Public Relations Tips: August 2007

Effective and professional telephone communications are just as vital as public communications.

Following are ten tips to help you on the phone:

1. Answer the phone promptly. The suggested rule is to answer after the second ring. This enables you to prepare yourself for the call and also gives the caller a moment to prepare.

2. Prepare your greeting. Identify yourself. Keep a smile in your voice to make it sound pleasant and upbeat.

3. Speak clearly and naturally at a moderate pace. Most people speak too fast on the telephone. Without body language, the voice must do all the work.

4. Place a tape recorder by your phone and tape yourself in a conversation. You will learn how you sound to other people. Determine the changes you need to make and put them into practice.

5. Treat every caller like your best customer whether they are or not. Be courteous.

6. If you must put a person on hold, ask their permission and wait for their answer. If they agree, do not allow it to go longer than 20 to 25 seconds. A better technique might be to take their number and say you will call them back later.

7. Use your body as you speak. When you involve your body, you energize your voice. Stand up and move around or use hand gestures. Use a headset to free your hands.

8. Talk and act as though the person were standing in front of you.

9. Place a mirror before you to check your expression as you speak. If it is a pleasant one, your voice will be pleasant. If it is an unpleasant one, it will reflect in your voice and make you sound cold and indifferent.

10. Give the caller your full attention. Avoid letting distractions bother you.

For more tips on successful professional speaking, read Building the Power of Your Voice: How to Improve Your Voice to Command Attention & Move People to Action
http://101publicrelations.com/voicepower.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=voice_power

Posted by Dan at 07:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why are tip sheets important? Are they even important? Newspaper editors love tip sheets because it gets right to the point, and it's what it says it is. Here's a tip on a good story on what's happening, and what's going to happen, this is something you may want to know. And it gets right to the point. It's really concise. So sure, it talks about different angles of the story. And it does the job for the reporter. Remember that is what you are doing-you are doing the job for the reporter.

A reporter knows nothing about chiropractic, and you're a chiropractor. Don't make him go look up the information. Say, "Here's the tip sheet. Here are things we can talk about. Here are different angles on this one story that we can do. I'll do all the work for you, reporter. Just cover my story." "7 Ways to Send Your Child to School For Less Than a Thousand Dollars a Year." That's a tip sheet. The key to a tip sheet is that unlike a news release, which sometimes teases them, you give them the answers right there. Don't jerk them around. For more fantastic tips on how to write great press releases, read How to Write a Killer Press Release That Stops Reporters in Their Tracks
http://101publicrelations.com/killer.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=killer_press_releases

Posted by Dan at 01:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Delivering a powerful and successful spoken message means losing the whine and perfecting your resonance.

Resonance is the "hum" in the voice that gives it the warm, rich sound that is pleasant to hear. The body is full of sounding chambers called resonating cavities. They include the head, sinuses, mouth, throat and chest, all of which are essential to producing resonance. If you use these cavities or chambers well, you improve the quality of your voice, establish good vocal habits and eliminate vocal fatigue.

Nasality, on the other hand, is caused by lowering the soft palate so that most of the air is exhaled through the nose rather than the mouth. The result is the concentration of the resonance in the nose, closing off all the other resonating cavities. This causes a twang in the voice and is usually identified with people who whine.

An example of good use of resonance is the actor, James Earl Jones. With his deep and vibrant voice, he is thrilling to listen to. When he speaks, you are hearing resonance at its richest. But James Earl Jones was not born with that wonderful sounding voice.

As a child, he stuttered so badly he tried to avoid speaking. With determination and practice, however, he not only overcame the stuttering but went on to develop the resonant voice that has become his trademark.

In her manual Building the Power of Your Voice: How to Improve Your Voice to Command Attention & Move People to Action, Dr. June Johnson shares extensive techniques and valuable solutions that allow individuals to achieve success in professional public speaking.
http://101publicrelations.com/voicepower.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=voice_power

Posted by Dan at 07:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Should you send pitches or news releases? I don't believe in pitches. They just take up too much time, not to say that I'm wrong. Other people, I imagine, have used pitches successfully, but to me, that's duplicating effort. I already write, and my members write these killer press releases, far better than a pitch, and if you have to do your pitch on the phone, in person, wow, you'll be tying up time and money. I just want to write a killer press release, fax them out to my list that I've put together, and have this all take me 15 minutes, and then start getting people to call me immediately. And that's been going on now for 20 years with tremendous success.

