Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
Welcome to 2011! At Communiqué PR, we are ready to put our clients’ plans into action and are evaluating which of the many industry events are the right speaking engagements for them. Each week, Mashable’s Brett Petersel shares the “100+ Upcoming Social Media & Tech Events” and it is shaping up to be another exciting year. This calendar served as a great reminder for us on how best to prepare for any speaking engagement. While we have written about this topic before on our blog in the past, we have a few new ideas that incorporate today’s technology that we thought we would share.
Whether it is a high-profile international event or a local or regional opportunity, speaking engagements provide an excellent way to build thought leadership among peers and potential customers. Regardless of size, it is essential that you take the time to thoughtfully prepare to ensure that you deliver a meaningful presentation. Below are a few tips to consider:
Know the Audience. Identify who will be in your audience. Are you presenting to your colleagues, industry peers or potential customers? Think about what content they are interested in hearing and what questions they might have. Seek to understand what is relevant and top of mind with that specific audience and incorporate those points into your speech. Knowing your audience will enable you to tailor your presentation to be as applicable and informative as possible.
Know Your Roadmap. What do you want to have accomplished at the end of your presentation? What are the key takeaways for the audience? It is likely that you won’t be able to cover everything so decide what is essential, what is important and what would be nice to include. Provide a clear beginning that sets the stage for your audience and gives them a sense of what they will hear from you; a strong middle that clearly covers the essential information you want to share; and, a conclusion that articulately summarizes the few key points or takeaways. As you practice, you can always add in additional examples or stories to illustrate your points if you have additional time. However, usually questions at the end take up more time than you expect.
Practice and Practice Often. You may feel as though you know your material inside and out, but it is important to practice. Rehearse out loud in front of your colleagues, friends or family with all of the equipment (or props) you plan on using. Have your audience time you to ensure you are delivering the entire presentation in the allotted timeframe. You could also video tape yourself and watch for any trouble areas or nervous habits. Regardless of your method, incorporate all of the feedback, revise as needed and master your speech so that it sounds natural.
Visual Aids. To complement your presentation, consider using visuals in PowerPoint to help illustrate your points. Images, graphs or even video and audio can be great enhancements, but know your limit on what you can manage logistically. It is more important to concentrate on your message, not the supporting visuals. Also clarify what equipment will be available on site so you know what you will need to bring and set up.
As you develop your presentation, avoid making your slides text heavy as it may contribute to losing your audience’s attention. It will also be tempting for you to read from the slides rather than engage with your audience.
Be Authentic. Presenting in front of a large group makes most people nervous. While it is important to appear confident and enthusiastic, take a deep breath, relax and be yourself. Connect with your audience by making eye contact, varying your tone and speed, and speak as though you are talking directly to the person furthest away from you. If you make a mistake, admit it and move on. It is important to remember that people want for you to succeed.
Encourage Audience Participation. It is likely that the majority of your audience will have a mobile device with them. While making the polite request to silence their cell phones, do encourage them to participate from your session on Twitter by suggesting a specific hashtag. You could offer a prize as an incentive for the most active Tweeter from the session.
Another way to keep your audience engaged is to ask them questions or conduct a short poll (i.e. how many of you are active on Twitter today?) that can help lead your presentation to the next point. By doing so, it will make for a memorable presentation when your audience feels engaged and participating in a session.
Solicit Feedback. Experience builds confidence, which is essential for public speaking. After the event, solicit feedback from audience members or organizers to learn what worked well and what didn’t work well. This will ultimately help you prepare for your next speaking engagement.
We hope you find this information helpful and a good refresher on how to prepare for a speaking engagement. If you have any additional suggestions on what you found to be helpful, either as a presenter or as an audience member, we would love to hear from you.
It has been a busy year filled with lots of change for us as well as our clients. As the calendar year comes to an end, we like to reflect on the challenges we faced, what we learned and the successes and accomplishments we achieved during the year. Some of the highlights for Communiqué PR in 2010 include the following:
- We added several full service and project clients to our roster: Bookbyte, The Bravern, Cautious Patient, Earth Class Mail, Facebook, Florentia Press, Kudos Community, Mud Bay, Northside, Omni Group, Port of Kingston, Serials Solutions, Spoon and Study Blue.
- Digonex continued to extend its leadership in the dynamic pricing market. The company was featured in several national publications including The New York Times. This ultimately led to Digonex CEO Jan Eglen’s appearance on Fox Business News to talk about the role of dynamic pricing in the future of tickets.
- For Serials Solutions, we focused on the development of more than 10 case studies and about 20 press releases to garner the attention of elite colleges, universities and academic libraries around the world. The company continues to have a significant impact on how the users of college and research libraries discover and access information with its Summon™ service and its 360 family of services. We have enjoyed talking with library directors around the world.
- We began working with Bookbyte in July 2010 to help build awareness of the company, the benefits of buying and selling used textbooks as compared to renting and help launch the company’s first digital learning pilot with Salem-Keizer school district. We secured coverage in a variety of outlets, a few of which include The Oregonian, U. The College Magazine, Online College Digest, The Oak Leaf and the below segment that aired in September on KGW TV.
