Archive for the ‘Media Training’ Category
Monday, June 10th, 2013
We imagine it was a busy weekend for James, Carrie and Marie. They are listed as media contacts for Booz Allen, a company with corporate headquarters in McLean, Virginia. What does the company do?
Under a “What We Do” tab on the company’s website, you can click on about 30 options. The company provides “management and technology consulting services to the US government in defense, intelligence, and civil markets, and to major corporations, institutions, and not-for profit organizations.” It is a public company with about 25,000 employees and $5.86 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2012. And one of those employees is 29-year-old Edward Snowden, the man who, according to media reports, leaked the information that led to our national debate on government surveillance of the Internet and phone calls.
A company press release stated, “Booz Allen can confirm that Edward Snowden, 29, has been an employee of our firm for less than 3 months, assigned to a team in Hawaii. News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm. We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter.”
Edwin G. Booz was an entrepreneur. In 1914, he graduated with a master’s degree from Northwestern University, where we graduated 80 years later. After graduation, he started The Business Research Service, a consulting firm headquartered in Chicago. His first major client was the Illinois State Railroad. According to the company’s website, in 1940 “Secretary of Navy Frank Knox asks firm to help prepare US Navy for war.” By 1947, company sales exceeded two million dollars.
So after writing a 75-word press release, now what? Our 11 recommendations for crisis communications:
- Devise a strategy to talk to the media beyond the initial press release. The company hopefully has already established strong relationships with journalists they trust and who they can now turn to discuss this issue.
- Talk to the media. The company’s media contacts page leads us to believe it has learned of ways to discuss sensitive topics publicly without violating confidentiality.
- Ensure none of its representatives intentionally or unintentionally mislead the media when under increasing pressure to quickly answer questions or provide details. Be as transparent as possible.
- Ensure those assigned to speak to the media sound genuine and not robotic.
- Share its story without allowing the media to simply characterize it as a behemoth company that makes tons of money. The company obviously identifies with its story and appreciates its history. The website includes a timeline outlining its history decade by decade.
- Avoid using lingo and speak in everyday language when it talks to the media.
- Focus on three key messages, repeat them and don’t delve into unnecessary details that will dilute their key messages.
- Brace for tough questions, practice for the worst and be ready to take the high road with their answers without getting angry.
- Identify several phrases it should use instead of “no comment” when facing questions it cannot answer.
- Talk with employees, help them understand what happened and share key messages with them.
- Don’t leave out social media. Within the first few hours of this news breaking, people are already hammering the company on its Facebook page. Someone needs to develop a strategy to respond to some of these comments.
Tags: booz allen, Chicago, crisis communications, Facebook, journalists, mclean virginia, media, news report, northwestern university, PR, press, press release, Social Media, technology, technology consulting services
Posted in Media Training | No Comments »
Sunday, June 9th, 2013
Some Americans and tech experts, despite what Internet and communications companies insist, believe those businesses cooperate with government reconnaissance such as the program PRISM more than they acknowledge. We also understand some companies issue statements that are cautiously formulated.
Too frequently, businesses delay commenting or send out vague comments that raise more questions and doubts. But we applaud the Internet companies that issued statements quickly and firmly.
On Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg explained:
- Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to company servers.
- The company has never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk.
- If it did, the company would fight it aggressively.
- The company hadn’t heard of PRISM before.
- Facebook reviews each request carefully to make sure they always follow the correct processes and all applicable laws, and then only provide the information if is required by law.
- The company will continue fighting aggressively to keep your information safe and secure.
On Google’s official blog, in a post titled, “What the …?”, the company’s CEO and chief legal officer explained:
- Google has not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to its servers.
- The U.S. government does not have direct access or a “back door” to the information stored in its data centers.
- Google provides user data to governments only in accordance with the law.
- Press reports that suggest that Google is providing open-ended access to its users’ data are false.
- Any suggestion that Google is disclosing information about its users’ Internet activity on such a scale is completely false.
While we praise the approach, this is only the first step in media and public relations. Journalists can’t interview statements. Reporters want interviews to check for traces of loopholes in statements’ language. Quick and firm statements can later crumble if they twisted the truth. Companies can lose trust if they refuse to face tough questioning and ignore the skeptics on social media.
Media and public relations is often a long-term strategy. Starting off well does not promise a happy ending.
Tags: Facebook, google, internet companies, journalists, mark zuckerberg, media, PR, press, Public Relations, reporters, Social Media
Posted in Media Training, Public Relations | No Comments »
Monday, May 13th, 2013
In Victoria, British Columbia, safety expert Steven Adelman and I visit the Parliament Buildings. I later spoke about the media at the International Association of Venue Managers regional conference. One of the first issues I discussed with the audience was bracing for breaking news. I explained how I once covered an accidental shooting at a gun show. That story raises the following questions for business owners to consider before news breaks:
- If news breaks at your business and you’re not there, how quickly can someone contact you even on weekends? The accidental gun show shooting happened on a Saturday.
