Many executives and politicians spend so much time trying to figure out what reporters want in the form of answers to questions that the news makers lose sight of the primary goal: your message should be a reflection of good things you want to communicate about yourself and your organization. Of course you have to take into consideration what is of interest to the media and to your audiences, but don’t forget the most important constituency in the messaging process: yourself.
Whether you are facing a crisis in the media or the local society reporter wanting to write a puff piece on you, you should always be on the offensive, advancing positive things about yourself. Once you get in a reactive mode, you are stuck in a defensive mode. In this capacity you are forever trying to avoid getting hurt or to minimize pain.
Why be so pessimistic? No matter how cynical the reporter is or how negative the story may be, you always have a chance at getting some of your positive message points out. But not if you don’t even try.
Remember, if you know the media want to hear a certain message from you and your audience wants to hear a certain message from you, don’t give it to them unless it is also a message that you absolutely want communicated. If your message doesn’t appeal to all three constituencies, it is a failed message point, so scratch it.
In essence, the social Web, and all the tools and services it continues to spawn, has forever changed the game. There are PR firms that will adapt to meet the growing mass-market demand for Internet-based expertise and service, and there are many that will not.
So here’s an updated look at 10 PR trends driving the revolution, from PR 20/20 Blog.
On January 9, 2006, Howard Stern debuted his new show on the Sirius Satellite Radio Network. It is easy for mainstream business or political figures to dismiss Stern as a mere prankster who panders to the lowest common denominator through an obsession with sex, bodily functions, bathroom humor and more sex. But many others have tried the same road Stern is on and most have failed. Millions of people love Howard Stern, and a lot of people love to hate him. Personally, I am neutral. I find him mildly amusing, but if I don’t listen to him for 14 months, and then listen to him again, I don’t feel like I’ve missed much.
But it is undeniable that Stern has become a major figure in American pop culture. The shock jock has the most zealous fans of any entertainer around. You can not deny Stern’s success. Stern is well on his way to joining the Oprah-Martha Steward Media Billionaires Club. But I believe there are secrets to Stern’s success that are transferable to others (without being obscene!). Here are the 10 key principles that I believe Stern has used as he built his media empire that can be duplicated by others who wish to be powerful communicators:
- Talk about what really interests you. (It’s not as if Stern has to fight a daily impulse to discuss the Federal Reserve)
- Make fun of yourself. (Stern always ridicules his own manhood)
- State your beliefs even at the risk of offending people. (In Stern’s case the FCC documents his numerous offenses)
- Be unique. (Through his dress, style, vocal tone and message, Stern has been different from his competitors for 30 years)
- Consistently communicate a consistent message. (Howard has been doing the same thing for 30 years—he doesn’t reinvent himself)
- Display passion (When Howard is angry or upset, he reveals all)
- Treat your audience like gold. (Howard treats his audience members like they are closer to him than his own family. He even has parties for them.)
- Treat all people equally. (Whether you are a poor person with a handicap or a rich Hollywood celebrity like Alec Baldwin, Stern gives everyone the same level of disrespect.)
- Reveal yourself. (When Howard was going through a divorce, he revealed all to his listeners)
- Work incredibly long and hard hours. (Howard has gotten up at 4:00 AM in the morning for decades and spent every waking moment coming up with new bits for his show)
Here are 10 quick tips to help you add polish at the podium, enjoy your public speaking experience and influence your listeners.
- Begin with the end in mind. Start planning your presentation by asking and answering this question: What do I want my audience to remember when they leave my presentation?
- Use a mind-map or other right-brain organizational tool to organize your presentation. Landscape beats portrait when it comes to presentation planning. Think, “map, direction, flow” rather than lists, paragraphs and text.
- Know the “story” your presentation tells. Refrain from data-dumping. The information you present has a story behind it. Your audience will understand the details better if they understand the big picture first.
- Do not apologize or put yourself down publicly. Even if you didn’t prepare, feel insecure, or have forgotten your slide show.
- Look at one person at a time rather than scanning the room. People feel your intention to include them individually if you speak directly to them. If it’s a large crowd, mentally divide the audience into a tic-tac-toe grid and target an individual to look at from each section. One-to-one eye contact creates connection differently from scanning the crowd.
Read full article via humancapitalleague.com
Clearly, there are basic ‘hygiene’ factors that companies need from their comms people: strong written/verbal skills; excellent conversational and presentation skills; an eye for design; awareness of communication technology trends and corresponding audience reach strategies.
