powerful counsel | powerful messages | powerful conversations
There is no substitute for daily practice. Real change comes from consistent, patient, disciplined, daily focus on new behavior. Want to learn to patiently listen during difficult conversations with employees? A daily practice of meditation will … [Read more...] about Incrementalism
Yes, I am a communications coach. I help people deliver great messages to all sorts of audiences. But sometimes silence is the most powerful form of communication. More often than not, the best way to position yourself in an email battle is not … [Read more...] about Silence is a strategy too
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 Plans. Good.
If you’re the one who identifies a big problem for your company, don’t hide it. Tell everybody. Sounding the alarm gets the right team on board to help find the solution. However, you don’t want to be the messenger that gets shot. Bring a … [Read more...] about Bring a problem and a solution
Start your engines, team! Fall conference season is around the corner. What are you responsible for? Creating messages? Delivering them? Generating interest in your company? Converting prospects into customers? Keeping customers happy once they are … [Read more...] about It’s coming!
You’re sitting with a reporter for thirty minutes. The reporter takes five minutes just to formulate their first question. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Should you interrupt? Over 25 years of staffing interviews as a PR person, I came to … [Read more...] about Running down the clock
Repetition is either a superpower or a disaster. For example: In a media interview? Lean hard into repeating your key soundbite. If you’ve got a great soundbite you’ve got a much better chance of it getting into the final story if you say it … [Read more...] about Repeating: Yes and No!
This may seem obvious, but the way not to be scared and surprised by questions is not to be scared and surprised by questions. Prepping for a big interview on CNBC? Your PR team has pored over interviews, had conversations with producers, and … [Read more...] about Questions: Scary!
Dominic Walliman’s TEDx Talk Quantum Physics for Seven Year Olds is a great primer on communicating complex concepts. Here are a few of his suggestions that I love: Meet your audience where they are: “As a communicator, you must take into account … [Read more...] about Distill without destroying
A media interview looks like a normal conversation, but it’s not a conversation at all. It’s a business transaction that takes the form of a careful, predictable Kabuki dance. Every participant in a media interview is filling a well-defined … [Read more...] about Dance the dance
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