Expertise.com Ranks O’Brien Communications One of the Best PR Firms in Pittsburgh

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Pittsburgh, PA, January 11, 2017 – Expertise.com has ranked O’Brien Communications one of the “Best PR Firms in Pittsburgh,” in its most recent rankings. According to the national web site, it reviewed 88 firms from throughout the Pittsburgh region and selected the top 14 for its rankings.

Expertise.com bases its selections on a survey of the field to “find every business that provides service in the city, and to filter out any that fail to meet our definition of an expert.” After that, the site uses software to grade each business on 25 variables across five criteria that include: reputation, credibility, experience, availability, and professionalism.

About O’Brien Communications

Founded by Tim O’Brien in 2001, Pittsburgh-based O’Brien Communications builds its client service with a focus on: Corporate Communications & Strategic Planning; Marketing Communications; Public Relations & Media Relations; Content Development & Professional Writing; Communications Coaching, and Crisis & Issues Management. Clients have ranged from Fortune 500 corporations to nonprofits and emerging start-ups. For more information, call 412.854.8845 or email timobrien@timobrienpr.com.

Where do I start when writing a speech for my boss? Should I ask a newspaper to print a correction?

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This is the second installment in what’s becoming a series of responses to reader questions.  The two questions selected for this blog are ones I’ve received over the years.

Question #1:   My CEO wants me to write a speech for him to give to an industry group. I’ve never written a speech before. Where do I start?

– Ashley M.

Response:  The best place to start is to have a meeting with your CEO if possible. At that meeting, come armed with as many questions as possible.  In order to do that, you need to do your homework first.  Find out when the speech will be, how long is it expected to take, who is the audience, the format (speech, keynote, panel, formal or informal, etc.), if visual aids are expected or required, if your speaker likes to read from a script or note cards, and what guidelines the host has provided in terms of speech topics and themes.

If other speakers will be at the event, find out who they are and what they will be speaking about.  The more you know about the venue and the context, the more you can hone in on your approach.

In your initial meeting with the CEO, work to determine what areas of focus should form the substance of the speech draft.  Play the role of reporter, asking questions and posing scenarios to get the CEO’s input.  It’s best to have a recorder with you so that you can gather the information most efficiently and better focus on covering all of your questions.  Later on playback, you can study the speaking style and word choice that comes most naturally to the CEO.

The next step is one not every speechwriter follows, but I do. I like to personally transcribe the recording from the meeting. It’s tedious work but for me it helps me truly immerse myself in the subject matter and better pick up on the tone and feel of the speech from the start.  Usually by the time I’m done with this task, I have a feel for how I’d like to approach the speech creatively.

Other tip is to study any videos of your CEO from other speeches.

Next, start writing.  Create an outline and develop that into a first draft. Don’t let the lack of certain details keep you from writing as complete a first draft as possible.  Just bookmark spots where you think data, statistics, stories and anecdotes may better fill out and humanize the speech at that point.

This is your “Swiss cheese draft,” which will not be ready for review until you’ve gone back and done the necessary research and thinking to fill in those holes.  From there, you will need to go through an arduous editing process, until you are most comfortable with the feel of it. Keep in mind, you are writing for the ear and the eyes of the audience.  Keep your words short, direct and active.  Create visuals through active verbs and strong imagery.  And above all, humanize the speech with stories the tie directly to the speech’s theme.

That’s an overview.  If you have any specific questions on this, feel free to let me know off line and I’ll be glad to respond.

Question #2: A newspaper recently ran a story based on an interview one of their reporters did with a senior manager at our organization.  The published story seemed to infer that a comparably sized competitor of ours is bigger than us.  My boss wants me to request a correction in the newspaper.  Will they run it?

– Michelle D.

Response: Probably not, and even if they would, the correction itself is not likely to be seen by many of those who saw the original article, making little difference.

At the same time, the one group of people who will notice this gesture are a few editors and reporters in the newsroom, who may react in different ways.  One or two may respond the way your organization hopes and realize the story may not have been as accurate as it could be. But others may not react as constructively.

