Advice to the RACGP presidential aspirants: The content of what you say is not enough, you need to be an expert communicator and an effective ‘media tart’.

My retiring AMA Victoria president’s address in the mid-1986 was entitled Medicine, McLuhan and McDonald’s.

Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian marketing guru whose catchcry was “The medium is the message”.

McLuhan’s mantra guided my media appearances. I was careful to think about how I said something, not just what I said, avoiding doctor speak and not talking too quickly.