By Jon Harmon, Force for Good Communications
It’s a bit of a paradox.
If you don’t get the sense that we’re standing at an amazing moment in the development of the profession of public relations — truly in the midst of a communications revolution then you probably aren’t reading these words right now.
But, if you have read this far, you are at least an interested passer-by in the blogosphere and the evolution of participatory media. (Even if the word “blog” soon will seem “so 2006” it won’t spell the end to the sea change in the communications dynamic.)
Or perhaps you’ve bought the whole “new media revolution” hook, line and sinker. You’ve thrown out your paper Rolodex wheel with all your journo contacts. Who needs to talk through the annoying filter of the news media mostly populated by cynics who aren’t very impressed with your product? Who needs ‘em! We can talk directly to our customers like we’ve always dreamed.
Well, not exactly Mass media relations are still critically important but the advent of the “new media" is clearly having an impact.
I recently moderated a conference call for Best Practices in Corporate Communications (a resource for more than 50 Fortune 500 companies in sharing non-competitive best practices in communications), titled “Next Practices: The Future of Corporate Communications." It was ambitious to say the least to try to tackle a topic of such scope in a session lasting just over an hour.
The panel consisted of three impressive PR pros: Best Practices in Corporate Communications (a resource for more than 50 Fortune 500 companies in sharing non-competitive best practices in communications), titled Next Practices: The Future of Corporate Communications. It was ambitious to say the least to try to tackle a topic of such scope in a session lasting just over an hour.
The panel consisted of three impressive PR pros: Mike Cherenson, EVP of Success Communications Group Cherenson; Matt Shaw, VP of the Council of Public Relations Firms; and Jennifer McClure, founder and executive director of the Society for New Communications Research.
In a whirlwind tour of the future of our profession, a number of common perspectives emerged:
* Upholding the credibility of the public relations profession is our biggest challenge credibility both with senior operations management and with the public.
* Simply having a seat at the table is not enough. You must have the backbone to say “no” to an ill-advised idea in a senior-level meeting. Mike called it the “no factor." We must each elevate our game to earn the respect of a company’s leadership and the acid test is when you have to disagree.
* Credibility with the public is all about trust. Truthfulness and transparency will be the hallmarks of successful PR practitioners. Those who are less-than-truthful spinners will be quickly found out. The incredible speed of a misstep to watchdog groups and critics (and then to the public at large) makes a cover-up all but impossible.
The art of successful “new media" relations will also help us succeed with traditional mass media. Jennifer described the transformation as “an end to spin and a beginning of story-telling."
If you can quickly take a dry set of facts and weave it into a compelling story, you probably have always done well in generating positive coverage for your company’s products. The rise of participatory media makes story-telling even more important. Whether on a blog or in the New York Times, isn’t every story a “human interest story" if a story doesn’t interest humans, what is the point?
How do we apply the notion of story-telling when we are “media-training a client?
Look for potential spokespeople who are more than merely willing to be interviewed, Mike said, but, rather, eager to tell their story. They will be confident, engaging and ultimately more persuasive in any interview situation.
“We’ve been overly-trained in sticking with a script, Jennifer added. “It’s important to know your key points and to make sure they come across. But it’s bad advice to ignore a question and just stick to your three key messages.
There’s an art to telling a story and those who do it well have no difficulty being heard in any medium.
The preceding article was originally posted on Jon’s blog, Force for Good.
Following a 23-year career in public relations at Ford Motor Company, Jon Harmon has founded “Force for Good Communications.”
Force for Good is a consultancy providing reputation management for clients that understand that reputation is their greatest capital asset. The most effective means of protecting and enhancing reputation is a consistent dedication to “aspirational public relations” built on THIS: transparency, honesty, integrity and social responsibility.
While at Ford, Harmon held a series of positions of increasing responsibility and leadership in corporate media relations, crisis communications, agency management and product promotion. As director, North American product public relations, he led a large team responsible for brand-building media relations for the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands, including new product introductions and auto show news conferences. As director – Communications Strategy, he led an initiative to prepare the company’s public relations staff for the tidal forces now transforming consumer communications, including the rise of citizen-generated media, the globalization of consumer networks, the spread of adversary networks, and the increasing expectations of corporations’ social responsibilities.