However, a good PRO will always stand out on a number of more complex, intuitive and leadership levels and I would proffer the following attributes:
1) Acts as strategic and trusted advisor to the leadership team (including the CEO, CFO and commercial and functional heads); contributes with authority to strategic corporate discussion and works on his/her track record to be viewed as a contributing equal;
2) Through accumulated insight and marketplace persceptiveness, may be in a truly unique position within any organisation to ‘Bring the Outside World’ in to corporate thinking, ensuring sound future governance and guiding strategies that help protect any company’s future ‘Licence to Operate’ in the open, global marketplace;
3) Is an astute and credible diplomat, able to navigate elegantly through all layers and across all organisational silos to inform, to encourage collaborative thinking and to galvanise operational solutions to any issues or opportunities faced by a company in its public and employee dealings;
4) Intuitively understands and bridges the interdependency between internal and external reputation and has astute command of the theory and tools/practice of its delivery;
What attributes would you add to this list?
Yes, press releases still matter in the digital age. And while SEO helps broaden the digital footprint for your release these days—there are still fundamentals that can NOT be overlooked if you want to see pick up from those who matter. Even so, too many in PR are still sending out releases that miss the mark. Here’s how to make sure that yours never fail to fail:
- APPEAL only to the vanity and ego of your boss/CEO/client, etc.
- NEVER consider your audience—the news media, potential customers, current clients, etc.
- CONFUSE. Right at the start, no reader should have any idea what you’re talking about. This shows profundity and complexity of thought.
- NEVER proofread or use spell-check. Typoes keep the the media on they’re toes. As do bad grammer.
- A “NEWS” release is not a news story; it’s an ad. Brag from start to finish. Avoid information.
- PUMP UP the buzzwords. When you pepper your release with phrases like “end-to-end ROI,” “scale visionary initiatives,” and “drive transparent paradigms,” you’re cookin’!
- INFLATE a brief announcement into 1,000 words. For unusual creativity, shrink an important story into a few opaque sentences.
- NEVER cite objective outsiders like customers, analysts, researchers, etc. Use lots of long, windy quotes from company insiders—from the CEO to the parking attendant.
Since last year’s students liked the exercise, students in the Spring 2006 Journalism 331 class, Public Relations Techniques, at the University of Maryland University College were asked what PR programs deserved top honors in their eyes. Here are some interesting case overviews from that class.
Student Nghi Nguyen touted the social responsibility and community relations efforts by McDonald’s and particularly “its involvement with the World Children’s Day event every year. McDonald would join force with musicians to raise money for children around the world.” Nghi made the point that while the company — with others — is being constantly being tied to child and adult obesity in the world, they really do a great deal to help poverty in the world and its effect on children. The discussion that ensued with classmates generated nothing but positive comments about Ronald McDonald Charities and Ronald McDonald House.
Fast forward to sports. Student Nikki Taber hails from Detroit and pointed out to her classmates that the City’s reputation has been less than stellar, thanks to portrayals such as Eminem’s movie “Eight Mile.” However, things all changed when Detroit hosted this year’s Super Bowl. Beyond the success of the event itself, it was an opportunity to “report great things about Detroit.” Nikki described the efforts this way: “The Detroit Regional Chamber hosted a media party before the Super Bowl in an effort to introduce journalists, and media professionals from the sports, entertainment and business industries to Detroit. The event took place at Detroit’s Fox Theatre, and Detroit Regional Chamber President and CEO, Richard E. Blouse Jr. touted what was great about the city.” One attendee said, “The image painted of Detroit was one of rebirth, rebuilding, and that Detroit was the place to be.” Among other events, Detroit held a snow festival downtown the week leading up to the Super. Nikki said, “We had NO snow, they had to make it and truck it in. Then we got crazy heavy snow, and everyone was scared things would get bad, but it turned to be great. Detroit has never been better looking, at least not in my lifetime!” One of Nikki’s classmates, Jason Mcdonald offered the Detroit Super Bowl website http://www.sbxl.org. There, he said, a reader could find an article from the Detroit Free Press. “The article is about Roger Penske and his desire to continue the improvements made for the Super Bowl. He feels that getting ready for the Super Bowl was a milestone to make the city better and that everyone needs to keep moving ahead with improvement initiatives. It appears that this PR campaign is not over.
Student Tanya Ramey had kudos for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health for launching The Heart Truth, a national awareness campaign for women about heart disease. The Heart Truth is behind the National Wear Red Day (this year observed on February 3rd.) Tanya wrote: “National Wear Red Day is held on the first Friday in February and was first observed in 2004. On this day, women and men across the country are encouraged to wear red to alert women about their risk of heart disease. The NHLBI makes it easy for anyone to participate by providing suggestions and materials such as brochures, banners, fact sheets, and radio/print public service announcements that will aid in promoting awareness. They are available for downloading at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth/. Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women. While the campaign’s (Ogilvy PR) aim is primarily targeted at women ages 40 to 60, heart disease can start at any age. The sooner a female is aware of that fact, the sooner she can take action to improve her health and quality of life. I don’t believe it is a coincidence that I received an e-mail today that read: Following a low-fat diet late in life fails to lower the risk of cancer and heart disease in older women, a large government study finds.”
Student Melissa Austria, feels that organizations that use fundraising to help promote their businesses but also help the community deserve an award for best practice!
