One of the mistakes people make when they point out someone else’s hypocrisy is that they assume that everyone understands that the inherent inconsistency undermines the credibility of the hypocrite.
Years ago, that may have been more practical but not today.
One of the more glaring examples of this is when a group of students who don’t like a visiting guest speaker, so they decide to shout down that speaker when he comes to campus.… Read the rest
It’s a saying you may have heard a number of times. “This is not my first rodeo.” It’s meant to remind the listener that you’ve been here before. You know how this works. You know what can happen, perhaps what will happen, and what can be done to make it all work out for the best.… Read the rest
One of the biggest challenges in media relations is not only having the right spokesperson on a given topic but having enough subject matter experts (SMEs) to go around.
Not every organization or every media relations program can be solely reliant on one spokesperson for everything. No matter how large or small your organization, it may not be fitting for that one person to try to speak to everything.… Read the rest
With a name like O’Brien and having spent decades in the PR business, it was a no-brainer to take on handling public relations for the Pittsburgh St. Patrick’s Day Parade when that opportunity came along. When I say “opportunity,” to be clear, it was a pro bono opportunity, or what others in the communications business may call a passion project.… Read the rest
You can’t predict the future, and with that in mind, you can’t predict every crisis before it may happen. But one of the things I’ve built into crisis planning over the years is an early-warning process for anticipating and identifying potential crises.
There’s no magic to it. Mostly, it’s a matter of constant vigilance and discipline in monitoring your own intelligence channels.… Read the rest
It’s hardly a secret that police departments at all levels are having trouble recruiting and retaining qualified and talented individuals.
Stellar police officers are opting to retire or just quit, frustrated over lack of resources or support they need to carry out their high-risk duties. Increasingly, good officers don’t want to chance doing what they’ve been trained to do, as they’ve been trained to do it, only to find themselves in the line of fire, literally and figuratively.… Read the rest
A while back, a client hired me to conduct a PR and brand audit of the organization. The process involved establishing a set of questions to be used in interviews with a cross-section of key stakeholders. This sort of research always serves to tell an organization how it’s perceived among those most important to it, how they process information, where they get it and more.… Read the rest
I didn’t have to wait until I started going to school to learn how to communicate effectively. That started from the day I was born, trying to make myself heard in a big Irish Catholic, blue-collar family in Pittsburgh. If you had something to say, no one was politely waiting for you to say it. You just had to say it, quick, sometimes loud, simply and clearly.… Read the rest
Anyone who’s ever hired a PR firm of any size is familiar with the common practice of “bait and switch.” This is where you meet with the senior agency staff numerous times during the courtship phase of the relationship. You’re impressed by the PR agency’s commitment to your business by having its best and most experienced people invest so much time in getting to know you and all of the communications challenges you face.… Read the rest
Over the past four years, I’ve conducted over 225 interviews for my podcast called Shaping Opinion, and prior that, I’ve spent decades handling media relations, conducting media coaching and training and working with clients on the full range of public relations activities. After all of that, I can honestly say, the public relations profession is dropping the ball on podcast interviewing.… Read the rest