How effective are we at separating the 'messenger' from the 'message'? Do we truly listen to what people have to say, or are we overly focused on how they say it and who they are?

These are the questions up for discussion on this week's GoodPractice Podcast, as Nicola, Ross G and Cat are joined by Joseph Marks, co-author of Messengers.

In this episode, we discuss:

• the difference between 'hard' and 'soft' messengers
• who we trust and why we trust them
• how gender affects how messages are received

If you'd like to get in touch with us about any of the things we've said on this show, you can tweet @NicolaBoyle_GP, @RossGarnerGP, @CatGoodPractice and @JoeMarks13.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS.

Messengers, by Stephen Martin and Joseph Marks, is out now: https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/stephen-martin/messengers/9781541724396/

Details of the 'America in One Room' project are online at: https://helena.org/projects/america-in-one-room 

For more on the menopause, see the British Menopause Society at: https://thebms.org.uk/ 

The Menopause Cafe, covered in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/01/welcome-to-the-menopause-cafe-now-i-know-im-not-alone-im-not-going-mad 

The CIPD's 'Let's talk menopause' resource: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/well-being/menopause 

A clip of Kirsty Wark discussing the menopause at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpawvMbqBVw 

For more information on giving blood: https://www.blood.co.uk/why-give-blood/