With all of the recent media attention on Silicon Valley, layoffs, economic troubles and oftentimes rogue employees talking to reporters, I came across something called the Tech Worker Handbook, which apparently is an online guide to help tech workers navigate media relations, legal issues, surveillance, and telling their own stories to the media or others.… Read the rest
After producing over 240 episodes of my podcast called Shaping Opinion, I’ve interviewed a wide range of people, some who’ve had a lot of experience with media interviews, and others not so much.
Still, for the better guests, it really didn’t matter how much experience they’ve had doing interviews so long as they could tell a story.… 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
Over the years, I’ve done my share of media training, and in the course of that, I’ve gotten very familiar with how other media trainers operate and what we all have collectively accepted as conventional wisdom when it comes to media training.
For instance, find one media trainer who does not teach you to speak in sound bites, and I’ll … well … I don’t know what I’ll do, but whatever it is it will be unlikely, because media trainers teach you to speak in sound bites.… Read the rest
In my experience, clients who’ve already come under attack by activists and the media before tend to be more understanding of the situation than you might expect. They are usually much more open to counsel, and they also tend to be more accountable and transparent than they are portrayed.
On the other hand, I’ve also had the chance to work with some organizations that until a particular crisis situation, they had been considered media darlings.… Read the rest
Let’s say your background and training is that of an engineer, or a sale exec, or a lawyer, or maybe an accountant, but here you are, your company has selected you to be spokesperson on a particular issue. Perhaps that issue is a pressing one and this situation has already reached high levels of intensity going in.… Read the rest
It’s one of the most potent words a headline writer or a reporter can use, and if it’s used to describe you or your organization, it’s clear what the writer thinks, but more importantly what that writer wants the reader to think. You’re guilty.
The word is, “Denies.” As in, “The company denies wrongdoing.”
Let’s put this proposition to the test.… Read the rest
What do you do if a resident of an assisted living facility “elopes” and no one can find him? Or when caregivers are accused of possibly mistreating patients and residents?
These are just two of the hypothetical scenarios we had to address recently when we helped an assisted living facility update its crisis communications plan and conduct media coaching for senior leadership.… Read the rest