Using strong-arm tactics is not the best way to make friends and influence people, especially in the media (are you listening President Trump?). You’ll almost certainly end up with some bad PR. But according to The Verge technology news website that’s exactly what an American start-up called JetSmarter – “Uber for private jets” – tried […]
How to speak to journalists
It might sound very old fashioned to talk about your “telephone manner” but it matters. Whether you’re operating a switchboard, making sales calls or working in PR, you won’t get far if you don’t know how to communicate well by phone. As a PR professional, how often do you stop and think about what subliminal […]
Great PR for membership bodies
Evolution or revolution – that’s the theme of this year’s MEMX16, the annual best practice conference dedicated to increased membership value and growth, takes place this Thursday. Speakers come from organisations as diverse as the Association of Accounting technicians to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, with topics such as “Micro-learning – a new […]
TV coverage: how TV reports work
What kind of impact would TV coverage focusing on your issue or campaign have? Especially as nowadays, anything that is on TV is repeated throughout the day on 24 hour news, and is automatically online and on social media too. For so many people gaining TV coverage can seem completely out of reach. If you’re seeking […]
Crisis communications: sample holding statements
At a recent meeting with a media training client we discussed crisis planning, and particularly the benefits of having a robust crisis communications strategy, with sample holding statements written and ready to go. This client had recently experienced a crisis. One of the key lessons she learned was the importance of establishing in advance a crisis […]
Favourite crisis communications quotes
Here is a collection of our favourite crisis communications quotes: One of the the tests of leadership is the ability to recognise a problem before it becomes and emergency”, Arnold H Glasow “You need to be prepared for today’s media culture, in which a tweet can become newsworthy and a news interview can become tweet-worthy.” […]
Press release training: the smartphone test
When we run press release training courses, one of the tests delegates’ releases have to pass is the smartphone test. But what is the smartphone test? Simply that if a journalist received your press release on their phone, would they want to read it, or would they immediately delete it? Nowadays, press releases don’t first […]
4 quick reasons for experts to do media interviews
If you’re a specialist in your field, then sharing your expertise in media interviews may seem like a daunting, time-consuming and frustrating activity. Journalists are after all fickle, and can arrange an interview then “stand you down” if another story comes in. They expect you to be available at the drop of […]
Media training video: how to give soundbite interviews
This is excruciating, isn’t it? Here is an interviewee who had decided what he wanted to say and was going to deliver that message, no matter what questions were asked. We’ve heard that this was a soundbite interview, so presumably the reason for his parrot-like repetition was that he knew that if he answered the […]
Media training tip: Keep it simple – as Einstein said
‘You mean dumb it down?’ That’s a line we hear a lot during our media training sessions. It’s generally in response to our advice to use simple language during interviews with journalists. My response is generally to quote Einstein. Because dumbing down is most definitely not what we mean. If you want your audience – […]
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