- Where will the media park their vehicles? We parked our vehicles wherever we could find a space. Would you corral the media into a specific location?
- How will the general feelings of your staff or clientele toward the media impact how you handle reporters? Most people I met at the gun show were suspicious of the media. However, some were more accommodating toward me because I worked at a Fox TV station.
- Will you or someone on your behalf answer questions from the media about the breaking news?
- How would you handle questions about information you don’t have or are not ready to give out?
- Will you be able to answer questions in plain English without sounding like a stiff spokesman obviously choosing every word carefully?
- Will you use the phrase “no comment”?
- Will you present yourself and deliver your words calmly or get caught up in the adrenaline of the moment?
- Will what clothes you wear matter? Should you dress like an executive or roll up your sleeves like someone hard at work gathering information? Will you wear jeans if news breaks on the weekends?
- How will you handle social media?
- How will you handle reporters who want to walk onto private property and interview witnesses and bystanders? The accidental shooting happened at a convention center. Do you clearly understand which areas are public and which are private? What authority do you have in this situation?
- How will you handle photographers who want to walk onto private property to shoot video related to the breaking news?
- How will you handle media who request to enter your business to shoot video inside related to the breaking news?
- Do you need media training or to put together a plan for your staff to prepare for any of these possibilities?
Tags: breaking news, business owner, business owners, fox, fox tv station, media, media training, parliament buildings, PR, reporters, safety expert, Social Media, steven adelman, TV station, venue managers, victoria british columbia, video
Posted in Media Training | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
Erandi had both perfect and imperfect timing.
Venue safety expert Steven Adelman and I had just ended our journey to Victoria, British Columbia to speak at a conference. After two flights and a long taxi ride, a hotel clerk directed us down Government Street for food. We passed a fudge place, promising to return, and entered Bard and Banker Public House on a corner.
At the risk of drawing attention to ourselves, I placed my camera on the bar and set the timer. Erandi, one of the resturant’s servers, did not see my set-up and walked in frame at the precise moment the camera clicked twice.
“Ohhh,” Steve and I shouted simultaneously like when a sports fan’s favorite team just misses a big play. Steve wanted to see the shot immediately. It ended up our favorite photo of the trip, which probably isn’t saying much. Steve started explaining to Erandi the virtues of the candid shot and I announced aloud she probably regretted even passing our table. But she appeared genuinely interested and stood patiently for a while by our table. A man wearing a military ballcap one booth over smiled in amusement.
I ate a turkey sandwhich and we forgot to return for the fudge. The whole trip happened very fast and Erandi was part of the blur.
Tags: media, media training, PR, safety expert, steven adelman, victoria british columbia
Posted in Media Training | No Comments »
Friday, April 26th, 2013
I was picking up the cleaners when a TV on the business’ wall showed my former colleague and arch nemesis Fox10 weatherman Cory McCloskey wearing a hairnet. Cory often took any opportunity he had to poke fun of me during his weather segments on the air. He once enlarged a picture of my head and had people fire tomatoes at it on a farm. (It was all in good fun.) On this morning, Cory wore a hairnet while giving us a live tour of a factory that makes tortilla chips. If anyone can wear a hairnet and have it fit in with his shtick, Cory can.
After Cory’s live shot, my other old friend anchorman Ron Hoon delivered a report from the newsroom. But a big, white plastic bag on a desk behind him grabbed my attention. The bag reminded me of one of those you pick up after shopping at the grocery store. A lot of similar plastic bags are stuffed in our kitchen closet. We save them as a backup plan to pick up after our dog Molly. You can see now how one stupid item in the background of your shot can get someone daydreaming. It would disappoint me when I aired what I considered to be an interesting interview and colleagues in the newsroom focused more on the person’s hair, clothes or the fact he or she was not even wearing a shirt. People notice crazy stuff.
I mentioned that paper bag to someone in the newsroom and he texted me back saying, “Keith … those are the homespun touches that make the Hooner so endearing. You know that.”
Not everyone is so endearing. When appearing on camera, clear your background of distractions. Don’t give viewers a reason not to hear your words. I have no idea what Ron Hoon was saying. But I’m sure it was important.
Tags: anchorman, AZ, fox, media, media training, newsroom
Posted in Media Training | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
Ramble on and on and on without taking a breath.
Use lots of industry acronyms.
Top your acronyms with some lingo.
Give reporters, without them requesting it, a pile of paperwork because you can’t explain the issue yourself in a few sentences.
Insist how horrible something is when you haven’t even explained in simple terms what the heck you are talking about.
Mix together rumors and facts.
