Tom Keefe

Spirited Communication

Author: Tom Keefe (Page 5 of 6)

Robert K. Elder of Sun-Times Media, addresses attendees at the "Crisis Communication Planning in a Social Media World" workshop on May 17 at the University Center of Lake County Conference Center in Grayslake, Ill.

Journalist Walks the Talk Regarding Social Media Use

May 19, 2013 /
robertkelder

Photo (c) Robert K. Elder. All rights reserved.

In preparation for a recent workshop regarding the use of social media in crisis communications, I invited a Chicago-area journalist to join our panel. That journalist, Robert K. Elder, was entertaining, informative and provocative—exactly what I had hoped he would be.

Elder was one of two journalists on the panel. The other was Teresa Schmedding, managing editor for digital at the Daily Herald Media Group. Both Elder and Schmedding attracted the bulk of questions from among the 50 attendees of the May 17 workshop, “Crisis Communication Planning in a Social Media World.” But Elder’s obvious interest in, and comfort with, social media tools and techniques resulted in the opportunity for attendees to see how they could incorporate social media into their communication planning and personal use.

The workshop was organized by the PR Council of Lake County. I’m a member, and was a bit embarrassed when Elder (kindly) pointed out privately at the beginning of the event that we didn’t have a Twitter account. Fellow PRCLC member Donna Antu quickly registered @PRCLakeCounty, and we were tweeting before the workshop ended.

I appreciated Elder’s desire for PRCLC to “walk its talk” about social media. He obviously does, as evidenced by his Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., etc. accounts. I felt that Elder was encouraging  workshop attendees to experiment with social media tools. In the context of crisis communications, he pointed out how journalists are monitoring social media sites for news tips. It obviously behooves company public relations professionals to be ready to engage in online conversations.181455_503850032997599_406437246_n

After the workshop, I enjoyed digging a bit online into Elder’s professional pursuits outside of his day job as an editor for Sun-Times Media. He is an author of several popular books and teaches journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School and Columbia College. Read his bio.

Another great professional connection made, thanks to PR Council of Lake County.

Six Principles of Crisis Communications from the CDC

May 17, 2013 /

The Center for Disease Control is no stranger to crisis communications. At a workshop on May 17 organized by the PR Council of Lake County, Barbara J.Reynolds, CDC Crisis Communication Specialist, ticked off the list of issues and emergencies that she has dealt with over the past 20 years, among them: pandemic influenza (H1N1), vaccine safety, emerging disease outbreaks (SARS) and bioterrorism.

Barbara J. Reynolds, Center for Disease Control Crisis Communications Director, shares information remotely from Atlanta to attendees of the PR Council of Lake County social media workshop on May 17.

Barbara J. Reynolds, Center for Disease Control Crisis Communications Specialist, shares information remotely from Atlanta with attendees of the PR Council of Lake County social media workshop on May 17.

The CDC built its crisis communications around six principles from its “Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication” (CERC) training program. The training program draws from lessons learned during public health emergencies, and incorporates best practices from the fields of risk and crisis communication.

The six principles are:

  1. Be First: If the information is yours to provide by organizational authority, do so as soon as possible. If you can’t, then explain how you are working to get it.
  2. Be Right: Give facts in increments. Tell people what you know when you know it. Tell them what you don’t know. Tell them if you will know relevant information later.
  3. Be Credible: Tell the truth. Do not withhold information to avoid embarrassment or the possible “panic” that seldom happens. Uncertainty is worse than not knowing. Rumors are more damaging than hard truths.
  4. Show Compassion and Empathy: This lets people know that you care, that you recognize the pain they’re going through. It is not sympathy, which implies that you know what the person is going through. Chances are, you haven’t experienced what they have.
  5. Promote Action: These are recommended actions for people to do; e.g., check on neighbors, hold a memorial service, consider preventative vaccinations. The actions move people from simply sitting, thinking and worrying. It helps them psychologically and it helps the community return to a “new normal,” after any kind of crisis.
  6. Show Respect:  People have different beliefs, whether they be cultural, familial, religious or based on a perspective related to the person’s age. By being respectful in  your messaging, you improve the chances that those various audiences will believe in what you are doing. That hopefully will lead to changed behavior and compliance with whatever actions or decisions your want them to support.

Reynolds then showed examples of the CDC’s social media sites, and how they responded to comments from the public. As a governmental organization, the CDC only removes comments from the public that are obviously obscene or that threaten someone, she said.

