Schaeffer PR Buzz

"The Medium is the Message"

A friend who owns a company in another city e-mailed me and another friend the other day to let us know that his wife’s eight-year battle with breast cancer was coming to its inevitable end. Although she has defied all the life expectancy predictions, there is nothing more that the doctors can do. He noted that he would be taking a lot of time away from his company over the next several months, to spend even more time with his wife and children.

Hands hovering over my keyboard, I attempted to compose a response. “I am so sorry” seemed hollow as I read the electronic words. “If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know” seemed disingenuous in e-mail form.

I hit the delete button and picked up the telephone. 

In our phone conversation, I asked my friend how he’s doing. I really wanted to know and he took time to answer honestly. He’s concerned about his kids. He’s in pain from watching his wife’s agony without being able to help relieve it. Precious few e-mails that carry the nicety “how are you?” ever elicit real answers. 

As my friend and I talked, I figured out a specific, unique way I could help him, and offered. As I made the offer, I heard my voice crack, as I’m sure he did. The pause I heard between my offer and his response told me we had connected on a level that is a tribute to our friendship and that the live phone conversation had allowed. I’m glad we had a real conversation and I hope I will be able to help him in some small way.

As the 20^th Century scholar and author Marshall McLuhan www.marshallmcluhan.com wrote in Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, published in 1964, “The medium is the message.” McLuhan, considered a prophet about electronic media, never used e-mail, as he died in 1980. Yet, I’m convinced he most likely envisioned the concept, based upon his many other on-target predictions about mass media and communications.

It turns out that my brief encounter with my friend was an object lesson www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/object+lesson about the “medium is the message” phrase. The medium one chooses to express oneself profoundly affects the sender, the receiver and sometimes the world.

The opportunities to remember that – and choose wisely – are infinite.

Half Empty or Half Full?

How one answers the old question "Is the glass half empty or half full?" is typically considered a matter of identifying optimism or pessimism.

In public relations, the question represents the ever-present need for careful messaging. Are you trying to communicate that there is plenty? Are you trying to make the case for need? Or, are you trying to do both at the same time?

Easy, right?

In a difficult situation, how do you take a "half full" stance without looking shallow?
If a situation is getting worse, the "half empty" position may seem more truthful.
You don't want to misrepresent the facts or spin a yarn.

A public relations professional must identify the communications objectives, review the facts, ask tough questions and come up with simple, clear, truthful messages that enlighten the reader or listener and, in most cases, motivate that reader or listener to form an opinion or take action. PR is about information and persuasion, after all.

I sat at a non-profit board meeting table today in a discussion dominated by a small, but vocal, group of "half empty" devotees. The "half empty" folks were leading the attempt to get a loan from a sister entity. The presentation quickly became ironic, because in making their "half empty" case this contingent disparaged the very people who were going to be raising the money to pay back the loan. Worse, these "half-empty" people said they thought an effective way to motivate the larger group of people was to tell them the downsides of the situation and reiterate past transgressions.

It kind or reminded me of a dog owner who tries to get his wandering pet back into the house by yelling in a punishing voice, "Get over here, right now!" to an animal who doesn't understand words, but surely can distinguish a welcoming tone from an angry tone.

Good communications starts with identifying the goal -- preferably one that is good for all parties involved. Your objective is to get the dog safely into the house, not to abuse the animal and disturb the neighborhood with your rants.

In the case of messaging, the challenge is to define "half full" for everyone involved, while respecting the facts to which the half-empties are clinging. You can highlight the fact that the organization is two-thirds toward its ambitious long-term fund-raising goal and is ahead of its dollar and outreach timetables, yet has an interim cash-flow problem. This allows you to paint a vision of success to motivate others. Or, you can transform a short-term cash-flow issue into a conclusion of overall failure and turn it into self-fulfilling prophecy of doom.

I know which one I'll choose.

Don't say anything you don't want to see on page 1 of the paper

Today's political buzz in Chicago concerns a "leaked" memo written by the campaign staff of Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan www.housedem.state.il.us/index2.htm, instructing Illinois House Democrats up for election about how to talk to media and constituents about possible impeachment proceedings against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich www.illinois.gov/GOV/.

Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn chicagotribune.com/zorn questions whether the memo was truly a private communication meant only for the eyes of House Democrats, or was actually engineered to only look secret with the full intent of leaking it to the media. Why would Madigan and staff do this? To foment more speculation, accusations and innuendos about political rival Blagojevich, whose office has been under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office.