There are many times when you might want to pitch a story idea instead of sending a news release-for example, when you want to customize the story idea for a particular media outlet, or when you are pitching only one or two media. One thing I can say though, and one thing I do teach my members is, in the beginning you may have a problem with the approval process. But when you show whoever's giving the approval that when you do things your way, the company is benefiting enormously, all of a sudden they start saying, "Geeze, Joan, you're doing a great job. You don't need my approval anymore. Just get these things out. We need more press coverage." So that could help you out. For more fantastic tips on how to write great press releases, read How to Write a Killer Press Release That Stops Reporters in Their Tracks
http://101publicrelations.com/killer.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=killer_press_releases

Posted by Dan at 07:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What are good ways to write headlines? Avoid being punny or cute. You see that in your inbox and it doesn't even register. It's like it's as if you can't even see it or think about it because there's nothing there to grab onto. Instead of these mystery meat headlines, what you want to do is make sure that you have enough of the basic facts about the who, what, when, where and why-you don't have to have all five W's in there, but try to have at least three-that you have enough of the who, what, when, where and why in the headline so that people know, "OK, what is this about?" and "Is it relevant to me and my audience?" That's what people want to know.
They don't care about cuteness. Forget cuteness. I think that cuteness in press releases is way overrated, and you should concentrate on clarity and specificity first. If you can inject some cuteness once you have those other qualities, fine. Let me give you an example of what I think is a good headline. I have a collection of successful press releases and here is one, "New 100% Natural Product Increases Plant Growth By Up to 300%." Now, if you were a gardening magazine editor, would you click on that release. It's specific and it tells you what the general realm of this product is and it makes a claim that is very interesting, and that adjective, "natural," raises your curiosity. All in all, I think that's a very successful headline and it's not surprising that that release got coverage for this new product in quite a number of gardening magazines. For more tips on how to write fantastic press releases, read "The Do-It-Yourself Press Release Makeover."

Posted by Dan at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How can you get the press to give you great publicity? One organizer that I know went and helped a reporter get organized and did such a great job, the reporter did a big story about organizing and, of course, featured her and some others, by the way. I think you should absolutely offer the press a complimentary massage, for instance, or a facial, or whatever it is that you offer that will help them with their stress, which they have a lot of, and would actually serve you. What you have to know is you may or may not get a story, so you can't do it because of that.

The truth is, if you get them in your place and they love it and they have a good experience, well, certainly you stand a much better shot of getting a story, not to mention they may pass it to the right person, you'll form a relationship, and of course, you'll get a new client. But here's the other little joke that one of my friends says. She's a restaurant critic for a daily newspaper. I went with her to several restaurants and could not believe the kinds of things she was able to get. I'm talking the best of the best off every menu. She looked at me one time and she said, "Well now you know why they call it the free press." We all laugh, but the truth is, the press is used to getting things comped, meaning they expect not to pay for things. On the other hand, if this is the one thing that you can do to get them in, I absolutely think you should offer as many reporters who would cover your center a free.fill in the blank. For more great tips on how to get publicity and how to follow up news releases, read "Failproof Ways to Follow Up After Sending a News Release or Pitch Letter."
http://101publicrelations.com/failprooffollowup.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=fail-proof_follow-up

Posted by Dan at 07:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What should you be writing on your company blog? First, I believe that one of the best things that everyone should be doing is reading the publications that your customers read.
Gather those together and have a year of their tables of contents up on a wall someplace, and look at the trends that are being consistently being talked about through published trade media for your particular industry. Those trends tell you what you should be blogging about. You can simply commentate on the industry. So if you go to the industry conference and hear all of the issues as they're brought out, you can sit in the back of the room and blog about those kinds of things and create tremendous value for the industry.
In fact, I have actually seen conference sessions where people in the audience were typing wirelessly or over their cell phone, watching the key blogs in the industry. Of course these are technology conferences, but watching the key blogs comment on what they're hearing in the session. I have seen the room erupt in laughter, and the speaker in the front is clueless as to what they are laughing about. And what everyone is laughing about is that someone who is sitting in the back row just blogged something that made fun of what the speaker just said.
For more great ideas on how to make blogs work for your company, read "Business Blogging Results."
http://101publicrelations.com/bloggingresults.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=business_blogging_results

Posted by Dan at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Confident public speaking begins with confidence your audience can see.