This sort of persuasive public relations can help create a bond or relationship with the public or community. She used the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as an example. She wrote: “During my internship at Fox News, we had a chef come in from a restaurant from Tysons II. He cooked an appetizer as well as a main meal but he also told us that the restaurant would be donating money to Katrina victims that weekend. The money would help victims by providing them with clothes and their children would be given school supplies. In Virginia Beach, my friend told my that he would be working at a nightclub and they would also be raising money for the Katrina victims. This helped attract more people to the club and brought the public together.” Marketing for a cause. Now, not all of her classmates agreed. Some felt this was an example of charity and not persuasive PR and opted instead to laud the efforts of organizations that brought true relief to the region. I say, there’s room for both. The fundraising of smaller organizations such as these, perhaps frustrated as to how they might help, was often funneled through the larger organizations delivering direct relief, such as the Red Cross.
Student Jason Mcdonald went straight to his textbook,“Effective Public Communications, Ninth Edition” by Cutlip, Center and Broom to find his nominee for Best Practice. “In the text (pp. 88-90), the authors write about the beginnings of America and some of the successful and persuasive public relations campaigns conducted by our founders,” Jason wrote. “The authors detail six techniques (now common in public relations strategies) that John Adams and his fellow revolutionaries used to convince their compatriots that revolution and separation from England were necessary:
1. They developed organizations to conduct effective public relations campaigns (Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence).
2. They used symbols to represent ideals designed to trigger patriotic and revolutionary emotions (the Liberty Tree).
3. They used slogans (“Taxation without representation is tyranny”).
4. They staged events to gain attention for their causes (the Boston Tea Party).
5. They ensured that their side of a story was in the public before the other side to gain acceptance (the Boston Massacre).
6. They saturated the community through their communication channels to instill new ideas in those who received their messages.”
Jason continued: “All of these were pivotal in turning the hearts and minds of other Americans against the British Crown to gain liberty. Imagine that anyone who agreed with the revolutionary propagandists was a traitor to the crown and risked their honor, fortune, security and life for subscribing to the traitorous ideals proposed by our founders. Yet, our founders were persuasive enough with their techniques that many joined the revolutionary cause.”
Student Luann Stubbs nominatedPopulation Connection and, specifically, their award-winning “dot” video. She wrote: “This group has been in existence for about 40 years, initially as ZPG, (Zero Population Growth), and aims to educate and influence people on the connection between our many social, economic, and environmental problems and overpopulation. The group changed their name in May 2002…They concentrate their efforts on education, information dissemination, and lobbying. The group seems to be highly ethical (you can view their complete financial statement and even their tax return from their web site http://www.populationconnection.org), with an all-volunteer board of directors. They have resources for teachers, advocates, campus activists, and journalists, including an email address and phone number. Educational, promotional, and training materials are available. The web site also offers fact sheets and current world and U.S. population figures. A legislative guide and action network is another important part of the website, as part of their attempt to educate and persuade politicians and the general public to limit population growth. But I believe by far their most persuasive material is their ‘dot’ video, that illustrates the growth of world population using a world map and dots of population added over a time progression.”
Student Amy Henry nominated the Declare Yourself campaign, meant to persuade young people to vote in the 2004 elections. This campaign won a PRSA Silver Anvil Award from in 2005. Amy wrote: “I am nominating this campaign because it brilliantly utilized all forms of media to try to empower, educate, and motivate their target public. The project was a partnership between entertainment, media, technology, and education to stress the importance of voting and civic involvement. Some of their efforts included a Declaration of Independence Road Trip (a 50-city tour that included a multi-media exhibit explaining the document’s significance); a live spoken word tour of multi-ethnic artists; a TV special and concert tour with popular musicians; slick PSA’s featuring well known actors, fashion icons, intellectuals, and musicians; a web site that provided voter registration forms, absentee ballots, a polling place locator and political news; a 20-minute film starring comedy actors to be shown to high school seniors during school-complete with a discussion guide for teachers; voter education booklets; and newspaper inserts for high schools.
Student Kristin Wasilewski also picked a campaign related to getting out the vote. She wrote that the Foundation of Women Executives in Public Relations presents The Crystal Obelisk Awards for Social Responsibility annually. In 2005, the award for profit campaign under $100,000 was Ben & Jerry’s partnered campaign with Rock the Vote. This campaign was used to persuade young Americans to register to vote in the 2004 Presidential election. Included in the campaign was a chance to name the new Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor. After young Americans registered to vote, they would also be registered to vote for the name of the new flavor. The voters registered at the New Hampshire primary and also at Ben & Jerry’s annual Free Cone Day. The results of this campaign included over 365,000 people voting on the final flavor name, and Primary Berry Graham getting the nod. http://www.wepr.org/awards_winners.asp
Student Allison Martyn selected two local campaigns. The first was a small local contracting company called Wichita Roofing and Remodeling. It’s a 13-year old company and pretty well established in the Wichita area. However, it was nothing unusual or special until October 2005, when they were chosen to be the contractor for a local project on ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.’ Wow, what amazing publicity they received! Of course the project was huge news here and filled the local newspaper and TV news, as expected What I’ve been impressed with is what they’ve done since then. They sponsored a watch party at a local theater the night the episode aired, they invested in some commercials highlighting their involvement in the show, and
they are planning a huge presentation at the Wichita Home & Garden show next weekend. They took the media attention they got from the show and have really kept it going. Now everyone knows who they are.
