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
I can’t say I’m surprised PR people still think some things can be off the record when talking to reporters. Still, the whole issue of “off the record” is a mine field. Any PR person who continues to think there is such a thing as an off-the-record comment to reporter is simply lucky enough to have not stepped on that landmine … yet.… Read the rest
The term, “sacred cow” is a common metaphor to mean something that is “often unreasonably immune from criticism or opposition.” Its origins in everyday English usage can be traced back to the early 20th Century, when linguists observed how the Hindus venerated the cow.
The PR field has its share of sacred cows, which are theories, practices and concepts that until now have been unchallengeable.… Read the rest
If you’re in PR and you love podcasts, there’s a good chance you listen to The Daily from the New York Times or This American Life from NPR. With this in mind, I’m not going to include them on this list of the Top Five Podcasts for PR People When They’re Off the Clock.
I’m going to recommend some that I think are worth your while but which are not business-related.… Read the rest
If you’ve had anything to do, even remotely, with the public relations function you’ve seen this. You may have even been a part of it, but it’s not your fault. It’s bigger than you…way bigger.
It’s called square-peg-round-hold syndrome after the famous psychological experiment where the subject is given a square wooden peg and asked to insert it into a round hole.… Read the rest
Credit where credit’s due. One of the lasting lessons for me of my experience at the big agency I once worked for was a simple technique for gathering quick intelligence on the public’s attitude on an issue, a company, a brand or a product. It’s called the “Bar Stool Survey.”
As the name implies, it’s informal, impromptu and easy to do. … Read the rest
One of the most confused aspects of communications planning is the part where the planner must differentiate between the “Objectives” portion of the plan and the “Strategy” portion.
All too often it’s because the author of the plan isn’t clear on the difference between the two. This will be a short blog post, so let’s get right to it.… Read the rest
One of my favorite quotes on branding came from Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, when he said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
So simple and so right.
Your brand isn’t your logo, your signage, your website’s design or your graphics package, though all support your brand.… Read the rest
There’s a term used in medicine called “the pertinent negative” that helps doctors and other medical professionals diagnose illnesses and identify problems. Essentially, it’s to look for what’s missing.
For example, a pertinent negative is when it appears someone has heart failure but they haven’t gained weight, a common symptom of heart failure. To a doctor that’s weird, and it’s a pertinent negative, because weight gain is missing from the symptom list.… Read the rest
For the longest time, I cut my own grass, and I hated it. Then one day I decided to pay a neighborhood kid to cut the grass, and the sense of freedom was unbelievable. I had more time and less work. But maybe the best thing was that no matter how busy I was as work, I didn’t have that grass-cutting chore hanging over my head every week.… Read the rest