Public relations professionals managing public affairs issues confront variations on the theme of Zorn's question all the time. When you're managing a client's public image and reputation, you are constantly on guard about what you are saying and to whom. And, while your job usually is to generate media coverage for your client, you end up spending a fair amount of your media relations time trying to keep things OUT of the media. PR professionals are paid to dance on the tightrope that connects client reputation management and truthfulness.

In my first week after making the leap from news reporter to Chicago public relations consultant, my bosses admonished me, "Don't put anything in writing that you wouldn't want to see on page one of the newspaper." Initially this struck me as ironic, as I had just spent the first 10 years of my career trying as often as possible to get my work on page one of the newspaper for which I worked. In my new role as PR consultant, this created a critical PR litmus test for all memos to clients, communications strategies, media talking points and all other written directions to clients.

A couple years ago, one client coined the term "billboard-able" to make the same point. With this client's organization locked in a heated and very public regulatory battle, all e-mails and documents had to pass the "billboard test": if opponents obtained the information and put it on a billboard, would it be fit to be seen by the community?

Of course that "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say it at all" approach is fundamental, and recommended by many respected people, including my paternal grandmother, and yours, probably, too.  Meanwhile, of course, "sources" have been leaking information to news media since news media have existed. A more sophisticated (and devious, some might say) approach, noted by Tribune's Zorn, is for public officials to leak information to reporters, all the while giving the leak the appearance of being a mistake. Zorn notes that in the Blagojevich impeachment talking points there are typos and other indications that the document was a draft. There are drafts and there are "drafts," which never become final so as always to be swathed by the "draft" word and protected from public scrutiny.

The competing principles of "the public's right to know" and the "individual's right to privacy" clash every day in the court of public opinion. What conclusions the members of the jury -- your target audiences -- draw are up to you. How do you win your case? Please comment and let me know what you think. Or, contact me at my company Web site: www.ksapr.com.

How to Write a Speech

This morning I attended a breakfast meeting of 1,000 business people at a Chicago hotel www.choosechicago.com. The attendees were energized, even at 7:30 a.m.; the event was a celebration of recent city successes; and the speakers ranged from engaging (Keynote speaker and innovation expert John Kao), to uplifting hometown cheerleading (Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley) www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_M._Daley, to humorous (Roman Catholic Monsignor Ken Velo).

And then there were several standard corporate executive speeches that sounded like, um, standard corporate executive speeches.

How does one write a speech that rises above mediocre, embodies the speaker's point of view and commands rapt attention? Speech-writing sites abound on the Internet. A particularly good one is run by teachers at www.teacher.scholastic.com, and offers good practical tips. That site provides a good place to start writing.

With about 20 years of experience writing speeches for others as a public relations consultant (for the past 13 years at my own firm, Kathy Schaeffer and Associates, Inc. www.ksapr.com), I'd suggest the following, to help guarantee writing a good, if not excellent, speech:

Know the person for whom you are writing. Listen to him or her talk -- in a conversation and when making a speech. What words does s/he use? What rhythm and speed? Is s/he loud or a soft-talker?  Does s/he use long or short sentences? Does s/he have the personality to be funny? Witty? If possible, get to know the person behind the public figure. What are his or her interests outside of work? A history buff? Loves boating? Talks about cooking any time s/he can? Hates sports and would never use a sports analogy? While getting to know the speaker, elicit personal anecdotes from him or her that can add authenticity to the speech. I once used a golf reference in a speech for a client and he edited it out. It wouldn't work because he didn't play golf and his audience was likely to know that.

Employ the "method acting" technique. Just as actors strive to understand and convey the psychological motivations of the characters they play and tap into their own emotions to replicate what the characters are feeling, a good speech writer gets into character by imagining s/he is the person who will deliver the speech. Again, the better you know the speaker, the better this will work. The best compliment I ever received from a client was, "Are we walking in the same skin?" after he'd read what I'd written for him.

Ask the person what s/he wants to say. It may sound obvious, but I believe many people asked to write speeches for others skip this step because they think they know what the person wants to say, or worse, think they know what the person should say. This particularly true of public relations professionals who strive to stay "on message." Have a probing conversation with the person about the topic of the speech. Why do they hold that opinion? Play Devil's Advocate and push them about their beliefs, and then listen carefully to the words the person chooses in making his/her case stronger. Those are the exact words to use in the speech -- the person's own words, made more interesting in your packaging.

What do you think? What is the best speech you've heard recently? What have your experiences been in writing speeches for others? Let me know.

