If you want to do a terrible media interview, don’t have a plan. Don’t be clear about your business objective, don’t define a communications objective that will help you achieve your business objective, and definitely don’t have messages or proof … [Read more...] about Planning matters
Manage your brain!
Every one human brain has an amygdala, a part of our brain not much bigger than an almond. Your amygdala’s job is to keep you safe. It wants you to follow well-established patterns of behavior. When you break a pattern, your amygdala freaks out and … [Read more...] about Manage your brain!
Leaks are good!
Back a thousand years ago when I was overseeing PR for Java at Sun Microsystems, we urgently needed to finish the briefing doc for spokespersons at JavaOne. It was 1996, so Google Docs didn’t exist. It was after 7 p.m., and there I was at Moscone … [Read more...] about Leaks are good!
The Justice Dept is coming!
I’ve represented more than one company through a complex, high profile federal lawsuit. Nothing is more humiliating for a company than seeing their emails, text messages, and documents posted by opposing counsel on a huge screen in the courtroom for … [Read more...] about The Justice Dept is coming!
Whose idea is it?
A ‘thought leadership campaign’ is about coming up with a great idea. It’s also about finding allies who will help you spread that idea. When you take the time to identify and individually cultivate people who have platforms that can really amplify … [Read more...] about Whose idea is it?
Cast your net wide!
One of my favorite mythological metaphors is Indra’s Net. The Hindu God Indra has a net hanging over his palace. At every knot in the net sits a multi-faceted jewel. (If a net with jewels hanging over a mythical Hindu palace doesn’t do it for you, … [Read more...] about Cast your net wide!
Words matter
It’s 2000, during the decadent late days of the dot.com boom, just weeks before the inevitable crash. It’s a Friday afternoon and no one’s doing much work in the office. I’m sitting there with our 33 year old CEO, who’s feeling pretty good … [Read more...] about Words matter
Sometimes the clearest response is silence
Yes, I am a communications coach. I help my clients become great communicators - as media spokespersons, as keynote speakers, as leaders. But sometimes I tell my clients to step back and say nothing. More often than not, the best way to position … [Read more...] about Sometimes the clearest response is silence
What words mean
Let’s talk about words. If I say “ruby” to someone at a jewelry store, I’m going to get something very different than if I say “Ruby” on GitHub. If you ask me when I’ll be done editing the annual report and I say “soon” I might mean by … [Read more...] about What words mean
Context is king
I just re-read Peter Mayle’s classic A Year in Provence, which was as delicious the second time around as it was the first time I read it, almost thirty years ago. What does this classic travel memoir have to do with being a great … [Read more...] about Context is king
