This week’s news that CNBC’s Hong Kong bureau will close has brought back a flood of memories — and a deep sense of gratitude for the colleagues who made that newsroom such an important part of journalism in Asia.
During my sixteen years at #CNBC in Singapore, the Hong Kong bureau never felt like it was 2,600 km away. We operated as a single unit and co-hosted countless shows and interviews from both desks.
We covered stories like the Asian financial crisis, the dot-com bust, 9/11, the tsunamis of 2004 and 2011, and the global financial crisis as a team.
And there were lots of laughs and camaraderie, both on air and during commercial breaks.
Looking back also reminds me of something that is increasingly important in the media training and executive communication work I do in Singapore today: the power of storytelling.
AI can generate words for us in seconds. It can help us organize our thoughts, sharpen a message and make us more efficient. But whether we’re preparing for a media interview, delivering a presentation or speaking to an audience, we still have to remember that words alone don’t make people listen. Stories do.
Stories make us laugh. They make us cry. They surprise us, move us and, most importantly, make us feel something. And when we feel something, we are far more likely to remember it.
The photo below captures that for me. My co-anchor Bernie would often make me laugh during our live shows by sharing a story — sometimes at exactly the moment when I was supposed to be keeping a straight face. Those moments are among the memories that have stayed with me all these years.
The best journalists I worked with understood the power of a good story. Behind every market move, economic crisis or breaking-news headline were people, decisions and consequences. Our job was to find the story and tell it in a way that made people want to listen.
The same principle applies to business communication. Facts establish credibility. Data provides evidence. But stories give people a reason to care.
The closing of the Hong Kong bureau marks the end of an era — not only for CNBC, but for the many journalists and support staff who dedicated their careers to telling stories from one of Asia’s most important markets.
Their work, professionalism and spirit will endure long after the lights go out.
Technology will keep changing how we communicate. But our ability to tell stories — and make people feel something — may matter more than ever.
#MediaTraining #MediaTrainingSingapore #ExecutiveCommunication #Storytelling #Singapore
