Big purposeful gestures help you stand out and are immediately memorable It has been five years since we posted the article, "Fundamentals of Public Speaking: Using Nonverbal Cues," so it is overdue for us to drill a little deeper into the idea of purposeful hand gestures. In that article, we encouraged presenters to use their hands to reinforce their ideas. In the same way that a picture can help to quickly explain what otherwise might be an overly complex idea, meaningful gestures can serve as visual aids to help the audience understand and remember important points in a story. We are careful to describe these gestures as purposeful to distinguish them from gestures that lack purpose. Since public speaking inherently puts us outside our usual comfort zone, many speakers lapse into self-destructive bad habits that make them feel a bit …
Define what a successful TV interview would look like and build from there We were surprised to find that an article we wrote 10 years ago on the subject of how to effectively prepare for TV interviews had recently risen again to become our most visited page on this website. We can't explain why things like that happen, but upon reviewing the content of the piece it occurred to us that an update is in order. So here are the new and improved top 10 tips for how to prepare for a TV interview. Imagine what success looks like. Answer these questions: 1) What do I want my audience to know? 2) What do I want my audience to believe? 3) What do I want my audience to do? If you answer these three questions, you have set clear and …
Survey Suggests PR's Post-Media-Meltdown Evolution is Accelerating I have to admit, I’m not wild about the name chosen by Marketwired for its survey examining the continuing shifts in public relations. Floating the question, "Are You a #ContentMachine?" is unsettling, especially considering the advances being made in automating content creation. That said, the survey findings reinforce what I’ve been witnessing during the past 15 years and especially the past 30 months. The diminishing power and influence of traditional media has elevated the importance of PR as a strategic content creation engine. As with most blockbuster developments, this latest trend is not really new at all. Nearly three years ago I helped client Aaron Long with the article, “Picking and Choosing: Content Strategy in the Age of Opportunity Overload,” published in The Public Relations Strategist. What is new is the elevated importance …
Succeeding in news interviews comes down to preparation, practice and performance I was surprised when I reviewed the Google Analytics report for this site that an article I posted more than nine years ago, "Top 10 Tips for Preparing for a TV Interview," was again one of the most popular articles here. Not sure how or why that's the case, but everything changes over the course of a decade -- I don't know anyone who still uses a Blackberry! -- and I wanted to provide an update for those who are seeking PR advice prior to conducting a video interview. Before we get too far into this, let's pause for this brief commercial announcement: Contact DPK Public Relations to arrange Media Interview Skills Training today or call 800.596.8708. The biggest thing that has changed over that time is the rise of …
Don't Think of Media Coverage as the Result - The Result is What Happens Because of the Coverage Check out this recent coverage in TechTarget secured for client Aldridge, a leading IT services provider with offices throughout the major metropolitan areas of Texas. Aldridge has grown rapidly in recent years. In fact, they are among a small group of companies that have been listed by Inc. as one of America's fastest growing companies for five years running. What an accomplishment! The story, "Tech acquisitions raise integration issues for channel," in TechTarget offers best practices from Aldridge and describes the company's highly structured integration process the company's leadership has developed as they have acquired nearly a dozen companies in recent years. This process has proven invaluable and it is unique, which is what makes it newsworthy. To Aldridge's credit, they were …
Oregon Communicators Learn About Fundamentals of Crisis Communications DPK Public Relations Founder Daniel Keeney, APR was proud to present at the Spring Conference of the Healthcare Communicators of Oregon last week on the subject of Crisis Communications Planning. He discussed how all crises have certain characteristics, including unwanted scrutiny, an interruption of normal business operations and harm (or threat of harm) to reputation. If your organization is experiencing an event or percolating issue with those three characteristics, you are probably in great danger of being in crisis. If your organization is in crisis, call DPK Public Relations at 800.596.8708. Another common element of crisis is that the event could have been anticipated. One of the great values of crisis planning is conducting a threat or vulnerability assessment. We do this by talking with people from throughout the organization and also assessing …
This article was originally published in the March 2015 edition of Public Relations Tactics, a publication of the Public Relations Society of America. See the original published article by clicking here (subscription required). On Thanksgiving evening, I watched shoppers hold their smartphones high above their heads as others jostled, pushed and complained. While someone was recording them, cashiers good-naturedly answered questions about their stress levels. They were also sympathetic with those shoppers who were frustrated that some early bargains were already sold out. Once uploaded to YouTube, people might largely ignore that content, or it could easily appear on “Good Morning America” the next day. How plausible is that? A survey of professional journalists by Arketi Group found that 91 percent of journalists say they use the Web to search for news sources and story ideas, and 34 percent admit to …
Social Technologies Will Not Change What PR Can Accomplish or How It Can Be Measured We recently marked our 10th year as an agency and, personally, this is my 20th year in the public relations trenches. Over that time this profession has radically changed, but the basics -- what we can accomplish and how it can be measured have not changed. When I started at Ketchum, we had a single computer that had access to the Internet. Until Netscape software began circulating, the only way to connect to the Net was via AOL or Prodigy. I had a Prodigy account from my days as a journalist and we sometimes logged on using that -- and the office had a single AOL account to share as well. There were about 50 people in the office. Aside from that one connected computer, …
Lessons from Our First Decade Training America's Spokespersons During our first 10 years, DPK Public Relations has been honored to train more than 1,000 spokespersons for organizations throughout Texas and across the United States. We have conducted training in top secret military installations and highly volatile chemical facilities. We have conducted one-on-one training for individuals shortly before major media opportunities and for large groups that were unlikely to ever be interviewed -- but who rightly embraced the training 'just in case.' Through it all, one thing has remained true: how you deliver information is just as important as what you say -- and research suggests how information is delivered can easily amplify the power of the information, or it can suck all the power out of it. The goal is to project confidence and positivity to reinforce that you are …
As I watched Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s news conference this afternoon, I was reminded of a story that I often use as an anecdote in media training sessions. Since Mr. Bernanke is winding down his time with the Fed, I wanted to revisit the subject that I originally discussed in the article, "Media Training Fundamental: Reporters Are Always Working." The key point of the upcoming story is that journalists never turn off their nose for news. There is no 'drink in hand' rule that states a journalist who is relaxing isn't also subtly gathering information. A journalist is never idle. They are always curious. Sniffing out interesting information is what they do and who they are. They don’t punch a clock and turn it off. Ever. So when an executive encounters a journalist, that executive should similarly always be in …