Any time you interact with the media, the best approach is to think of the long term.  Determine how “egregious” the immediate story may be, and then decide if it’s worth adding any tension to the relationship between your organization and the news organization involved.  Just as we constantly work to build positive relationships with the media, some organizations have a tendency to undermine that when they become unnecessarily demanding or critical of certain news organizations.

In cases where the error is truly damaging to the organization, such as alleging or implying unethical behavior on the part of senior management with no substantiation, then you may be obligated to demand corrective action from the news organization.  But in this case, the nature of the offense does not seem to warrant spoiling the waters of your relationship with the news organization.

If you have a question you’re like to discuss one-on-one or see addressed in this space, please get in touch.

Happy Holidays from the Kaufmann’s Windows

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Do you remember the Kaufmann’s windows?  It wasn’t that long ago that they in themselves were a destination for  the holidays.  This clip from WQED-TV features my wife, my kids an me when we were all a little younger.  That’s us below.  (We come in at 2:00).  Have a great Holiday Season!

You Don’t Have to be On Stage to Make Your Technical Content Sing

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It doesn’t matter whether you have a presentation to deliver, an article to write, or a blog post to prepare, you have some pretty complex or technical information to convey and you’re just not sure how you’re going to connect.

It could be anything. A new medical device.  A legal or financial strategy. A component that enables your smart phone to work better.  A chemical coating that protects your car’s paint from sun damage.

To be sure, each one of these topics can be a cure for insomnia…if you let it.

So, you must ask yourself, “How do I clearly, thoroughly and accurately present information of a highly technical or complex nature and not lose my audience?”

The simple answer is to tell a story.  Tell an interesting story.  Make it about people not data, or components or acronyms.  Put the information in the context of how it helps the reader, the viewer, the site visitor – real people – at all times.

Numbers Can Talk

One of my most memorable examples of this was when I was working for a tech company and we conducted a series of investor road shows.

The first couple of times we did it, I watched the analysts nearly fall to sleep as senior management led off with a detailed tutorial on how the company’s technology worked and where it fit within the network.

But when the CFO stood up to speak, delivering a set of dry but highly respectable numbers, the analysts perked up, some even sitting on the edge of their seats.  The order of things seemed to be the problem.

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So, counterintuitively, I suggested we change things up.  Let’s lead with the numbers and then explain what they mean, rather than the more common approach which was to give background before showing the numbers.

It worked.  The management team would talk about impressive sales figures, earnings per share, and the kind of cash reserves that allowed for potential growth through mergers and acquisitions.

In doing this, both the CFO and CEO grabbed the attention of the audience and planted the right questions in the minds of the attendees.  Can the company keep this performance up? What will they do with their cash reserves?  Will they try to grow organically or through M&A?

The rest of the presentation was the story – the context – of how the company could deliver results, what its strategy for the future would be, and above all, what it all meant to shareholders.

In the end, the company’s story was not really about the company at all, but about what the company’s performance meant to people.

Starting Points

If you have some technical information to relate and you don’t know where to start, begin with the people behind the new development or advancements. Who are they? Why did they see a problem?  What inspired them? What made their journey to a solution so innovative or interesting?

Find out more about the people to be impacted by the innovation or new technology. Who are they?  Why will they benefit?  How will they benefit? Will this change their lives in any way?

The answers to these questions can help turn technical information into understanding.  It can help your targeted audiences relate.

Your challenge is to put it all into an order that provide a cohesive narrative, one that takes the story from its beginning to its end, starting with the problem or challenge as it manifests itself in human terms. Then describe the process towards the solution.  This is the story that will open your audience’s eyes to the possibilities.

It’s Thanksgiving! Time (again) to tell your family what you do in public relations

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It’s that time of year when you get together with your family and catch up. You can smell the turkey cooking in the oven, the fireplace is roaring, and the football games are on the television.

Everyone’s doing their best to avoid those taboo dinner table topics (some more successful than others), and somewhere between that second helping of green bean casserole and the pumpkin pie, someone asks you once again, “So, tell me, what do you actually do in PR?”

We’ve all been there. Our families often hear us use words like “public relations,” “marketing,” “communications,” or other terms like “social media,” “digital,” and “integrated.”  They want to show an interest.  Maybe more accurately, they want to be interested.  Your mother may even produce the business card you gave her two employers ago to show you she’s always thinking of you.