The results of the CDC’s social media practices and policies indicate that they are on the right track, Reynolds said. People who comment or otherwise access CDC through social media:

  • Have higher satisfaction ratings (84 out of 100) than those who do not use CDC social media tools (79 out of 100)
  • Are more likely to return and recommend the site to others than those who do not use CDC social media tools
  • Rate CDC as more trustworthy than those who do not use CDC’s social media tools

Here is another slide from Reynolds’ presentation that shows the CDC scoring higher than its federal agency peers in the areas of perceived collaboration and trust. The 12-point difference in collaboration correlates to a belief that people who use social media do so because they feel it is important to be a participant in their spheres of influence and daily lives.

Trust, Transparency and Participation in Goverment

MediaMiser Tracks Bad Cruise Karma Over Time

April 26, 2013 /

MediaMiser has created an interesting infographic to chart the choppy waves of public discontent at Carnival Cruise Lines’ service and reliability earlier this year.

The graphic notes how the cruise company was just recovering from one PR nightmare, only to have a second incident further mar its reputation.

Infographics are a nice visual way of sharing otherwise dry statistical information. Consider creating one for your internal communications, such as for quarterly townhall meetings and/or year-in-review presentations. 

A Sea of Troubles: PR Impact of Bad Carnival Cruise NewsA Sea of Troubles: PR Impact of Bad Carnival Cruise News by MediaMiser

Bigstock image of businessman presentation

Presenting Results That Tell a Sad Tale About Presentation Skills

March 7, 2013 /

Businessman giving presentation at podiumThis afternoon, I returned to my desk after delivering a speech during an open house organized by my company’s Toastmaster’s club, and spotted an email about presentation skills.

The email was from Distinction Communication Inc., announcing publication of results from Distinction’s 2013 Presentation Impact Survey. Although the survey sample was small (150 people), it provided some data that lends credence to the notion that companies and their employees (including leaders) need help to develop their presentation skills.

Even after decades of experience as a communications professional, I saw the need a few years ago to ramp up my speaking and leadership skills through Toastmasters. The support and guidance provided by Toastmasters and companies such as Distinction is worth the investment of time and money.

Here are results of the Distinction 2013 Presentation Impact Survey. I think they track well with what I see within my company.

1) What best represents your role in the organization?

11% Senior Management
42% Sales or Marketing
17% Training & Development
3% Corporate Communications
5% Operations or Finance
22% Other (Education, mid-level management, directors etc)

2) How would you rank the importance of personal presentation skills on your career and income?

89% Communicating with clarity/directly impacts my career and income (Up 3% from 2012)
10% Presentation skills are helpful but only impact my job somewhat
1% Good presentation skills probably don’t impact my job at all

3) What is the mix of face-to-face presentations vs. web-based presentations you deliver?

33% I only deliver face-to-face presentations.
37% Most of my presentations are face-to-face with a few that are web-based.
16% An even mix of face-to-face and web-based presentations.
14% More than half of my presentations are web-based. *(Doubled from 2012 results)

4) Which best reflects your ability to get honest and constructive feedback on the presentations you deliver?

39% I get regular, constructive and helpful feedback on how well I’m presenting.
36% The feedback I receive is very infrequent and not always helpful.
25% I rarely or never receive direct input on my presentation skills.

5) Do you believe you are a good presenter?

49% Yes, I believe I’m a pretty good presenter
41% I think I’m a somewhat average presenter
10% My presentation skills are not as strong as I would like

6) What best describes the PowerPoint (or equivalent) presentations you or your team deliver? (Be as objective as you can)

12% Very simple- sometimes bordering on too elementary
16% Overly complicated – way too much information on a slide
50% Average visuals- no better or worse than others I see
22% Awesome- high caliber and well-designed presentation visuals

7) Rank these presenter behaviors from most to least irritating or distracting, 1 being the worst (listed below from most irritating average score to least)

#1 – Reading directly from notes or off the screen
#2 – The use of umm’s and uhhh’s (filler words)
#3 – Pacing or nervous movement
#4 – Eyes wander and won’t make eye contact with the audience
#5 – Presenter wants to stay behind a podium or lectern

8) On a 1-10 scale, rank the average presenter you see in your organization every week.

5.6

9) Does your company provide meaningful and ongoing resources and tools to help you become a more effective communicator and presenter?