Overdramatize the impact of an issue to such an extent that you lose credibility.
Include statistics without a source to back them up.
Explain yourself in such complicated terms that reporters feel like they’re trying to unravel Watergate.
Do a lot of “blah, blah, blah” while actually saying very little.
Insisting the issue is hurting consumers without having a consumer for anyone to interview.
Tags: consumers, media, media training, reporters, watergate
Posted in Media Training | No Comments »
Monday, April 15th, 2013
I believe as a reporter it was my responsibility to ask tough questions or at least ones that viewers at home were mumbling to themselves while watching the news. Some people thought these questions reflected my personal views. The fact that my last reporting job was at a Fox station compounded some people’s perceptions.
In today’s environment of partisan journalism, some questions actually reflect the journalist’s personal views. (I hesitate to use the word journalist in the previous sentence because a journalist in reality should be objective.) However I want to believe most partisan journalism is confined to the cable news networks with some exceptions outside that arena. I want to believe most journalists are just asking tough questions because that is their legitimate job.
Don’t take it personally when reporters ask tough questions. Few reporters want anyone to mistake them as a member of a public relations team. Some reporters go overboard and feel obligated to ask tough questions, to dig deeper into a story, even if they’re covering a bake sale.
First, try to learn what reporter will be interviewing you, limiting the chances someone will catch you off guard. Second, understand most journalists are covering news, not conducting an interview for the yearbook. Expect tough questioning and practice for it. Don’t let them see you sweat. Don’t say something sarcastic about the questions. Some journalists are looking for such a reaction. Don’t give it to them. It’s not personal. It’s business, the business of journalism.
Tags: cable news networks, journalism, journalists, media, media training, news, news network, PR, Public Relations, reporters
Posted in Media Training | No Comments »
Monday, April 1st, 2013
The Chicago Bulls break the Miami Heat’s winning streak. LeBron James raises questions about how the Bulls played. The Boston Celtics’ President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge criticizes LeBron for his comments. Heat President Pat Riley then issues the following statement:
“Danny Ainge needs to shut the f— up and manage his own team. He was the biggest whiner going when he was playing and I know that because I coached against him.”
I’m not checking my notes, but that statement likely breaks several rules we teach during media training. However, it is possible we’ve never told someone to specifically not include the word “f—“ in a sound bite. That was an oversight.
Despite conventional wisdom, I liked what Riley said. I actually loved it. First, I’m a Heat fan, so I’ve spent several days receiving texts from a Bulls fan telling me everything wrong with the Heat. I never responded by saying, “Shut the f— up.” But I reminded him he sounded like a jilted boyfriend or girlfriend and that he roots for a baseball team which hasn’t won the World Series since 1908.
Second, I liked what Riley said because it blows back with such harshness the rules of corporate speak. Long ago, I tired of the B.S. language some corner office executives employ when speaking to their underlings. I learned when some managers complimented me, their strategy was simply to soften me up for a request they figured I wouldn’t like. Managers often meant to say, “Shut the f— up,” but they used carefully chosen language that anyone could easily misinterpret as, “Those are very pretty flowers on your dress.”
Few people say what they mean. And we certainly can’t start teaching executives, when confronted by a hard-charging reporter, to respond with, “Shut the f— up you whiny member of the media.”
But in a world in which people are so scared to say “no” that they instead tell us they’ll keep our information on file, I appreciate when someone, every once in a while, breaks the rules in such a blatant way. It sometimes just feels so good to hear. You feel like you are dancing, exhaling freedom, like Steve Carell at the end of “The 40 Year-Old Virgin.”
Don’t like it. Then you can … I appreciate your opinion and respectfully disagree.
Tags: boston celtics, Chicago, chicago bulls, corporate speak, danny ainge, executives, heat fan, lebron james, media, media training, miami heat, pat riley, PR, reporter, steve carell, world series
Posted in Media Training | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 5th, 2013
The TV anchor’s last question during our client’s live interview was a complicated one. And the anchor’s body language indicated to me time was running out almost immediately after he asked the question.
Our client texted me, “I told him off air that it was kind of boring and technical. Evidently he still wanted to ask, even though there wasn’t much time. I couldn’t stop midway through my answer or it wouldn’t have made sense.”
Toward the top of his answer on air, he said, “Very briefly …” Those words indicated he understood time was tight.
The anchor even raised his pen, reinforcing what I might as well translate as, “I know I just asked you the most complicated question of this interview, but it is time to wrap things up buddy.”
Our client: “I saw him raise his pen so I knew we were out of time.”
The entire answer to a complex question was about 20 seconds. Sometimes you unexpectedly need a quickie.
Tags: body language, Communications, interview, live interview, media, media training, PR, tv anchor
Posted in Media Training, Uncategorized | No Comments »
