http://www.mediaskillstraining.com Media Skills Training Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:49:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en So Tony Hayward is out as CEO of BP.  No surprises there.  He's being shipped off to Russia.  Wonder if he'll ever get his life back?  Robert Dudley is taking over and is the first American to do so.  Dudley has already had a positive impact.  He seems to get ... http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/media-relations-does-bp-get-a-mulligan/ Why did so many smart people do dumb things this past week.  I'm referring to the Shirley Sherrod story.  She is the Agriculture Department employee who was fired, primarily because the Cabinet Secretary of her department and people in the White House, including President Obama, seemed to be  afraid of ... http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/media-stories-how-does-this-happen/ I saw the news stories featuring Steve Jobs' press conference Friday about the new iPhone's antenna glitch.  The clip that caught my attention showed Jobs pacing in front of a large screen and with a click of a his remote the words "We're not perfect." appeared, followed by "Phones are ... http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/media-relations-jobs-mea-culpa-really/ Heard a compelling interview on the Bob Edwards Show last week on XM Radio.  He was talking to the two authors of a new book called "Merchants of Doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco to global warning"  My attention was immediately captured when ... http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/media-literacy-watching-the-media-watchdog/ There's a new article featuring eight tips for crafting your elevator speech. It's based on an interview I did with Alan Hughes of Black Enterprise Magazine.  Alan did a great job of capturing the foundational tips for standing out and building your business networks.  Click here for the article Also coming ... http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/elevator-pitch-eight-tips-to-improve-it/ Do you remember the 70's cigarette commercial with the jingle "You've come a long way, baby?"  It was a lame attempt to market tobacco to modern independent women.   Didn't think much of the slogan then, but the jingle lived on long after the marketing campaign. I was reminded of the ... http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/hey-megwhitman-weve-come-along-way/ I was very saddened to read the Helen Thomas story yesterday.  After a groundbreaking, glass ceiling shattering, brilliant career she left the job she loved because she said some really dumb and offensive statements which were captured on camera.  She is like the superstar baseball player who stays too long ... http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/helenthomas-what-were-you-thinking/ You may recall hearing about the catch phrase "duck, cover, and hold!"  It was a strategy taught to millions of school children in the 1950's to protect themselves in the event of a nuclear attack.  Some of you may be old enough to remember the drills, the rest of you ... http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/media-skills-listen-up-your-holiness/ That is the question...and I get it all the time.  I was watching Nancy Pelosi last night on the PBS News Hour and she was talking about the passage of the historic health care bill that was signed into law earlier this week. Putting politics of the issues aside, I ... http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/media-interviews-to-smile-or-not-to-smile/ "Your little book was a big hit in my course" says Kathy Berggren, who teaches communications at Cornell University. Using my framework for getting to the "meat of the matter" Kathy's students were able to experiment with creating effective statements about themselves which they can use in a variety of ... http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/elevator-speech-and-personal-branding/