Now it’s your turn. What do you say this time? How can you make it clear once and for all what you actually do for a living?

If such a question causes frustration for you, let’s take a step back and consider the questions that are really being asked. When a dear loved one asks you what you do, they don’t usually want to know what you really do in terms of tasks.  Here’s what they are really asking:

  • Are you happy in your work? Is it rewarding?
  • Is the stress of work having an effect on you?
  • Do you have time to enjoy life?
  • Is there a future at your current employer or in your field?
  • Is there a chance you could be laid off?

Then, of course, there may be a small bit of curiosity about how public relations people “get away” with making large sums for “typing on a computer.”

So here’s my recommendation.

So, when you get the inevitable question, don’t plunge into a description of tasks you do at work. Don’t use jargon like “digital content” or “market share.”  Don’t drop the names of famous people or well-known brands and companies you may cross paths with through your work.  All of that is a big turnoff and likely to get people to turn the sound down in their minds when your lips are moving.

Instead, try to package your response to answer the questions they are really asking. Let me offer a hypothetical example for your Thanksgiving “elevator speech” that (I’d like to think is true) may address the questions behind the Thanksgiving question, “What do you do in PR?”

“I love my work. Every day I’m always doing something new and meeting new people.  I like the people I work with.  I work with the media, and develop my skills with technology and writing talents.  It’s very rewarding.

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I work hard but have great friends and coworkers. We do things away from work together. I’m taking an art class just for fun, and I joined a gym to stay healthy and fresh.  I feel really great and have learned how to balance work and life.

My field is very exciting. Whether it’s with my current employer or somewhere else, I hear about opportunities all of the time.  Of course, you get out of it what you put into it, but I’m seeing progress.”

OK, I know. Some or all of that may not be true for you. But the point here is at the very least to know the questions behind the question and to answer those questions honestly and sincerely.

Also, I realize that this still does not get at how the field of PR works. Trust me.  I’m a veteran of many Thanksgivings.

Unless you want to clear the dinner table so you can conduct an impromptu Powerpoint presentation on the history of PR, starting with Edward Bernays, I’ve got another idea. When someone asks you, “What is PR?,” just say, “Pass the stuffing, please.”  Works every time.

As always, if you’d like to talk PR with someone who knows how it works, please let me know. I’d be happy to talk turkey.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

When that PR Guru Says You Need a Wakeup Call

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wakeup-callThe next time you hear a guru tell the communications industry or public relations field to answer his wakeup call, hit the snooze button.

Let me explain.  Consider this story from my relatively short Boy Scout career.  In that time, I went on many campouts.  Without fail, there was always that kid who woke up before everyone else.  Because he couldn’t sleep, he decided it was everyone else’s time to wake up.

He’d go from tent to tent, nudging us all until we had climbed out of our warm, comfortable sleeping bags, long before we needed to be, just to keep him company in the cold, damp morning air. What he didn’t realize was that he was a unifying force for the entire troop in a mutinous sort of way. His habit of waking us up too early sometimes led to discussions over the morning campfire on how exactly we were going to throw this kid into the lake with his clothes on.newsletter-button

That brings me to the current trend of some self-proclaimed communications visionaries telling the rest of us we need to wake up to the market forces that are changing our operating climate.

Here is how that usually goes.

The speaker delivers what is billed as a “wakeup call” to a communications industry group. Typically, the speech is characterized by “hard truths” the guru believes the industry has not yet demonstrated a willingness to embrace.  Then he tells us his own story, full of examples where he achieved things early in his career that to the best of his knowledge no one has ever before achieved.  He tells us how he challenged the status quo, turned conventional wisdom upside down and became this person who stands before us that we should all aspire to be.

Then he tells us the bad news. We’re focused on the wrong things.  If he’s a digital pro, he’ll tell us we’re too focused on traditional media.  If he’s trying to earn his stripes as a full service pro, he’ll tell us we’re too captivated with digital.  If he just wants attention, he’ll tell us to stop doing something (anything) a certain way, that everything we’re doing is wrong and we need to be smarter about it.

