Archive for the ‘newsletter’ Category

Today Tiger Woods came out! He’s not perfect after all. Of course we all knew that. We have been making sport of trying to prove it every since he became the best at what he does.

Does he owe us every sordid detail of his private life? No! Does he owe us anything at all? No! As a professional athlete we expect him to do his best on the golf course. That’s it!

The biggest mistake he made is how he handled the media circus. If he had said initially what he said today, that might have ended sooner.

I say let him be and do what he needs to do to repair his relationships in private. And for the rest of us I say…”let he/she who is without sin…! You know the rest!

Today we learned through the Seattle Times that the billboards fished out of Elliott Bay last summer were part of an elaborate hoax brought to us by the P.R. team for Ivar’s restaurants. It left me a little disappointed and then I got steamed!

If you are going to have a little fun at the public’s expense, why not own up to it soon afterwards? Why wait 3 months and be forced into revealing the hoax by the media?

Oh, I see. They waited because the hoax was effective. Their sales of clam chowder increased a good deal over those 90+ days

They went on to say that the hoax was right in line with Ivar’s penchant for public pranks. I’m old enough to remember Ivar and I’m not so sure. He never struck me as being quite so cynical.

So another stunt that demonstrates contempt for public sensibilities. Not a good blow for the public relations industry or Ivar’s Restaurants. I wonder if Ivar would “keep clam” about this?

Does anyone really listen to these automated phone calls?  As soon as I hear that it’s a recorded call I hang up.  Now I still don’t have caller ID, so maybe I’m the only one on the planet who picks up on a robo-call.  But every time I mention to other folks, they also share how annoyed they become when they hear  these canned mass recordings.

Why would political candidates or marketers spend their cash on this nonsense.  Seems to me it just makes people angry and less inclined to vote for them or buy their product.

If you are someone who likes robo-calls,  I’d like to hear from you and understand why?

The world woke up to a stunning announcement today. President Barak Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.  Regardless of whether or not you agree about the choice, there is no question that one person has changed the global conversation.  In a relatively short period of time he has changed world opinion, changed U.S. foreign policy direction, and managed to put the U.S. back on the main stage of world affairs.  He did it primarily through his considerable communication skills.  That is the power of words, of passion, and of commitment.

Each one of us in our own way has that same ability to be effective and have an impact with our communications.  What are you choosing to say each day?

I read the news today, oh boy! If you read Danny Westneat’s column in the Sunday Seattle Times you would have learned that the UW School of Communications removed most of the landline telephones from the building. Just a couple of admin lines remain.

Think about that for a minute! Telephones removed from the School of Communications!

It reminds me of a short story I read years ago in a literature class at the very same UW. It was called “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster, also the author of “Howards End” and “Room with a View.”

I was blown away when I first read it. Forster’s vision of the future was stunningly accurate. And as each year passes, the story becomes more real.

“The Machine Stops,” written in 1909, is about a society that lives underground in individual cubicles. The people get all of their daily needs including food, air, light, information, etc. through the machine. To communicate with another person, you push a button and the person you are calling pops up on a screen and you converse through the machine! Remember it was written in 1909!

It’s a compelling tale about a son who lives on the other side of the world wants to see his mother again in person. This idea makes the mother extremely anxious because it’s against the rules of the machine. But the son suspects something is wrong with the machine and he wants to reconnect with his mother regardless of the consequences. It’s about the son’s journey and the unintended consequences of depending on the machine.

I won’t spoil the ending for you. Besides, I think the story is still unfolding.

When I read the news about the phones at UW, I was reminded again about how it might happen that we could lose the social skill of talking to one another face to face.

Have an in-person conversation with someone today, and tomorrow, and the next day. Use it or lose it!!!

If you have ever considered engaging media as a way to communicate with your customers or the general public, you will want to check out Nancy Juetten’s blog this week. She has been featuring tips from some of the best media trainers around.

Today it’s my turn and I’ve given Nancy my top ten ideas on how to be effective when speaking to media. Click here to read more. And don’t forget to read the posts from Susan Harrow and Lynn Espinoza from earlier in the week.

And if you are in need of expert advice on do-it-yourself publicity, Nancy has a whole array of excellent tools kits and Publici-Tea sessions. Thanks, Nancy!!

It happened yesterday for the first time, at least the first time I was aware of it. Someone walked out of my presentation in protest and frustration. And it happened so quickly it has taken me a little while to understand how and why is happened. I was able to recover quickly during the presentation, however it was very awkward for about 30 seconds!

It’s not easy to think about what I did to create that reaction. Certainly the other person shares some responsibility, don’t they?

To a degree, yes, people are responsible for their own reactions and the action they take as a result. However every speaker has the responsibility to do as much as we can to not offend our audience.

In retrospect, I can see how it happened. I made some comments or posed a couple of questions with which this person disagreed. There was opposition to the premise in my statements and I did not clearly define the meaning of my words. And when I tried to explain, I may have been a tad defensive myself. So instead of having someone see another point of view, I ended up pushing someone further away.

Now I’m not saying you can please everyone, or that everyone will always like what you have to say. In fact, I’m often paid to give people bad news or tell them things no one else can say. However as a speaker, when someone else disagrees with me, it’s not my job to change their minds or convince them that I am right. It’s my job to share my observations and my reasoning in a neutral fashion that gives them an opportunity to see a new perspective and possibly consider it valid. That’s really all I can do.

To the person I offend, I apologize for not paying sufficient attention to what was happening and my own reaction that escalated the situation. And thank you for the lesson I have taken away from the experience. It gives me new insight on how to handle disagreements with my audience in the future.

When preparing people for media interviews, it’s key to help people find their own words and phrases to communicate their ideas to reporters. I don’t tell people what to say. I help them discover new ways to communicate using their own words, usually rearranged in a more compelling and economical format.

I did a media training yesterday for a group of savvy businesswomen. Two of them had previous media training experience which turned out not to be very helpful. In fact, they were not really looking forward to my session for fear it would be more of the same.

Evidently in the prior training, the instructor had listened to their key ideas and developed scripts for them that didn’t sound very authentic. The instructor was recommending words and phrases that were difficult to remember mainly because the wording didn’t ring true for these women.

How you play with words can make a big difference in your comfort level and how you are perceived by your audience. You don’t need a makeover to do great media interviews. You just need to identify your key ideas, stay true to yourself and your beliefs, and use language that is authentically you.

A good media trainer will bring out your best, not try to mold you into someone else.

If you are looking for more great trips from some of the best media trainers in the business, Media Savvy maven Nancy Juetten is posting great insights this week. Today’s post is from Susan Harrow. Yours truly will be highlighted on Friday. Click here to check it out.

I joined the social networking scene about a year ago with beefier profiles on LinkedIn and Biznik. My Facebook pages went up just a few weeks ago and already I’m feeling a little fatigued about it all. It’s been fun connecting with friends and colleagues I haven’t seen or heard from in a while. However, I’m learning that staying current with what everyone is doing can be a full time job! And now the current “must do” activity is Twitter. I’m not there yet folks and I’m not sure I’m going to get there, at least for a while.

As with everything else, integrating all of these wonderful new tools for staying connected requires some balance and discipline. I’m working on it. So be patient out there. I have a feeling I’m not alone in my “Facebook fatigue!”

Ahhhh! That’s the sound of a baseball fan beginning to breathe again. The season started yesterday. Griffey is back in an Mariners’ uniform and there he was hitting a homer in his first game! The stars are aligned and for today it feels good to be an M’s fan!