Does it feel like your messages are being drowned out?
Welcome to
Poetry Works
Helping you turn what you already know into something memorable.
We use the tools and techniques of poetry to make whatever you have to say more memorable.
Why Do Organisations Need Poetry?
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What Organisations Want
Organisations want a language their target audiences: Notice, Enjoy, Use and Remember.
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Poetry is impact by design.
It is language that cuts through. By virtue of its form it is memorable, emotive, playful and distinctive. It is the home of metaphor, rhythm, rhetoric, concise storytelling and personification. Its impact is irreplaceable by AI.
Make it unforgettable.
Wow, that was a Rolls Royce experience.
Everyone knows what that means. With just one, vivid image a memorable picture forms.
Poetry’s tools and techniques are designed to turn abstract concepts like quality, ambition, engagement, culture or brand into words, phrases and images that are concrete and memorable.
Poetry is more than just finding the perfect image. There are many more ways we can use poetry tools to help your business.
Who we are.
We are a unique team of practicing poets who also have decades of CEO and C-Suite experience.
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Adam Cairns has decades of experience working at board level including serving as CEO of several leading healthcare organisations in the UK and the Middle East.
He holds an MA in Poetry Writing from Newcastle University and his poetry is widely published in literary journals and anthologies.
He is the Chair of Ledbury Poetry, the UK's most successful poetry festival. He is advisory board member of Poetry for Planet a youth-led climate campaign, rooted in poetry and poets from the Global South and other indigenous voices from around the world.
He is a founder member of Néos Delta a business providing high quality, transformational retreats for global thought leaders.
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Ben is managing director of Chalkstream, an agency specialising in reputation management and measurement. He is a strategic communication and public relations expert training and advising boards, senior teams and communications professionals.
One of fifty Founding Chartered public relations practitioners globally and a pioneering authority on artificial intelligence in PR, he is a regular speaker and trainer on communication skills, crisis and issues management, AI, reputation and research.
Ben is a founder member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ AI and Behavioural Insights groups, Chair of the Socially Mobile assessment panel and contributor to several public relations books.
He holds an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University and the Poetry School, and his poems have been published widely. His debut pamphlet, Botanicals, was published by Frosted Fire in autumn 2021 and his second, We Lost The Birds, by Nine Pens in March 2023.
He is also the biographer of adventurer and writer Mary Burkett.
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Sarah Gibbons has worked in communications leadership roles for over fifteen years in central government, specialising in communications strategy and evaluation, behavioural insight and corporate engagement. She has worked as a speechwriter for several leading government ministers and authored multiple organisational strategies. She was the recipient of an AMEC Grand Prix award for her work at the Department of Health and Social Care in 2015, the highest international accolade for communications evaluation.
She holds an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University and the Poetry School, and her poetry and short fiction has been widely published. She is the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal Black Iris, and has been shortlisted for several major poetry awards.
What we offer.
At Poetry Works we are published poets, qualified to at least Masters level in the practice of poetry. We combine our proficiency with poetry with many decades of CEO and C-Suite experience. We understand what it means to lead and we have an array of tools and techniques that can help you in the following areas.
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We support vision work. We help to produce powerful vision statements that capture imaginations, inspire commitment and remain memorable.
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Can you capture your brand’s identity with an image? Are your employees and customers able to say in a few words what your brand means to them? We can help you generate fresh ways to position your brand.
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Culture is partly about the stories people tell. We can help build the new narratives you need.
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Knowing what you have to do is half the battle. As a leader, you know success is built on alignment and engagement. We can help you generate deep employee engagement.
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Many of poetry’s tools and techniques are teachable skills. Concision, rhetoric, repetition, metaphor, simile, rhythm, rhyme and many more. We can up-skill your teams.
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We are a new kind of service. If you’re not sure how we can help, contact us. We are creative people and can work with you to shape something exciting and new.