“The second is another local company, a car dealership called Davis Moore. They have several locations and sell both new and used vehicles of many different makes. What is unusual about them is they don’t spend their budget on advertising. Instead, they run a public safety campaign. They run a lot of commercials, but they are all about vehicle safety — buckling up, proper
installation of child seats, the importance of following the speed limits. A local child was killed when he leaned on a rocker-style window switch in a parked car and the window closed on his neck. They started a fund for the family and petition to automakers to eliminate the rocker-style switches that can be dangerous to children. As a result they have painted themselves as a community-oriented friendly car dealer that you should trust. Their name is synonymous with safety in most people’s minds, a key factor when purchasing your next family car!”
So how did President Bush do in his State of the Union Address? At the risk of being institutionalized against my will, I make the following assessment of this speech: George W Bush is arguably a better public speaker now than were Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and George H. W. Bush in their prime. Such a statement just a few short years ago would have been laughable, but not today.
Whether you love or loath George W. Bush, you can not deny that he has learned how to read a teleprompter. His smirks are gone. The squinting has disappeared. The nervous rushing trough a speech is a distant memory. Tics are non-existent. The first half of his speech was completely devoid of any stumbles whatsoever. Granted, he did stumble over 10 words in the second half, but none were disruptive.) Indeed, Bush was devoid of Bushisims.
Bush exuded confidence through his steady eye contact and his lack of head jerking. He conveyed emotion without seeming exasperated. For once, he seemed to have spent more hours rehearsing his speech in a week that at the gym.
Stylistically, Bush seemed sincere and was devoid of petty jabs at long-forgotten adversaries like Kerry and Gore. Unless you were a die-hard Bush hater, he didn’t seem smug or arrogant. Instead, his tone was conversational and relaxed.
Of Course, Bush isn’t perfect on technical grounds yet. He got thirsty and his tongue was hanging out of his mouth too often (in search of moisture?) during the second half of the speech. And it probably goes without saying that Bush still can’t pronounce the word “nuclear,” though in his defense, he is not a nuclear engineer (like some previous presidential mispronouncers of the word).
So how did Bush’s speech rate on political grounds? Since this President has the lowest poll ratings of anyone since Nixon at this state of a second term, Bush was in serious need of receiving a boost. Bush sounded the most non-partisan of his presidency. I predict he will receive a short-term boost in his polls from many independent voters who liked his stance on HIV/AIDS or on developing non-traditional forms of energy.
But conservatives must have been disappointed by the least red meat-filled speech of the Bush Presidency. The hard-fought Alito Supreme court victory barely got mentioned (at 3 minutes to 10:00 PM). Bush requesting congress to give him the line-item veto was as pathetically amusing as watching Linus hoping for the arrival of the Great Pumpkin. Did Bush think this fantasy gimmick would fool conservatives into thinking he wasn’t the most fiscally irresponsible president in the history of the world?
Liberals are far beyond being impressed by Bush’s style. In their world, Bush is forever the inarticulate, bumbling, bungling idiot-son-in-chief. There is only one thing that would have impressed them. If Bush had admitted categorical failure in his plan to invade Iraq and then called for the complete elimination of troops from that country. Nothing else would impress Liberals.
Bush is an inspiration for all late-bloomers in life, but his new rhetorical
skills may have come too late to alter his 2nd term political landscape.
Most people feel nervous prior to giving a speech. This is human nature and indeed some degree of nerves is absolutely essential to remain alert and deliver the speech clearly. However nerves do become a problem if they are debilitating in any way. Thankfully, there are practical ways to overcome this which are outlined below.
Rationalize your nerves
First of all, silently and in advance of your speech, rationalise your thoughts. What are nerves? Nerves are simply a fight or flight response to danger. If you anticipate something you fear adrenaline will pump around your body causing you to feel anxiety. Although it may feel uncomfortable, nothing bad will happen to you. In fact look at your nerves as a positive thing as they will give you the energy to deliver your speech in an emotive, engaging and passionate way.
Prepare and Practice
The more familiar you are with something, the less uncomfortable it makes you feel. Think about your first day at work and think about how you feel at work now? The anxiety levels will have undoubtedly reduced the more familiar you are with your role, surroundings, colleagues etc. Apply this principle to your speech. First of all, know the subject of your speech inside out. Write the speech in the format it is to be delivered i.e. on PowerPoint or acetates. Prepare speaker notes that give you prompts on the title of the slide and its contents. If there are any names or statistics that you might find difficult to remember, include them on your speaker notes. These notes are not designed to be read from, but are designed to be held by the speaker and glanced at every so often to prompt the speaker and facilitate the flow of the presentation from beginning to end. They should be produced on small, discrete cards that can be hand held.
