Leadership and media specialist

Jonathan Halls is a media and leadership specialist.  He helps organizations and individuals achieve success as leaders and media practitioners. 

Halls draws on his background as a former talkshow host, media executive, journalist and trainer.

Jonathan is Managing Director of Talkshow Communication Ltd.  He is also works with the world's largest association if newspapers, Ifra, as a media and performance specialist.

Formerly learning executive at the BBC

Formerly, Jonathan ran the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) prestigious Production Training department in London.

BBC Production Training is a multi-million pound training operation and is the largest TV, radio, and online production training facility in Europe. 

Headquartered in London, Jonathan supervised training delivery at three campuses around the UK and led a staff of 40 broadcast specialists with an associate faculty of 250 broadcast professionals. 

Under his leadership they provided training across all areas of television, radio and new media production.  Their clients included BBC staff and professionals from broadcasters around the world. 

He left to take the start-up leadership position at Talkshow as he believes communication is a key 21st Century skill that is not being properly developed in organizations around the world.

Media work

Jonathan has focused most of his time at Talkshow on newspaper work with Ifra Newsplex.  He led Ifra's multimedia training project for Ifra at Britain's Daily Telegraph.  He designed and delivered the training curriculum. 

The Daily Telegraph's change to a multimedia newsroom was considered one of the most ambitious media change projects in the the world and is still considered the benchmark for large scale newspaper convergence. 

Jonathan brought his change leadership experience to this project with Ifra.  He was able to draw on experience having led training projects that helped some of the industry's biggest media change projects in a generation. 

These included the network radio change where his staff at the BBC re-trained 700 broadcasters with no disruption to servics.  As well as introducing desktop editing training (TV) and light weight camera operation, and High Definition training.

Jonathan has also spent time working with various other newspaper companies which included de Volkskrant (Netherlands), NA (Sweden) and numerous global publications through open workshops at Ifra, including Ifra Newsplex and Ifra South West Europe.

Leadership

Jonathan continued his interest in leadership with his role on the American Society of Training and Development's ICE Education Committee.

This was the second year he reviewed proposals to speak on the prestigious Leadership track (with Rich Wellins from DDI).  Members serve a two-year term.

Jonathan has continued to write and publish on communication, innovation and learning. 

His interest in leadership is the point at which innovation, communication and learning intersect, especially in times of change.

He's also spoken at conferences on the issue of leading vision through an organization, especially through times of change.  He is currently working on a global leadership program.

Passion
Jonathan's passion is communication, learning and broadcasting.  He has a special interest in the conceptual intersection of communication, learning and leadership in organizations. 

Jonathan is inspired to share broadcast communication skills that can give power to anyone in the workplace and enhance personal communication. 

Communication is foundational to all that we do whether we are creating a presentation for a board meeting, emailing a friend or leading a team, department or corporation.    

Jonathan is actively involved in the global training profession.  He has served in a number of roles with the American Society for Training & Development, including on the annual conference program committee.

Family Life

Australian born Jonathan lives in central London with his American wife.  She is a published author with an academic background in Latin American politics. 

Jonathan met his wife in Paris and they managed to date across the Atlantic Ocean, traveling between Washington, DC and London.  Jonathan later proposed marriage over a glass of champagne at a restaurant at the top of Paris' Eiffel Tower.  They tied the knot in Washington, DC.

They spend much of their spare time traveling and reading.  He likes writing, cooking and sampling fine wine.  She likes running and has a few marathons to her credit, including the prestigious New York City marathon. 

Both are active members of All Souls church in London.  The BBC used to broadcast its daily service from All Souls and is well-known for its 'rector emeritus', leading theologian John Stott.

Conference Speaking and training
Jonathan is happy to share his experiences and knowledge with you.  When planning your next conference, training seminar, leadership development day, or event, check out his hot topics.