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. …
Is the candidate re-writing the rules or simply a celebrity getting special treatment? For weeks we have been trying to understand the implications -- if there are any -- of the phenomenon of Donald Trump's success to date in his pursuit of the Republican nomination. As has been well documented, Mr. Trump has violated many of the fundamental rules of public speaking and media interactions, yet he has established and held onto a solid base of support. Some aspecs of his communications strategy seem pretty straightforward and are rooted in polling that suggests a portion of voters find conventional political behavior repulsive: He espouses a hatred for many journalists, which excites those who distrust the media and believe bias unfairly colors the way news is presented. A September 2015 Gallup poll found that only four in 10 Americans say they …
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 …
Want to be unforgettable? Start by dumping all but three or four key messages. An inconvenient truth that constrains the success of every spokesperson is the limited ability of the audience to remember. Humans do a lot of things well, and one of them is taking in urgently needed information about threats and opportunities. In order to take in and process that information, our brain is wired to immediately forget information that either isn’t clearly understood or isn’t perceived as important. Your audience isn't aware of this, but they are constantly assessing everything you tell them. If it isn't perceived as important, they are unlikely to remember what you want them to remember. If it takes work for them to understand, they are wired to let the information drift away. First, some background. Working memory, or short-term memory, is everything …
In our public speaking workshops, I will often tell participants that I don’t want them to be fake or act like the presenter they wish they were. Audiences want authenticity. They want the real you. But they also want to feel your impact. They want all of you.
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 …