- In spring 2010, Facebook approached Communiqué PR seeking assistance in announcing the company’s plans to open an office in Seattle. We partnered with Facebook’s communication team and the Mayor’s office to share the news and build awareness among Seattle’s business and technology community.
- We helped Seattle-based Florentia Press launch its first book, “Discover Cooking with Lavender” by Kathy Gehrt. Throughout the year the book gained significant momentum with food writers and bloggers. We also secured numerous author events at local bookstores, nurseries, wineries and culinary shops.
Internal milestones for the year included:
- We released the paperback version of our book, “Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principals to Harness the Power of PR.” We were excited to see sales of our book in 2010 increased more than 24 percent over the previous year. For the first time, we placed a sponsored ad to promote our book on Peter Shankman’s HARO in January, which helped drive sales of our book during the year.
- In January 2010, we rolled out our new website. This was our first significant website redesign since launching Communiqué PR in 2004. The redesign was led by Susan Giordano and implemented by her team at GKD, a Seattle-based firm specializing in corporate branding, custom website design and product packaging.
- During the year, we wrote more than 75 blog posts and saw a significant increase in traffic to our website. We have enjoyed reading the comments and discussions posted by our readers.
- We spoke at several events in 2010. A few of them included:
- Enterprise Social 2.0, Amsterdam– Damage Control in Social Media, January 2010
- South Sound PRSA, Tacoma – Writing for Different Mediums, February 2010
- PR+MKTG Camp Seattle – March 2010
- Washington State Community Action Partnership Development Conference, Seattle – Crisis Communication, May 2010
- Washington State Community Action Partnership Development Conference, Seattle – Social Media for Building Community, May 2010
- PNAIS Institutional Advancement Conference, Skamania – Promoting the Value of Independent Schools, June 2010
- Insight Venture Partners Conference, New York – Using Social Media Effectively, July 2010
- University of Washington, Master of Communication and Digital Media, Seattle – Strategic Research and Business Practices, November 2010
- Finally, we added several new team members to Communiqué PR increasing the agency’s breadth and depth of experience. We anticipate continuing that growth in 2011!
We are optimistic and excited as we look toward 2011. The coming year is filled with wonderful opportunities. We are honored to work with a stellar group of clients and a long list of supporters. We want to thank those of you with whom we have had the opportunity to work with and look forward to the continued success in the New Year.
In the tightest hiring market in 70 years, college students are expected to do more than just attend lectures and pass exams; they are also expected to fill their resumes from top to bottom with the all-important internship. So how exactly does a student rise above their peers and stand out to potential employers? Case competitions are a key differentiator.
Case competitions can vary tremendously in scope and intensity, from 24 hours to several weeks. Each case lays out a current, real-world business problem. With a group of peers, each team researches and plans a solution based on what they’ve collectively learned in the classroom, internships and any other relevant experience. On the last day of the competition, the team presents its findings and solution to a panel of judges. The top finishers then travel to other universities to compete at the next level, nationally and abroad.
I competed in mini 30-minute case competitions in high school through DECA, but it wasn’t until college that I experienced my first, big case. Recently, I participated in The IKEA Case Competition with a team of several other students. We were given information about a real solar energy company’s current financials, product, global placement and competitor standings. The case required us to do additional research, draw on classroom knowledge and present suggestions to a panel of judges, who play the role of the company’s top corporate executives. We were asked to concentrate on the future of the global energy market, global industry positioning, international expansion strategy and financials.
After 48 hours of research, digging through old class notes, lecture slides and textbooks, consuming mass amounts of coffee, debates over strategy and slaving over the PowerPoint presentation, it was time to present to the judges.
All of our work came down to 10 critical minutes of presentation and another 10 minutes of answering the judges’ questions. We managed to survive and even draw a few smiles and nods from the judges; overall, a rewarding first experience.
Through this experience we learned the importance of good communication and problem-solving in business. The purpose of the exercise is not to see how much you know about the solar energy market or how well you can create a strategy for that particular company. The point is to test a student’s ability to work on a team, look at a company they know little about and conduct useful research, apply business strategy fundamentals and solve a real-world problem.
Likewise, employers need their employees (even entry level employees) to showcase problem-solving skills above all else, NOT academic memorization skill. If my manager needs to hold my hand every hour of every day, then I’m not a valuable employee. She needs to be able to trust my ability to take a task, and use my own judgment and communication skills to figure out the best way to execute. Communication and problem-solving skills are the fundamental skills employers look for. Case competitions help students utilize and develop skills that would otherwise sit idle during lecture.
During my time as an intern at Communiqué PR, I’ve often thought back to the case competition and what I learned. Whether it is how I conduct a phone conference or ask a clarifying question, I think about the way I translate my need for information into clear, concise questions. I want to be valuable to any company, and I strongly believe the skills students further develop through case competitions contribute to their overall value as well as give them an advantage when looking for their first professional position.
This post was authored by Communiqué PR intern, Lindsey Turner.
With 2010 drawing to a close, many organizations have already mapped out their PR efforts for 2011. Planning is a critical element of PR to ensure everyone is in agreement on the upcoming year’s business and communication objectives, as well as the strategies and tactics that will be used to achieve those objectives.
