Kory Teneycke, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Director of Communications, has decided to step down.

It’s a job that nobody has held for long and no wonder – Harper can be a tough guy to work for. I should know. At one time, back during his days at the National Citizens Coalition, I was Harper’s communications guy.

But somehow I don’t think I’m at the top of the line to replace Teneycke.

However, that doesn’t mean I can’t offer free advice to his replacement. So that’s what I will do.

Here are my top five tips to the next Conservative Director of Communications.

• Be real. Don’t try to make the Prime Minister into someone he isn’t. He isn’t a cuddly guy who wears vest sweaters and plays the piano. He is a tough-minded, determined, unsentimental individual. Don’t try to disguise these traits. You won’t fool the Canadian voter. Besides lots of people would see those traits as the hallmark of a strong leader. So let Stephen, be Stephen.

• Come up with a positive message. It’s OK to tell us why the other guys are bad, but you also need to explain why you are good. Why should voters support the Tories? Give us a reason. That means providing Canadians with a Conservative vision for Canada and explaining why it’s different and better than the Liberal vision.

• If you’re going to go negative on Michael Ignatieff come up with a better attack. Let’s face it. Does anybody care if Ignatieff spent lots of time outside Canada? Does it make him less of a Canadian? The fact is Canadians are probably less concerned with what Ignatieff did in the past than they are about what he might do in the future. So that should be your focus too. Attack his policies, attack his philosophy, attack his ideas – don’t attack him.

• Have a clear and consistent message. Don’t waffle. Don’t give tax dollars to the Gay Pride Parade today and then tomorrow throw the Cabinet Minister who doled out the money to the wolves. Take a principled stand and then defend it.

• Work at winning back your base. For far too long, the Conservative Party has taken its conservative support base for granted. That has got to stop. Stop trying to woo Liberals by acting like Liberals. Start acting more like conservatives, start speaking for the people you need onside to win. You just might find that to be a winning formula.

So that’s my advice, which is free and definitely worth the price.

• Gerry Nicholls's blog