25 years? $1 billion? And still no “cure?” That depends on what your definition of “cure” is.
There are many definitions for CURE and Susan G. Komen for the Cure (the new name) has been at the forefront of the cure for breast cancer around the world.
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and its famous fundraising circuit Race for the Cure® have taken on a new name and new look this week (beginning Jan. 22), along with a renewed commitment to raise an ADDITIONAL $1 billion for the cause in the next decade.
Thumbs up for their renewed PROMISE: “To save lives and end breast cancer forever by empowering people, ensuring quality care for all and energizing science to find the cures. “
Thumbs up for how they are handling the rollout of the new brand. The PR and advertising campaign this week shows that Komen has been and will continue to be the icon of the breast cancer movement and the “go to” resource for people affected by breast cancer.
From a public and media relations standpoint, there’s so much to review in so little space!! Let’s get on with it!
FOR THE PUBLIC —
There was Susan G. Komen for the Cure founder Nancy G. Brinker sitting with First Lady Laura Bush during the State of the Union Address Tuesday night to hear the important health care elements of the President’s speech.
A national satellite television media tour featuring founder Nancy Brinker, as well as a national radio media tour with Dwight Randle, Komen’s senior scientific advisor, all airing January 25th.
There was the viral email sent through Affiliates (chapters) and forwarded on and on to friends, donors, relatives and anyone who might care about the cause. Thousands on thousands of people are sending this around the world as you read this!! The text reads, with graphics:
Hi friends…
I made a promise – and you can too.
In 1982, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation started with a promise between two sisters. This year, our 25th anniversary, we are shifting into another gear, recommitting to finally, once and for all, finish what we started. Susan G. Komen for the Cure: new name, new logo, same promise – to end breast cancer forever.
There are big, bold changes coming. In fact, Komen for the Cure is dedicating this year to engaging our grassroots network of survivors and activists – the largest in the world – in a yearlong program of special events and initiatives, designed to help discover and deliver the cures. I invite you to join me and get inspired by viewing this special video message and promising to pass it on to your friends:
The video message will take you to http://www.25komen.org. There you will be able to create your own Promise Circle – a motivating online network of family and friends joining you in Komen’s breast cancer movement. Pass it on and watch it grow!
Share the story and show that you’re part of the promise by purchasing a set of Komen Promise Rings and passing one on to a friend. One to wear and one to share! View the video message, visit http://www.25komen.org, and find out how you can help fund breast cancer research and community outreach programs by sharing a Promise Ring.
Please join me in igniting the promise!
There is a terrific microsite with moving, talking people at http://www.25komen.org. A microsite is “an online destination — separate from an organization’s main web site — that has a distinct URL and delivers focused, relevant content about a specific product or service.” (Mark Walsh, OMMA Magazine, January 2007, pg. 7) People can sign on to create their own “circle.”
Significant national advertising in such media as People magazine with a focus on major metropolitan areas.
FOR INSIDERS —
“Brand Ambassador” training began in July with confidentiality agreements assuring the Brand could be launched dramatically in January.
No hunting for new BRAND guidelines, fonts, colors or logo templates. User-friendly Brand Central has it all and an easy-to-use poster with common elements can be hung on the wall.
Their Promise Week toolkit contains a hard copy and CD with an activation plan and ideas, a letter for media partners, a sample media advisory, a promotional sale item, and more.
The overall Promise Week message is bold and strong…and that’s not only coming from me as a PR professional but as a 20-year breast cancer survivor. One page of the newly designed website reads:
“Komen at 25 — Walking the Walk —
With plans to invest $1 billion in breast cancer research and community health and education programs in the next 10 years, we’re putting our money where our mouth is.
And our time. And our people. And our voices. 2007 will be a brash, bold, unforgettable year in the history of the breast cancer movement and Komen for the Cure will be leading the charge.”
Visit the microsite at: http://cms.komen.org/komen/AboutUs/Komenat25/index.htm
Did you happen to catch the Mary Thompson piece on CNBC business news on December 23 talking about the Starbucks campaign where they were using “unconventional and surprising ways to connect with consumers…” ???? Maybe it is guerrilla marketing at its best but she reported about Starbucks giving out 100 $5 gift certificates to people they saw being good Samaritans on the street. The people would tell the driver of a vehicle that he had left his coffee on the roof. “Happy Holiday’s from Starbucks!” the good Samaritans were told, before they realized the cup had been permanently affixed.
Staged, yes. But it got attention on the street, started a flurry of talk, was furiously blogged about, and was caught over and again by the mainstream media.
And they apparently always have folks smelling their coffee, because “positive, memorable aromas make people smile,” she reported. She ended by saying, “Tongues are wagging inside and outside this coffee klatch.”
