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
It’s coming!
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!
Running down the clock
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
Repeating: Yes and No!
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!
Questions: Scary!
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!
Distill without destroying
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
Dance the dance
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
Bullets or full script?
When you work at a company of any size, there are many people who participate in writing, editing, and approving any talk that you give. It would be so delightful if all of those people (including you) could nail down your content three weeks … [Read more...] about Bullets or full script?
Stay hydrated!
In April, I helped about fifty people at a few different companies prepare for talks at their annual user and developer conferences. At the end of almost every coaching conversation, I said, “Good luck! Stay hydrated!” This may seem like a dumb, … [Read more...] about Stay hydrated!
Panic doesn’t look good
If you don’t want to look freaked out by a question, don’t BE freaked out by the question. Almost no one has the capacity to manage their impulses so well that they can control their own micro-expressions! If you want to get better at managing … [Read more...] about Panic doesn’t look good