Of course, he may drop in a few vulgarities to shock us and make sure we know he represents a new way of thinking. Often, he’ll remind us that geography no longer matters, and somewhere near the end of the speech, he’ll talk about what’s most important in life beyond business.

Rest Up

Here’s my advice. Rest up.  Or more to the point, do not be alarmed by yet another professional Chicken Little trying to create an iconoclastic personal brand for himself.

The fact is the public relations industry changes and evolves every day. We aren’t doing things the way we did them five, ten or 20 years ago. That’s baked into the profession.  The industry has changed without the need for wakeup calls, and it will continue to evolve.  In other words, change and evolution is what we do.

So the next time some guru stands in front of you and tells you everything you’re doing is wrong and you need a wakeup call, just imagine we’re sitting around a campfire together, on a cool mountain morning, contemplating ways to throw this guy into the lake with his clothes on. I guarantee that you’ll feel much better.

If you’re like to receive future posts, articles, updates and information from O’Brien Communications, let us know.

If You Think You’re Already Optimizing Your PR, Think Again

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thats-not-all-it-can-doOne of the problems with “shiny new object syndrome” is it can be overwhelming. I experience a little of it every time I buy a new tech tool, online solution or piece of software.  The helpful tutorial videos and call center staffers can do much to make the new thing easier to use and more embraceable, but I know the whole time I’m probably not using the tool to its fullest potential.

Like most, I buy it for an immediate need, and once I master my ability to meet that need, my curiosity over its potential diminishes. In the course of any one day, I don’t have the bandwidth to learn everything about everything, so I have to pick my spots.

newsletter-buttonAs for learning more about a new tool, I tend to be like most and pick it up as I go, listening to others tell me how they use it, or perhaps seeking an answer to a question on Google or YouTube and then realizing I had the solution in my pocket or on my desk all along.

It’s with this in mind that I’ve realized of late that the way people use public relations is much the same. I’ve seen it with clients and others.  They tend to see PR as that one thing they use first or most often, like publicity or media relations.  Or, they may see PR as nothing more than an extension of their marketing and advertising programs, not fully realizing what more public relations can be doing for them.

As social media has come to dominate the communications landscape, more and more organizations see public relations as nothing more than maintaining a day-to-day schedule of blog posts, Facebook posts, tweets, and LinkedIn posts.

To be sure, the practice of public relations can be all of these thigs, but it truly is more than the sum of its parts.

To get PR to work for you, to optimize it, it’s good to have a full understanding of your organization’s larger public relations strategy, which encompasses social, marketing communications, corporate and investor communications, employee communications and executive positioning. Sometimes this also includes wellness and benefits communications.  And tied into any one of these areas, crisis communications and issues management can come to play.

If you sense that you may be leaving some of the power of PR on the table, one way to begin to tap its fullest advantages is to step back and go through a thoughtful planning process.

Conduct Research

Conduct research – original and secondary – to assess your brand or reputation. Conduct communications audits to see what’s most effective and what is not, not only in terms of tactics, but perhaps more importantly, in terms of content and message, and delivery system.

Identify and Prioritize Key Stakeholders

Think about what they want to hear, need to hear and the best means to connect with them. You may find that what you’ve been doing could use some tweaking.

Think of the process for optimizing your public relations program in the same way you use those software wizards to guide you through all of the capabilities of a valuable tool. It may take some extra time up front, but in the long run, it’s time well spent.  I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions about a more holistic approach to public relations.  Just let me know.

You Want to Know How to Create a Powerful Key Message? Try this.

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In my media training work, I once worked with a colleague who liked to handle the portion of the workshop on key messaging. That segment included classroom lecture followed by an independent exercise.

She would “click” to the Powerpoint slide that featured this question:

“What is the meaning of life?”

Then she would ask the group to spend a few minutes writing their own individual and personal answers to the question. She’d remind them, “There are no wrong answers. Please take a few minutes to think about this and after a break we’ll discuss your answers.”

Most of the time the break would start quietly as people would contemplate their answers. Sometimes a few stand up and get a cup of coffee or just stretch their legs, and they would talk to each other informally about the question, seemingly as a way to prep themselves for open discussion of such a personal topic.