Good Writing, Harvard and J.K. Rowling

Author J.K. Rowling of "Harry Potter" fame www.jkrowling.com  was the graduation speaker at Harvard University www.harvard.edu yesterday and many students complained, asserting that Rowling's stature was not great enough to qualify her to speak at the renowned university. Sales of more than 375 million copies of "Harry Potter" books in 200 countries, translated into 65 languages may not impress a newly minted B.S. degree-earner. Inspiring millions of children to read -- and, undoubtedly to write -- may not sound so fascinating, either. Persevering through a life of poverty as a single mother to pursue publication of her first manuscript perhaps doesn't sound as daunting as passing a round of college final exams.

I believe that one of Rowling's most lasting contributions to society will be that she encouraged millions of young people to read books, thereby undoubtedly encouraging them to become better writers. Reading often begets writing. And, the earlier one learns the fundamentals of good writing -- preferably in elementary school -- the better writer one becomes. We desperately need more good writers.

It is appalling how poorly people write today, including those with college degrees from prestigious universities. In my 20 years' experience of hiring writers, I've repeatedly seen bad writing from people who have held jobs in which they were required to write, and from those who hold degrees in journalism and English from good universities. Once a recent college graduate said she faulted her college professors for not teaching her to write better. I'd say it was her elementary school teachers who were responsible for teaching her composition and encouraging her to read fine writing.

My hope for the world is that more young people will read more and write more, so that when they become adults they will be able to write coherently and engagingly. If J.K. Rowling's work can help that occur, she deserves a bigger prize than the Harvard honorary doctor of letters she received yesterday.

In her commencement address, Rowling challenged the audience to use imagination to empathize with others and transform the world. I wonder if the grumbling Harvard students have the imagination to try to do that. And, I wonder if they can summon the appropriate incantations to write about it. 

Scott McClellan and Trust Factor for Media Spokespersons

The release of former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's new book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception, has been parsed from all angles. Whether you think the Bush Administration lied to McClellan and lied to the American public, or whether you think that McClellan should have spoken up sooner or left his post earlier, one thing is clear: It all boils down to trust.
In the arena of public opinion, press secretaries, media spokespersons for nonprofits, and corporate public relations executives are at the fulcrum of the trust equation. The boss -- whether s/he's an elected official, executive director or CEO -- must trust the spokesperson. Key audiences -- whether they're members of the media, employees, shareholders or community leaders -- must trust the spokesperson, and through him or her, the organization. And, the spokesperson must trust the organization for which s/he works.
It can take a glacier's age to build trust, yet trust can be crushed in an earthquake's instant. Like earthquake damage, many forms of trust erosion can be repaired, but that, too, can be expensive, painful and time consuming.
How can a media spokesperson or public information officer excel at an extremely challenging job and ensure trust, public accountability and loyalty to his/her boss or client? I offer four general tips:
Really know the person and organization you represent. Do they have reputations for integrity? Are they working to restore their good names? What do supporters and detractors say? Are finances sound? What public problems does the organization and its top officials have and how have they handled them to date? Any missteps? No one is perfect, so how the organization's leadership has managed good times and bad times is an indicator of future behavior.
Ensure you, the spokesperson, have access to decision-makers. When the CEO, elected official or executive director considers communications a priority, s/he will ensure that the spokesperson has access to the decision makers who shape the policy, decisions and public positions that the spokesperson is responsible for conveying to the public, the media and other key audiences. Spokespersons aren't walls behind which the CEO can hide (although that happens every day). Instead, spokespersons are the microphone through which the CEO conveys information and receives responses from others.
Build relationships with members of the media. Talk openly and honestly with members of the media. A former Illinois statehouse reporter-turned-government spokesman once told me something I believe holds true today. He said there are three answers for requests for information by the media: 1.) I have the information and I will tell you. 2.) I don't have the information and I will get it for you (and then get it). 3.) I have the information/know the information exists and I cannot talk to you about it. Number 3 is where people get heartburn. Balancing the need to be truthful with the need to not release information at a particular time creates a conflict for the spokesperson to negotiate. What a spokesperson says and how s/he says it in this instance is the key to maintaining trust. The best spokesperson has created a deep well of trust with media who know that the person can and will help when possible, and has a strong bond with the leaders s/he represents, who understand that all reputations are on the line in such a situation.
Know yourself and your limits. How quickly do you cave under pressure and what kind of pressure? How do you view the relationship between loyalty and honesty? Are you a truthful person and known as such in the community? How closely do the core values of the organization and person(s) you represent match your personal values? Does example Number 3 in the point above make you cringe? Knowing ahead of time where you stand and knowing where your client or employer stands on the basic issues is the most important preparation a spokesperson can do.
If you want to continue this discussion, please comment, or contact me at the Web site of my Chicago PR company, Kathy Schaeffer and Associates, Inc.: www.ksapr.com