Access to Accurate Information Will Help Decision Makers Stop a Crisis Plenty has been written about how digital media has changed crisis communications. That makes sense, because the pace of scrutiny has accelerated with everyone carrying devices that can instantly broadcast video to a worldwide audience. What’s more, digital media creates a platform for people to express outrage, and that backlash can really sting. That said, the core fundamentals of crisis communications remain unchanged from when I entered public relations more than 20 years ago – and they go back a lot further than that. Crisis communications is sometimes portrayed as a way to deflect responsibility or explain away a problem. In reality, crisis PR’s most important role is to aid in stopping human suffering and the potential for harm to the community as quickly as possible. Crisis communications does …
NASA's One-Year Mission Earns PRSA's Highest Honor Congratulations to our client, NASA Johnson Space Center, for winning the 2017 Best of Silver Anvil Award. The agency's program, "Year in Space: Communicating NASA's Historic One-Year Mission from Space to Ground," won the Silver Anvil in the Integrated Communications category and a second Silver Anvil for Reputation Management. It was judged to be the best of all this year's Silver Anvil winners. DPK Public Relations is proud to have assisted with spokesperson preparation connected to NASA's historic one-year mission. We worked closely NASA's Human Research Program in the year leading up to the mission to hone messages and refine storytelling strategies. We later media trained many of the scientists and researchers involved in the mission. NASA Johnson Space Center's integrated communications campaign showcased diverse activities aboard the International Space Station and collaborated …
DPK Public Relations Founder Daniel Keeney, APR was cited as a crisis communications expert in a Washington Post story about how businesses can navigate through an online attack. The story, "A company under Trump attack makes a bold move: It repeatedly ignores him," by Danielle Paquette examines how Rexnord Corp. handled a series of tweets from the President that sought to shame the company for its decision to move manufacturing work from Indiana to Mexico eliminating 350 jobs. For its part, Rexnord privately explained its rationale for the move to its union but has kept a very low public profile -- even when faced with blistering criticism from the President. In fact, a review of news coverage in the days and weeks after the plant closure news went public shows Rexnord officials declined to comment again and again. As often …
Crisis Planning Can Reduce Crisis Risk and Speed Up Crisis Response Kudos to Jill Odom, editor for the trade publication, Total Landscape Care, for this week's story, "Expecting the unexpected: Managing a public relations crisis." Odom makes the case that every business -- even small businesses -- are at risk of a crisis and need a crisis response plan just in case. The article is worth reviewing and it prompted us at DPK Public Relations to catalogue a few of the biggest benefits we have observed businesses enjoying as a result of going through the crisis planning process. Here are the top five benefits of developing a crisis response plan: 1. The mere act of creating a crisis plan often establishes heightened awareness of crisis risks throughout the organization. By identifying and prioritizing the events that could threaten normal business …
Three Out of Four U.S. Workers Don't Believe Their Employers' Brand Promise Do your employees really believe in you and your company? If CEOs and corporate communicators are being honest, they would not confidently answer 'yes' to that question. According to research from Gallup, three out of four workers in the U.S. feel their organizations do not always deliver on the promises they make to customers. Gallup's Nate Dvorak and Robert Gabsa write about this research and the implications in the post, "Companies Don't Have Effective Brand Ambassadors." As an ongoing responsibility, leaders and managers need to provide employees with relevant tools, education and support. In the modern economy, delivering a brand is becoming more than just providing that product or service; in many cases, it includes an experience and a specific emotion. The most successful organizations ensure they provide these …
Shut Up and Use One of the Most Powerful Communications Tools We at DPK Public Relations appreciated a recent post by Dan Rockwell, "How to Capture the Opportunity in Awkward Silence," from his Leadership Freak blog. It describes the value of leaders allowing silence in the midst of meetings or interviews. So often, silence in a meeting ratchets up tension and anxiety. It is the third rail of interpersonal communication - touching it can be deadly! However, this negative response to a moment of contemplation can be harmful. It can prompt people to rush and make statements or offer solutions that lack a solid foundation and are ill conceived. Right out of college, I worked briefly selling cars. As is the case with many salespersons, we were coached to capitalize on the discomfort created by silence. Make a closing statement and …
Many Thanks to Clients, Extended Team Members and Friends for a Very Lucky 13! Looking back on our first 13 years in business, it is amazing to reflect on the change in what we do. When we first hung a shingle in 2003, the concept of "social media" was not well defined or understood and RIM's Blackberry was the dominant mobile device, offering a hint of what smartphones would become. That said, the writing was clearly on the wall. We were de-emphasizing traditional media relations and urging clients to incorporate interactive elements into their websites. In 2003, social networks were in their infancy, with MySpace, Friendster and Linkedin all launching in 2002-2003. For us at DPK Public Relations and other public relations counselors, this was a period of experimentation. I remember Web marketing expert and client Ed Schipul speaking to …
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 …
Preparation and Practice Ensure Your Public Speaking Performance is Powerful! Every aspect of a presentation should be planned and rehearsed. We call this preparation and practice -- two of the "3 Ps". The third "P" is performance, the realization you can't just sleepwalk through a presentation -- you must unlock your inner performer. Preparation starts with knowing as much as you can about the audience, which leads to the development of messages that are built around the audience's interests. If your presentation is going to educate, engage and mobilize your audience, it has to focus primarily on the wants and needs of your audience. If it's about you, you're sunk. Preparation for a presentation stretches beyond defining what you will say and includes how you will say it. This should start with asking if you want the information interpreted positively. …