The Better Way to Give Affected Masses Crisis Info

Here’s today’s public service announcement from me to you: if you have bad news or risk information to communicate to people affected by crisis, don’t ever (ever, ever, EVER) choose to hold a town hall meeting to do so. Some people look at me like I’m crazy when I say this – even veteran communicators – so […]

Metrics for Discovering Your Reach on Twitter

I just did the math, and Paul and I – combined – regularly use about 15 social media accounts, spread out amongst five different platforms (almost makes me feel exhausted to see those numbers on the screen, but we regulate use!). We contribute to corporate accounts, maintain personal accounts to interact with friends and family, […]

Crisis Communication and the Golden Mean

Here’s a good thought experiment you can conduct from the comfort of your well-appointed office (that may or may not smell of rich mahogany), your 12 square feet of space in a cube farm, your couch or from wherever it is you are reading this post: make a list of all the times you’ve told […]

5 Things Every College Comms Major Should Hear

This spring I filled in as an affiliate professor, teaching Intro to Public Relations, at Loyola University in Baltimore. The department chair seemed sheepish at the prospect of asking someone with my experience to teach the basics to freshmen, “I understand this may be rudimentary and not very interesting for you, but we could use […]

6 Reasons People Say Bad Things About You

“Yeah, Well, You Know, That’s Just, Like, Your Opinion, Man.” * The American news media has always been about recording, contextualizing and transmitting opinions to readers, listeners and viewers. It’s nothing new. The thirst for opinion is so real, that many organizations stress to their spokespeople to “just stick to the facts” when giving interviews. […]