Monthly Archives: July 2014
Get Your Audience Involved
Interactive exercises provide a great addition to any presentation, even when you speak before large groups. This active approach to learning engages audience members and helps get them on your side. Consider how many times you’ve been forced to listen to a speaker drone on, offering no interplay with you as an audience member. Great […]
Taking Your Communications Training Consultant for a Test Drive
My wife and I went new car shopping a few days ago. Not that we need a new car. We simply thought that better mileage (and the possibility of lower payments) would be nice. We took a few models for a test drive. The decision is still to be made as we weren’t bowled over […]
Searching for a Videographer? Beware Inferior Quality
I participate in several online discussion boards. One recent questioner was in search of a videographer in a certain U.S. city. As often happens, I’d conducted a media training workshop for a client there, so knew a good videographer and was pleased to pass his name along with a positive, specific recommendation. Another respondent suggested […]
Ten Rights and Responsibilities Newsmakers Need to Follow
Trained spokespeople know what to expect when being interviewed by a reporter. But some are not fully aware of the unofficial standards that exist. That’s the reason for a new tip sheet titled “Your Media Rights and Responsibilities.” It catalogs the procedures that savvy experts and reporters observe. Newsmakers need to follow the rules of […]
Who Gets a Press Pass?
Who qualifies as a journalist? That line becomes more blurry by the day as freelance reporters and bloggers take on roles once reserved for traditional correspondents at well-recognized news outlets. One traditional standard measurement has been the media credential or, less formally, the press pass. Your company may not be in the business of deciding […]
Enduring Professional Development
Communications executive: “My CEO has already been ‘media trained.’” Me: “Glad to hear it. When was that?” Executive: “Oh, four or five years ago when she first came on board.” Me: “And you’ve encountered no new issues since then?” Executive: “Well…” Me: “How has your CEO grown in the job?” Executive: “She has a much […]
Organizing from the Top Down
Many speakers and organizations put together their presentations backwards. Here’s how it often occurs, especially with organizations that default to the use of presentation software (by the way, turn that default switch off; more on this in a later commentary). They decide upon the slides, and try to fit everything else into that construct. Bad […]
C-suite Blueprint 
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