So, do you think these tactics help or hurt a business image?
Of all the advice I give to my media training clients when it comes to how to answer questions during a media interview, the hardest piece for people to grasp is the need to communicate all three of your message points in every answer (that’s EVERY answer). When I tell people this, they think I am kidding, or they think that I meant to say “all three message points during the course of the interview.”
That’s not what I am saying. I urge people to try to say all three of their message points in every single answer.
“But TJ,” you cry. “I’ll sound insane! Reporters will run away from me.”
No, they won’t. The trick is that you don’t want to sound like a computer or a broken record. You want to hit all three of your message points in each answer, but do it in a different order, using different examples, and using different words.
If you aim for all three message points and you only get to one or two before the reporter cuts you off or interrupts you, well then you at least hit one or two—not bad.
The mistake many novices make is that they deliver all three of their message points exactly once, near the beginning of the interview. Then, they proceed to answer questions in a totally reactive way for the next thirty minutes. At the end of the interview, the reporter looks down at his or her notes and sees 57 separate message pointes, each delivered exactly once—therefore none stand out.
The reporter then chooses to include a random couple of points from your 57 points.
If you are happy with a 3-57 chance of success, then continue to use this strategy. If you want to increase the odds that the message you care about actually ends up in the story, then you must be more proactive, specifically by trying to interject all three of your message points in each answer.
Al Gore has taken enough heat about his flat and wooden speaking style over the years to raise the Earth’s temperature several degrees (some of it from me), but you have to give him credit for one thing he does well: the man knows how to use his PowerPoint slides.
Long before Al Gore was turned into a movie star (“an Inconvenient Truth”), he toured the country giving a PowerPoint presentation on the dangers of global warming. I’ll let others debate the merits of the science or Al Gore, but I will critique his style. I saw Gore give his presentation in 2004 here in Manhattan (his critics took great comfort that Gore spoke on global warming on the coldest day in decades in New York).
But the thing I still remember years later about his presentation was this: no text. Gore used NO TEXT in his PowerPoint presentation. Gore correctly used slides that contained images of the earth, glaciers, ice caps, and the sea to make his points. His visuals enhanced his presentation; they didn’t detract and they didn’t bore.
So if even Al Gore can use PowerPoint in a non-boring manner, what’s your excuse? If you are going to use PowerPoint slides, don’t fill them up with text. Instead, use images, photos and graphs, whether you are trying to save the planet or your number one aluminum siding account.
In the October 5 edition of the New York Times, Julie Bosman wrote that the “curiously strong” Altoid mints were facing possible branding issues in the company’s move to “shutter the factory in Bridgend, Wales and transfer production to its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.”
One might say that was a curiously strong move on the part of owners Wm. Wrigley and Co., since the candy had been marketed with its old world British origins since being introduced to the U.S. in 1918. The antique looking metal tins include the words “Made in Great Britain.” Even the online encyclopedia Wikipedia is out-of-step, noting: “Altoids are produced in Britain by Callard & Bowser-Suchard.” Wikipedia shows that “The history of Altoids actually dates back to the reign of King George III. The brand was created by a London-based Smith & Company in the 1780s but eventually became part of the Callard & Bowser company in the 1800s.”
Some brand and identity folks say that this is a shift in how Altoids defines itself, with them going after a reputation as being a very different breath changer, rather than an old candy dating back to King George. For those of you who don’t know, Altoid ads began as early as 1920, touting the confection as “an antidote to poisons in the stomach. One or two taken after meals will stop poisonous fementation.” http://www.altoids.com/index.aspx?area=about
Others think the shift in Altoids production won’t matter. Still others say, it’s only the mint flavors that have stayed in the UK and all other flavors are exported to the U.S. and other places, anyway.
If one peruses the Altoids web site, it’s all about fun and prominently displays a contest regarding the “Tin Million Uses/One Metal Box” for the Altoids’ tin. And the last line on the home page reads that they are still made in Great Britain. Hmmmmm…
For the person studying related image risks of products moving to the U.S. from the far corners of the world, Bosman’s article is worth looking up. She analyzes similar moves by Lowenbrau toMiller Brewing Co. to Labatt, Jaguar to Ford Motor Co., Saturn to GM, Foster’s to Molson and more. These cases might be fun for you public relations professors such as myself out there.
Bosman also notes at least two successes, however — BMW’s connection to German engineering, and Armani’s connection to Italian fashion. Does it really matter when you really love a brand? After all, what do you really know, or care about, the origins of Kikkoman soy sauce or Haagen-Dazs ice cream?
Public figures get in trouble all of the time and are then forced to apologize. Whether it is TV preachers who claim to know why God strikes some people down or Olympic athletes who brag about skiing while drunk, big shots are often forced into the role of the contrite. Few pull it off well, because they don’t seem to be sincere and they don’t seem to grasp why what they said or did it offended anyone.