The expression on your face has a direct bearing on the way you sound. If you look stern, you will sound stern. A smile produces an upbeat, positive sound to your voice. The animation that a smile brings to the face puts a vitality and energy into the voice that says "I'm happy to see you!"

To hear the difference the smile makes in your voice, tape yourself reading a few sentences. Smile as you read them. Then assume a dour expression and re-tape the sentences. Play the tape back and notice the difference in the voice quality of each. The "smiling voice" will have vitality and interest; the "frowning voice" will sound lifeless and dull.

A smile will also help you to hide any nervousness you might be feeling. When you have a pleasant expression on your face, you will feel much more positive about yourself. So, keep smiling. Others will catch it!

Learn valuable ways to speak effectively with Building the Power of Your Voice: How to Improve Your Voice to Command Attention & Move People to Action
http://101publicrelations.com/voicepower.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=voice_power

Posted by Dan at 07:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Successful public speaking can be achieved by facing your fears of it.

Lack of confidence, insufficient knowledge of the subject matter, lack of preparation, the fear of making mistakes or looking foolish usually cause the fear of speaking in public. Sufficient preparation and ample practice can help you control this.

When fear takes over, tension in your chest forces you to resort to costal breathing, making diaphragmatic breathing nearly impossible. Fear can force the voice into the throat, producing a tight, high-pitched, quavering sound. When uncontrolled fear is obvious to your audience, your message is compromised.

To control fear you must first identify its cause. If you fear making a mistake or forgetting, don't take yourself so seriously. It's how you handle the situation that matters. When you make an obvious mistake, treat it casually and with humor and the audience will identify with you.

We all fear making mistakes. This is very human. But often the audience is not even aware that a mistake has been made. If the mistake is not obvious, ignore it and move on.

Determine to control your fear rather than allowing it to control you. Create as many opportunities for speaking in public as possible. Join Toastmasters, a community theater group or take a class in public speaking or dramatics. Read aloud to get used to the sound of your voice. Always practice your speech out loud.

Irrational fear can be conquered if it is faced squarely. Following are a few steps that will help you:

Identify the cause of your fear and anxiety.

Practice out loud.

Practice positive self-talk.

Recognize that making a mistake is not fatal.

Concentrate on the message.

Learn how to effectively improve your public speaking performance with Building the Power of Your Voice: How to Improve Your Voice to Command Attention & Move People to Action.
http://101publicrelations.com/voicepower.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=voice_power

Posted by Dan at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How can you get on a talk show? What kind of guest are the producers looking for? Producers want a decisive guest. They want someone who can handle the fast pace of the show itself and someone who doesn't balk at jumping on a plane in a few hours. "They don't want to smell fear at all," says Prokop. "If you say, `That's so soon,' you're out. The Leeza show called one of our authors on a Friday and said they had an expert scheduled and she can't come. We need a replacement. We'll fly you out on Monday and shoot on Tuesday. The author gasped and her voice trembled." Then she made a major gaff. "She said, `Let me get right back to you and check my calendar.' She called me for permission! She was just so shocked when the big opportunity happened. It took the air out of her lungs. We said, `Call back right now!' By the time she called back they had booked someone else. They're not calling for social reasons."

Producers are always on deadline. And this was a Friday afternoon. They don't have time for a call back - ever. Especially when a scheduled guest cancels they need their experts now. I once heard a saying, "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine." If you want to be on a show, their poor planning may constitute an emergency on your part. Prokop's client lost the deal out of momentary fear, and not handling the producer's emergency. Don't do the same.

For more great tips on how to make sure that you're the one being interviewed on a TV talk show, read "Secrets to Get TV Talk Show Hosts to Book You As Their Guest."

Posted by Dan at 01:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The purpose of electronic media kits

Want to know how to make electronic media kits work for you? First know its purpose. Its purpose is to quickly explain to the person in the media why whatever you do is newsworthy or worth a talk show, and to provide the backup information so that they can quickly interview you or cover you. The operative word you'll notice is "quickly." The biggest challenge you have with the media is that the media are very, very pressed for time. If you can make it easier for them, they're more likely to choose you over the other hundred story ideas pitched to them.

Here's what we did. I actually took a box of different media kits, all different kinds, to a radio talk show host, a magazine editor, and a newspaper editor for a major paper. I had them look through the kits and tell me what they found useful and what they didn't. Believe me, that was an education. Some of the old standbys that we all do, I was astonished to find out, they couldn't use at all. Fact sheets. Now, I love those, but.and statistics.if they're not sourced with a phone number, a reporter from a major paper a lot of times can't use it because she has to call and verify the statistics.