It can take several weeks to plan for an announcement – development and approval of press materials, outreach to media, securing interviews and negotiating placement. As many “long-lead” or monthly publications often publish 30 to 90 days out, planning becomes even more critical. If you haven’t developed your 2011 PR plan, fear not, there’s still time. Consider the following elements to developing a sound PR plan for the coming year.
- Solidify business and communication objectives for the year – This is a paramount first step in determining the appropriate PR strategies and tactics that map back to achieving these objectives. This is also a good time to revisit key messages and target audiences to ensure these are still relevant.
- Brainstorm ideas – Take some time to meet as a team to brainstorm creative ideas. Perhaps this year your organization wants to up level its analyst relations program. Leverage the mindshare in the room to come up with new ideas to achieve this goal. You may even want to invite others not directly working on communications as they can often bring fresh eyes to the table.
- Develop a strategic PR plan that maps out key activities for each quarter – A good PR plan will have each quarter’s activities mapped out; however it’s important to be flexible as the timing for announcements, such as a product launch or partner announcement, may slip. I like to use Excel to develop a grid for each quarter and drop in the key milestones and launches I anticipate will occur within that quarter.
- Determine success metrics – How will you measure success against the strategies you’ve set forth in the PR plan? It’s important to get crystal clear on this and secure buy-in as it creates shared expectations as to the nature of a successful campaign. There are a number of ways to measure success including story placements, share of voice, return on influencers, etc.
- Secure approval on the plan – Once you’ve completed and presented the PR plan, it’s important to secure feedback and approval on the plan. Again, this creates shared expectations on the PR activities that will be implemented within the coming year.
Proper planning can ultimately determine whether or not a PR campaign is a success or a flop. For more information on how to develop a strategic PR plan, send us an e-mail.
Case studies can be an excellent way to shape perceptions about a company’s service, software or products. For instance, consider Serials Solutions, a provider of services for more than 3,000 libraries worldwide.
When I headed off to college in the late 80s, I took a typewriter not a computer. Similarly, the process of conducting research for term papers was very different back then. Today’s students are accustomed to searching for information using Google (or some other search engine), and because of this, expect a Google-like experience when they go to their university libraries to do research.
Serials Solutions has developed unique services to help students and librarians alike. For example, Serials Solutions Summon™ service makes it possible for students to find and access material in their library from a single search box. Serials Solutions’ family of 360 services also provides solutions to librarians that make the discovery, management and access of electronic resources easier as well.
Serials Solutions’ services are critical as many of today’s libraries are subscribing to more and more electronic content. Stanford University’s engineering library, for instance is embracing the “age of bookless libraries” with most of its periodicals moving online.
To help others understand the unique capabilities of Serials Solutions’ services, we recently completed the development of ten case studies. Each case study illustrates the distinct needs of each college and university, provides insight on why the librarians selected Serials Solutions and explains the impact of its services on both researchers and librarians.
The case studies were developed after in-depth interviews with librarians, and careful review and assimilation of our notes. We then wrote first drafts and secured feedback and approvals from all parties.
When completed, the case studies will be published on the Serials Solutions website and will be an excellent tool for the sales force to reference in the field. Additionally, these case studies can serve as background for journalists wanting to better understand how these services are being used, the future of information literacy and how libraries are measuring return on investment from the adoption of Serials Solutions’ services. Finally, they’ll be a good source of content for the Serials Solutions Facebook and Twitter pages.
For more information about Communiqué PR case studies, please take a look at Securing Placements of Case Studies in Vertical Publications.
Every day on my way home from work, I drive by the same auto body shop, Collision One, and every day its sign catches my eye. It’s not because the sign is particularly flashy or that the colors are surprising – it catches my eye because I think the tagline is brilliant. The tagline reads, “Like It Never Happened.”
Simple and easy to read quickly, this tagline sums up the exact feeling its patrons want to experience when they leave the shop. No one wants to be in a fender bender and it’s even less fun to be reminded of the accident by dents and scratches on your car. “Like It Never Happened” lets the consumer know that the company cares about you AND your car, and signals that it takes pride in quality work. That’s a lot of information to derive about a company from just a few words on a sign, isn’t it?
There are many studies that show first impressions are often the most lasting. In a way, I look at a company’s tagline as an opportunity to make its best first impression about its brand. Given this, it’s important that your tagline be appropriate to the type of business you are running; not only that it’s catchy, but that it also conveys a positive feeling to your target consumer. The risk of having a tagline that confuses or puts customers off is very costly as they may simply opt to go to your competitor.
Here are a few other taglines that are getting the job done:
- “Works Like A Dream” – Ambien
- “The Quicker Picker Upper” – Bounty
- “The Happiest Place on Earth” – Disneyland
- “Play. Laugh. Grow.” – Fisher Price
- “American by birth. Rebel by choice.” – Harley Davidson
- “Every Kiss Begins with Kay” – Kay Jewelers
- “What Happens Here, Stays Here” – Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
- “Hope. Care. Cure” – Seattle Children’s Hospital
Do you have any favorites? I’d love to hear about taglines that have kept you going back to a business year after year.