Oprah Winfrey, once again, is in a class by herself. Not only is she only the world’s greatest talk show host, but she is a world class apologizer too. Winfrey suffered a rare ding to her public image when she promoted James Frey’s phony memoir “A Million Little Pieces.” She made matters much worse for herself when she defended Frey after he was exposed as a fraud. Winfrey called to defend him on the Larry King Show, saying the controversy was “much ado about nothing.”
What happened next was not the usual treatment for media darling Oprah. She was roundly denounced by columnists, pundits, editors and talk show hosts around the globe for essentially saying that “the truth doesn’t matter anymore.”
Oprah countered several days later on her show when she brought back disgraced author Frey and his publisher Nan Talese. Regarding Oprah’s call to King defending Frey, she said “I regret that phone call. I made a mistake and I left the impression that the truth does not matter and I am deeply sorry about that. That is not what I believe.”
Additionally, Winfrey said that she felt “duped” by Frey and she used the platform of her own TV show to rake Fry and his editor over the coals repeatedly.
So why was Oprah’s apology effective whereas as most politicians and public officials fail in their own apologies?
1. She said she was sorry and that she made a mistake. She didn’t sugar coat things or claim that she had “misspoken.” She didn’t apologize just for having offended people. She apologized because she had made a serious mistake.
2. Oprah didn’t try to minimize her sins. She showed she really understood why people were upset. She spelled out that her mistake was giving people the impression she didn’t care about the truth.
3. She seemed sincere. By spending so much time on her blunder and by giving airtime to her critics, Oprah seemed genuinely troubled by the course of events and sincerely sorry.
4. Oprah tried to take actions to correct the problems. She practically chopped off the fingers of Frey and his editor in order to keep them from writing and publishing again. This shows she takes the issue seriously and isn’t just doing a quick PR spin.
5. By apologizing to her viewers, admitting that her critics were right, and offering no defense for her actions, Oprah revealed herself emotionally to her fans and the world. She also left no other rational reason for anyone to be angry with her or to criticize her. Thus, the only logical reaction left from her audience was to give Oprah forgiveness.
That is a successful apology and that is yet another reason why Oprah is the queen of all media.
Very few people actually think of themselves a as a crashing bore, but a very high percentage of people temporarily become huge bores when they give a speech.
And everyone always has a good reason.
“But it’s a lot of technical information I have to get out.”
“For legal reasons I have to say things in a straightforward way.”
“My boss wants me to stick to the script.”
“My audience is highly sophisticated and they really want me to drill deep into the details and all the numbers.”
“I’d like to show my personality, but the PowerPoint scripts have me handcuffed.”
What’s the one thing all of these excuses have in common? Your audience doesn’t buy any of them and will tune you out!
A lot of speakers waste hours and hours fretting over color schemes on their PowerPoint slides and what tie to wear. Those details have some minor importance, but they are almost entirely irrelevant if what you are trying to say is boring. There are thousands of little details that go into the style and substance of every speech that can have a minor impact and that, collectively, have a big impact. But there are just a handful of things that can have a deciding impact on your speech’s reception by your audience.
And one of those is whether or not your speech is boring. If you are boring, you can have great eye contact, a perfect suit and flawless slides—none of this will matter. No one will remember what you said.
If you actually say something interesting to the audience and you do it in an engaging manner, then you can break most other rules on saying “um,” using lousy PowerPoint slides and having your shirt tail sticking out—you will still be seen as a great speaker.
So it’s OK to make mistakes as a speaker, just make sure that being boring isn’t one of them.
Far too many speakers attempt to look and sound smart by drowning their audience members in a sea of facts. “More is More” is their philosophy. The problem is that no matter how quickly you speak during a 20-30 minute speech, there is no way you can get your audience to know as much as you do on your area of expertise.
The other reality is that your audience can already get all of the facts on your subject from the internet. People are not suffering from a lack of information or facts. There are more than 100,000 books published every year and, seemingly, another 100,000 blogs run by self-appointed pundits published every hour.
The world does not need more information. Your audience doesn’t really want more information.
Instead, your audience is looking for someone (you) who can sift through all the info they don’t have time to go through and distill for them what they really, really need to know. In short, your audience is looking for wisdom.
Are you providing wisdom for your audience? It would be nice if every speaker could come up with stunningly original and creative thoughts for each audience.
But this is not always required. You can impart wisdom to your audience by giving it a well-organized perspective on your subject matter. This means you don’t get them lost in a forest of facts. It’s not that facts don’t matter. It’s just that facts without context and priority have no meaning. As a speaker, you can give wisdom to your audience by giving them an overriding metaphor or a new thematic way at looking at a particular problem or cluster of issues. By creating themes or overriding messages, you help your audience interpret some small slice of the world in a more coherent, and hence, more meaningful way.
And when you are adding the value of meaning, even if it is how to make award winning paper airplanes, you will be perceived as a speaker who adds the value of wisdom to your audience.