For more tips and ideas, read "Electronic Media Kits: How to create Them, Deliver Them, and See Instant Results."

Posted by Dan at 07:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Creating an effective crisis communications plan starts with crafting positive public perception.

One way to ensure that you have some control over perceptions is to build strong relationships with the local media over time before the crisis ever happens. This ensures that when a crisis does occur, your media contacts are likely to be more respectful of the range of issues you are trying to address. It also adds to your credibility. Generally speaking, they need you almost as much as you need them. And in a crisis situation, they may actually need you more because you hold the key to their opportunity to tell a really big story and get some national exposure (and maybe even a Pulitzer Prize from it!). Remember, reporters are trying to get their name out in the journalism industry just as much as you are working to get positive coverage for your company.

For tips on including media communication in your company's crisis communication plan, read Crisis Communication Planning: Organizing and Completing a Plan That Works
http://101publicrelations.com/crisis-communication.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=crisis_communications

Posted by Dan at 07:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Public speaking is a great tool to generate publicity.

Do you worry about on-the-job speaking? Relinquish worry and improve your professional communications by learning to relax.

Use the following techniques to help you relax.

Stand tall, with both feet planted squarely on the floor, under your hips.

Raise your arms and stretch as high as possible.

Drop the arms and rotate the shoulders backward and forward to loosen them.

Move your head slowly from side to side to relax the neck.

Swing your upper torso from side to side, gently, to loosen the waist muscles.

Stretch the back throat muscles with deep yawns, letting the jaw drop completely

Close your eyes and breathe deeply several times as you inhale and exhale slowly.

You should be feeling very relaxed. Whenever you experience tension, practice this routine to help you reduce the tension.

These and additional techniques for improving professional vocal abilities can be found in Building the Power of Your Voice: How to Improve Your Voice to Command Attention & Move People to Action
http://101publicrelations.com/voicepower.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=voice_power

Posted by Dan at 07:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How can you get coverage for your special events? Here are some sneaky ways to get coverage for your events. This first one is one that I think a lot of people don't know about and it's an idea that will help you get literally thousands of dollars in TV coverage for your event without having to spend much more than about twenty bucks, and here's what you do. You go to your local cable television company. All cable television companies have what's called a community access channel or a public access channel. This channel is set aside, according to FCC regulations, for anybody in the community. They can go to the cable TV station and they can record a program or show and have it aired on the community access channel for free.

All kinds of wild things are on your community access channel and some of it's not too good, but you never know. Again, everybody in your community who has cable television might be surfing at one point and come across your program. You might have to rent the camera equipment for about twenty bucks or so. But the air time is absolutely free. You can actually tape not only one program, but an entire series of programs that lead up to your event. You could do a program, for example, interviewing all of the fun chefs who are going to be at this food festival, or maybe even a program that shows them demonstrating foods that they're going to be making. You can do panel discussions. You can do all kinds of fun things. So that's one sneaky way. Here's another one. If you have an event that goes over several days, be sure somebody from your organization contacts news outlets at the end of the day and give them information such as how many people attended that day, any interesting things that happened at the event, any major awards that were given, any contest winners. For more great information and tips on how to create media buzz for your event, read "How to Create Media Buzz When Promoting Your Special Event."
http://101publicrelations.com/buzz.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=media_buzz

Posted by Dan at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Confidence is the key to powerful and effective public speaking and getting publicity.

Power lies with the person who appears confident and in control. How you carry yourself, enter a room, walk, sit, or shake hands contributes to the impression of confidence. Whether stepping on stage or entering a room for a meeting, conference or interview, make your entrance a strong one. Stand tall, shoulders back and head high, and walk with a good steady stride.

To convey confidence and authority with your stance:

Stand tall and act with confidence, whether you feel it or not.

Place feet directly under hips, one foot slightly in front of the other.

Balance your weight on balls of both feet.

Hold your shoulders back and chest high.

Enter a room with a stride that indicates confidence.

Move about easily, but refrain from excessive roaming.

When sitting, sit tall and lean forward, with arms resting on the table rather than in the lap.

Avoid slouching in the chair.

Learn to perfect your public speaking with Building the Power of Your Voice: How to Improve Your Voice to Command Attention & Move People to Action
http://101publicrelations.com/voicepower.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=voice_power

Posted by Dan at 07:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)