

Doole’s experience as a speechwriter grew out of her observations of what often went wrong with prepared remarks. “Often what you saw was that if somebody had a speech written for them, they won’t be able to deliver it, and that may be because the speech wasn’t their words, but perhaps it was also far too long and complicated,” she explains. This insight drove her to help others craft speeches that are not only authentic but also engaging and accessible. 

Similarly, her experience with moderating grew out of a desire to improve standards in this area. “Often what they see is that speakers just give presentations, or moderators just go round the table and give each speaker three minutes. And that’s an overload of information,” she notes. Doole also emphasises the importance of preparation and thematic focus, likening her method to writing a script for television or radio.  

Doole's talent for training and energising others developed naturally during her time as a spokesperson. “I realised, perhaps because of my background as a broadcaster and I had done a lot of theatre, I was good at energising people. I was good at giving them variety and stimulating them to learn.” 

At the IOM Spring Symposium on 23 January, Doole's session will focus on how to keep audiences engaged during virtual presentations while ensuring the presentation remains memorable, engaging, and effective - even when dealing with dense, detail-heavy material. 

Book now >