Steve Sargent, president and CEO of GE Australia and New Zealand, runs through a four-point checklist–sometimes in just 30 seconds–before every organized communication event, from small meetings to large speeches.
Don’t even think about speaking in front of an audience without going through this checklist.
The surest way to get quoted by the media is to attack somebody, even if it is yourself. Reporters love attacks. Why? Because attacks are a part of conflict and every great drama involves conflict.
The best story to be on if you are a reporter is war. Walter Cronkite became famous by covering WWII. Dan Rather got famous during the Vietnam War. Wars are interesting to cover because people are attacking each other every day.
The second best story to be on if you are a reporter is a national political campaign. Why? Because the leader of one party is attacking the leader of the other party every single day. And vice versa.
When you attack your opponents by name, your competitors, your boss, or yourself, you instantly make reporters excited. The more forceful, pointed, or emotional the attack you make, the greater your chances are of being quoted.
“General Electric is destroying the Hudson River!”
“McDonalds is on a mission to make every kid in America weigh 300 pounds.”
“I hate myself for forgetting to report all of my campaign contributions.”
All of these quotes will make it into final radio, TV and newspaper reports because they contain attacks.
Of course, as always, just because something is interesting to reporters doesn’t mean it is a good idea for you to say it. If a part of your message is to attack government waste, or inequality, then, by all means, attack away. But don’t ever attack anyone or anything in front of a reporter unless you want to see that attack in headlines connected with your name in tomorrow’s paper.
Many business communicators lard up their speeches with jargon and weasel words. The result? They sound like bureaucratic stooges.
Your goal when dealing with the media is to communicate a message in the clearest and simplest manner possible, while at the same time building your reputation as a strong and forceful communicator. Strong and forceful are relative terms, so if you use all of the same buzzwords that everyone else does, you will always seem mediocre. Many businesspeople acquire their bad rhetorical habits at some point during their second year of business school or after having attended their third annual board of directors meeting.
Here are some of the worst offenders:
“Going forward . . .” What an utterly useless phrase. Use “in the future” instead. You wouldn’t tell your teenage son, “Going forward, please keep your room straight,” so why use it in a speech or interview? The sole purpose for using a phrase like “going forward” in a speech is to create the impression that you are saying something fancier than you actually are. So please, going forward, never use the phrase “going forward.”
“If you will.” People tack this phrase onto the back of a sentence as if to say, “Look at this most original and brilliant insight I have just come up with. It will require you to change your whole conception of the universe, if you will be so kind as to indulge me in this mind- thought experiment.” Pretentious drivel! Imagine a trap door, if you will, that will spring open and devour you if you ever use the phrase “if you will” in a public speech.
“As it were.” See above.
There is nothing wrong with using specialized language to convey complex concepts to sophisticated audiences, but that is not what many business communicators do. Instead, they use complex phrases to communicate simple concepts because they are under the delusion that this makes them sound more professional. The more simply and conversationally you can speak, regardless of the topic’s complexity, the more likely your audiences will understand, respect and appreciate you and your message.
TJ Walker, Media Training Worldwide
For more information on media and presentation training please visit http://www.mediatrainingworldwide.com,
You have the best of intentions. You give speech after speech using strong visuals, compelling examples and riveting stories to make your points come alive. But then, slowly, your speaking skills start to dissolve. The next thing you know, you’ve become a boring hack, just like everyone else.
How did it happen?
Here is the usual suspect. You are supposed to speak at a conference in 3 weeks. The conference coordinator calls your office urgently and says “Can you email your presentation today? We promised all of the attendees that we would send them in advance!”
But you are on the road, or busy. So you ask a staffer to put together a rough draft PowerPoint slide. Since the assistant isn’t a mind reader, all he/she can do is list bullet points of concepts that you have discussed before on this subject, or take out facts and numbers from your website and previous presentations. So far, no harm, because this is just a draft.
But now the speech is tomorrow and you haven’t had time to think about it. And all you have is the “draft” prepared by your assistant. There’s still time to prepare a great speech on the plane. But things come up, as they always do, and you are preoccupied.
Now you have to give the speech in five minutes. And you are left with one option: you will kinda, sorta read the bullet points on the PowerPoint slide to your audience. You know it was awful, compared to your normal way of speaking. But nobody came up to complain afterwards. In fact, several people still complemented you, though they were vendors looking to do business with you.
The next thing you know, you’ve gone six months and a dozen speeches using this technique of reading bullet points off of a screen. You have a new habit.
Stop! You are destroying your reputation! And no one has the guts to tell you!
Throw away your slides and start from scratch. For your next speech, you need to come up with five major points, and then an example and a story for each point. Then, come up with a visual slide for each point that contains no words. Finally, prepare a one-page outline that reminds you of your key points, examples, stories and slides. Finally, rehearse.
Now you are ready to re-enter the society of interesting speakers and presenters. Welcome back.