After I saw my colleague do this in a few sessions, I learned to expect the same group behaviors every time.

When the break was over, group discussion would follow a round-robin format with volunteers reading from their notes. One might start with, “To me, the meaning of life is golf and sleeping in on Saturdays,” which  would predictably get a few laughs from the group.

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But pretty quickly, the tone would get serious, and some very simple and short concepts that had almost universal appeal and understanding would emerge:

“My family.”

“Faith.”

“Country.”

“Health.”

Consistently, it didn’t take many words or much time for people to answer the question, and very rarely was there any confusion or self-doubt. Almost to a participant, there was tremendous conviction behind the words or sentences.

At the end of the exercise, my colleague would tell the group that what they just did was come up with their own key messages. Then she would tell them what makes for a powerful key message.

If I may paraphrase my colleague, she would tell the group that good key messages are simple, clear and direct. They represent universal qualities that targeted audiences readily understand and appreciate.

She is no longer with us, but if my colleague were here, I know she’d add that a good key message is credible and believable because it isn’t just a set of words, at its core it’s honesty.

Let me know if you’d like to talk about key messaging.

Communications Inbox: How to Start a Solo Practice; When to Communicate During a Crisis

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shutterstock_52853291-questionsWithout any encouragement in recent weeks I’ve gotten some questions via email from some people who’ve become regular readers of this blog (Thanks!).   The questions have ranged from how to start a solo practice, to how to structure a business plan.

With that in mind, and with the permission of the questioners, I thought I’d pick two of those questions and respond to them on this blog. Should you have a question you may want to see addressed in this space, just let me know. From time to time, I will feature them here.

Question #1: I’m presently working in the corporate department of a large firm.  I have no agency experience.  What steps should I take if I want to start my own solo practice?

– Nathan B.

Response:  Nathan, this is one of the more common questions I get from people in the PR field, mostly due to the fact that my business has been established for 15 years and I have a monthly column in PRSA’s Tactics called State of Independence.

The main thing I’d tell you to do is to create a thorough and detailed business plan. There are many books on the subject, and many good articles to be found online. It’s not as important that you follow any one structure over another. What’s important is that you find one that suits you, and that it is exhaustive in its detail.

Chances are you will encounter several points in the process of creating a business plan where you don’t have the answers. Take that as a sign you need to do more homework, or in some cases, get more experience. If you have agency experience, the transition to starting your own solo practice will be a little easier because you should be already familiar with the business development and administrative processes that work behind the scenes to create a structure for effective client service.

But until you’ve actually started your business, it’s very difficult to imagine the difference between self-employment and working for someone else in an agency or another kind of organization.  The process for creating a sound business plan is probably one of the most significant steps you can take to determine if starting an independent practice is right for you.

Question #2: There have been times when smaller crises have occurred within my organization and my supervisor was reluctant to communicate. His position was to wait to see how people would react before communicating. Is that the best approach? 

– Jennifer K.

Response: No. Usually, when you wait for the worst, you increase the chances that the worst will happen because you’re surrendering control to others and circumstance.  In any crisis, the first and most important thing to do is gain a clear and accurate assessment of the damage and potential damage to the organization’s reputation.

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That means doing your own internal reporting and identifying potential vulnerabilities, not only to the organization’s reputation, but to the organization itself.  Waiting to do this or to plan a crisis response can lead to operational problems that can hinder the organization’s ability to function at its best.

Once you have an idea of how big the crisis is or what could happen in a worst-case scenario, the next step is to prepare. Draft strategy documents, identify crisis team members, and begin to draft the full suite of documents and materials you may need should the crisis unfold.  Make sure your channels are in place for communicating to all important stakeholders. This includes conventional means and digital.

This kind of preparation is invaluable even when organizational leadership is reluctant at the moment to communicate on the issue.  No one will complain if you are prepared when the time comes to mobilize and communicate.

Strategically, the reason it’s best not to wait is that when you do, you give others a chance to shape the story for you, and the way they shape it may not be in your best interest. It may be inaccurate, irresponsible, or it may be agenda-driven, such as when a competitor spreads rumors or gossip.

If you have a question you’d like to see featured here, please let us know.