Margie recently wrote about the importance of PR pros learning from our mistakes. We aren’t the only ones, of course. Reading this excellent post from Scientific American is a good reminder that top professionals from any discipline are bound to stumble from time-to-time. Correcting factual errors in journalistic pieces is a delicate task. Clients, of […]
Buzzword Bingo: The PR Game You Should Avoid
I recently read aloud to Margie an email that had just hit my inbox, hoping she’d help me decipher some meaning in it. Instead, she laughed and declared the sender the resounding winner of “Buzzword Bingo.” What? How was it possible I had lived so long without encountering this magical term that so aptly describes […]
Sober Advice for PR Counsel in the Digital Age
“Write drunk; edit sober.” I recently saw that quote dubiously attributed to Ernest Hemingway on an office poster. Its origins are sketchy, but I believe it contains a solid gold nugget of truth. No, I’m not advising you to drink and draft. I think the blush-worthy combination of Twitter and happy hours has given us […]
The PR Power of Partnership vs. Sponsorship
As we advise corporate clients on social responsibility efforts, Intesa colleagues are often on the front line to respond to the public’s requests for sponsorships. In our work with non-profits, we are sometimes the ones making an appeal. Either way, my first question is always the same: “Does this gift fit the company’s mission?” My […]
Smart PR: Go Team First!
Hopefully, you spent some time polishing up your personal PR skills after last week’s post. This week, I want to focus on the value of promoting your team. If you happen to be the one in charge, you can set the tone for two-way communication that keeps your stars rising and gives you positive news […]
Personal PR: Putting Down Roots While Branching Out
In her most recent post, Margie offered great advice about establishing or extending your professional reputation in a new city. Even if your feet are firmly planted in your dream city – or even better, your dream job – you need to be proactive about communicating your value right where you are. We look at […]
State Your Mission (the kitchen sink belongs elsewhere)
Lately, I’ve been talking plenty about mission statements—with everyone from an education client with a wonderful heritage to a new leadership development organization to my own family, the latter inspired by this WSJ article from Bruce Feiler and encouraged by my friend and colleague Cora. At some point in every process, so many hands have […]
In Message Development, Be Positively Persuasive
Last week, I met with a client who is rightly concerned that people in her company view her unit as a roadblock. Divisions have to get clearance from her group before they can proceed on their projects. As we talked through her concerns, we identified a simple, but significant theme. People inside and outside her […]
On Storytelling: Weave a Yarn That Sticks
Like all parents, my husband and I spend a lot of time educating our daughter. Fostering a global perspective, particularly on economics—really abstract concepts for a kid—can be one of the toughest lessons to master. A few years back, we stumbled across If the World Were a Village, a book that made our job so […]