Archive for May, 2011

To Seduce the Media, Shorter is Better

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

When Keith pitches a story idea in a morning news meeting, it’s as if he’s staring into a countdown timer with big red numbers and everyone around the table is slowly drifting into their own worlds. If he doesn’t grab their cynical attention spans within the first few words and seconds, he will quickly lose his audience and hear himself cut off by the next great idea.

This is what marketing and media have in common. We all have a brief window to pitch our ideas and pitch them well. But Keith recently received an email pitch 7 paragraphs, 456 words long. The next one was 17 paragraphs, 718 words long. This is not a high school English class in which you don’t know the material well but hope to sound smart and interesting by being longwinded. This is not a debate in which you hope to win your argument by wearing down your opponent with a speech that builds its case over time.

Reporters are not asking the PR world to do anything they don’t do themselves. In fact, reporters might face a tougher assignment. They typically present their ideas verbally amid distractions without the advantage of relying on a carefully crafted email that can hide the fact they’re having a bad morning.

Practice your pitches in three lines. Consider it a headline, not an essay. Reporters and producers more likely will read it. (Opening an email to see 17 paragraphs is immediately tiring on the eyes.) Twitter is great practice. Twitter forces Keith and me to make our point, seriously or in jest, in 140 characters. So consider your pitches sophisticated Tweets. If you’re good at it, a reporter will always want to know more.

Here’s another way to look at it when trying to pitch a sexy story:  Show them just enough leg to grab their attention and get them wanting more. And in this art of seduction, shorter is better.

We want to hear from you. What are some of the best and worse pitches you’ve seen?

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PR Is Like A Magic Show

Saturday, May 14th, 2011

A communications firm emails a reporter a story pitch. The reporter pitches the idea to managers and producers at a morning news meeting. One of the producers expresses interest, but it’s unclear if her interest will lead to a story airing.

Fast forward two and a half weeks. A story in the news now makes that idea from weeks earlier timely. During the morning news meeting, the same producer tells the reporter she wants to shoot the story. She wants to shoot that day. She wants to shoot it at 2:30 in the afternoon.

The reporter calls and emails the communications firm. Several phone calls are exchanged, but the client at first can’t be reached. Then the client is not available to shoot the story especially on such short notice. Trying to pull off this story idea under these circumstances might seem to PR pros like trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat. But this is how the news game is played. The producer expected that story at 2:30 that afternoon. She didn’t think an act of magic was in order. If anything, she thought she might be working with another communicator who didn’t understand the TV news business and how deadlines aren’t scheduled days or weeks in advance.

I’ve listened to reporters who are assigned a story in the morning, call a series of people in public relations and are baffled when they call back at four in the afternoon to make arrangements. As my hip friends like to say, don’t hate the player. Hate the game. To win the game, make clear to clients to prepare at a moment’s notice for the media’s call. Most often, you don’t schedule the media for next week between meetings. The client obviously wants to be on TV or in print. Clients need to understand when opportunity knocks, they better open that door. What’s news today is old news tomorrow. Everyone should essentially be on-call. If this plan of action is impossible, communicate that early to the reporter. Don’t build a reputation of pitching stories and then not pulling the rabbit out of the hat.

In this example, the communications firm got a second chance. The client was available the next day and the producer was still interested. But typically, you don’t get a second act to put on your magic show and you lose an audience of thousands.

Have you had clients who have pulled disappearing acts on the media? How have you counseled them? We’d love to hear your stories.

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Making Employees Feel Part of the Team

Saturday, May 7th, 2011

I was walking with a co-worker when she acknowledged she should be back at her desk meeting a fast approaching deadline. She asked me why she didn’t care. I knew why.

Shareholders and highly compensated executives whose holidays include potential bonuses are obvious stakeholders in a company’s success. But employees standing further down the corporate ladder don’t necessarily assume the company’s success automatically translates into personal success. Some of these workers survived the recession but suffered substantial pay cuts. They read corporations are financially bouncing back but are told big raises are not on the horizon. The salary that was lost will not be won back anytime soon.

Some employees are happy just to have a job. Others are too close to retirement to raise a ruckus. And some feel trapped without options. But top performers will eventually exit when the evidence shows hard work only pays off for those at the tippy top. A team can continue to compete even if one or two stars move on. But as sports often display, those teams start to fade, and before a boss begins to know it, rebuilding is in order. Competing for a championship was yesterday’s news. Unlike in sports, some businesses don’t get a chance to rebuild.

If you can’t offer top employees the raise they feel they deserve, explain why without the BS. (No matter how cleverly you spin it, your words won’t cover the stink of a raise that doesn’t even keep up with inflation.) Include those employees in key meetings and ask them for feedback in key decisions. Clue them in to future changes and exciting ideas. Pull them off to the side casually and bounce ideas off them. Make these employees feel their opinions help direct a division or company. Make them feel they truly are part of the success and should continue to invest their time.

If you don’t reward someone with a raise plus don’t give them decision-making power … plus don’t make their opinion wanted on key aspects, top performers typically aren’t going to play puppet while you pull the strings. The ambitious ones need more to push their passion.

That co-worker I walked with felt the company didn’t show her the value. (They already weren’t showing her the money.) I could see even a “you’re important to this company” would have lifted her spirits. The economic recovery is developing slowly. But overall, the news is more good than bad. Now more than ever, keep your team, your lineup intact.

Remember this. When teams are forced to rebuild after falling apart, often the coach is the first to go.

We want to hear from you. What are some innovative ways your company has made employees feel part of the team? How are employees included in key decisions? What kinds of reward programs are in place at your company?

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Don’t Do The Lingo

Sunday, May 1st, 2011

I call it The Flip Side because I offer both external and internal communications. My writing typically spotlights one or the other. But here’s an opportunity to kill two blogs with one subject.

Keith and I were exchanging emails with someone about the possibility of refinancing. We’ve known her for years. She is very nice. Most importantly, we trust her. And she responds to questions on Saturdays! So she sent an email detailing our options. Her email included the following phrases:

•               MTA fasttrack

•               streamline program

•               stated documentation

•               LTVs

•               MI

In addition to those terms, other sentences required me to be someone who spends at least part of my time hanging out in a loan office. After reading the email, I spent time Googling these terms and exchanging emails, defining each phrase one by one. It was as if we were speaking different languages.

Don’t do The Lingo. If a member of the media is scheduled to interview your client, cleanse that client of all the jargon (or “jargonese” as I like to call it in this blog on the topic) he or she is comfortable with in the corner office. If you don’t, those sound bites will, well, never become sound bites, and the reporter will forever categorize your client as the business geek that can’t relate to the rest of the world.

Losing The Lingo is just as important in internal communications. When sending your employees important information, the last thing they need is to download a translation app just to figure out what the heck you’re saying about the lastest 401(k) or healthcare policy changes. And corporate or industry insider language simply reinforces a glass wall some employees already feel stands between the boss and his staff.

Sometimes, there is no way to get around using some of your industry terms. If you must use them, define them clearly. I’m amazed at the number of companies with websites busting at the seams with jargon. They assume they have one type of audience. They are possibly turning away media inquiries or potential customers without even knowing it! For internal communications purposes, consider creating a company or industry glossary of terms. Post it on your intranet. It’s a great resource for new employees, too. Create hyperlinks to words in the glossary whenever you use key words in e-communications.

Don’t do The Lingo. If you do, you’re forcing people to dance around your words. Communicating clearly (and like a human being) is important for business both externally and internally.

What kind of lingo do you see as an employee and as a consumer? Do you have good examples to share? What works to combat jargon? We’d love to hear from you!

 

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