31% Yes- my company supports the ongoing development of these skills in a number of ways
55% Limited- my company provides only occasional or limited resources or tools
14% No- my company does not offer any resources for presentation skills development

10) When asked to deliver an important presentation, your gut feeling is…

35% No sweat… I really love giving presentations
64% I would be anxious but I always make it work out
1% I’d rather have a root canal at the dentist’s office

11) When it comes to creating the underlying message for my presentations…

37% I don’t have a consistent plan for shaping important presentation messages
8% Someone else usually creates the messages for my presentations
55% I have a very specific messaging game plan that I use

*Survey respondents January 2013= 150

This annual survey is conducted by Distinction Communication Inc., a Portland, OR–based presentation services company that provides delivery skills coaching, messaging and advanced design support to clients around North America and the world.

Repost: If you want us to call, stop using words

February 21, 2013 /

Originally posted to the Commakazi Speek blog on 12-20-2010
With the news that OfficeMax and Office Depot will merge, this might be useful to the new marketing team there.

I used to think that it was clever to convert a telephone number into a word, using the letters on a telephone keypad. “What a great way to make a phone number easy to remember,” I thought back then.

But technology (actual mobile phone design) has changed all that, and companies that use words, rather than numbers, in their advertisements are showing that they are out-of-touch. And that’s exactly the effect that they are having with their device-dependent customers.

It actually is annoying to have to hunt-and-peck on a telephone when all you have to go on is the “secret word.” That’s why I told my church’s marketing team years ago that it was fine to list the phone number for Joy Lutheran Church as 1-847-362-4JOY, but that they should include the final four numbers in parentheses (1-847-362-4569).

What back then was annoying, today is harmful to potential sales and customer satisfaction. That’s because the correlation between letters and numbers on mobile phone keypads is no longer standard.

Here’s an example. I wanted to call OfficeMax regarding its MaxPerks(r) reward program. The only phone number listed in the MaxPerks brochure is 877.OFFICEMAX. The first thing I noticed is that OFFICEMAX is nine letters, and U.S. telephone numbers (minus the area code) are seven digits. So OfficeMax has tacked on two letters that are meaningless–and confusing–to a customer trying to dial.

The adventure continues, depending on the customer’s mobile phone. Here is a keypad similar to the one on my Nokia phone.nokia-phone-keyboard

See how each number 0-9 is assigned to just one letter? That is not the way that old-time landline telephone keypads are designed. But more and more people are opting away from landlines, and using their mobile phones exclusively.

So when I tried to dial 1.877.OFFICEMAX, I experienced this:

◦The letter O–no corresponding number
◦The letter F–the number 4
◦The letter I–no corresponding number
◦The letter C–no corresponding number
◦The letter E–no corresponding number
◦The letter M–the number 0
◦The letter A–no corresponding number
◦The letter X–no corresponding number

Without the actual digits shared in the OfficeMax brochure, I was totally unable to call them. Frustrating! Would that be the case for my Blackberry friends? Oh yes!

blackberry-keyboardHowever, their numbers 0-9 are assigned to different letters than on my Nokia, so the picture is even more muddled. Imagine a Nokia user trying to share a “decoded” number with his colleague using a Blackberry. They’ll never get the number right!

Ok, since so many creative types adore all things Apple, surely the iPhone designers anticipated this issue and made an app for it. Not really:

apple-iphone-keyboardIn fact, I’d say that iPhone users really have no chance, because their phone’s keypad makes no attempt to correlate numbers with letters. Perhaps it’s for the best, right?

If you work in advertising, marketing or sales, point your communicators to this post. It will save your customers much frustration, and prevent you from having a real “hang-up” with customer satisfaction.

Road to Success

Giving Young Communicators a ‘Reality Check’

February 20, 2013 /

bigstock_Road_To_Success_1058994On Thursday, I’ll be part of a panel of communication professionals who will speak to a group of students regarding the “challenges and opportunities of working in corporate communications.”

As I was preparing for the panel discussion, I came across a blog post I wrote three years ago titled, “The Job Market Is Scary…and Scarring.”

Although the market is slowly improving, we haven’t moved very far in three years. So I’m reposting the article because it still rings true to me.

According to Associated Press Economics Writer Jeannine Aversa, the Federal Reserve released a forecast on Wednesday predicting unemployment will stay high over the next two years because recession-scarred Americans are likely to stay cautious.

Coincidently, I had spoken the day before with two separate and distinct groups of job-hunters, which were clearly scared AND scarred by ongoing weak economic conditions and the related highly competitive and frustrating job market.

I’m no stranger to unemployment and a prolonged job search, having been laid off from communications positions in 1991 and 2001. The 2001 layoff was the hardest, coming just three weeks before the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Towers. That attack caused an already struggling economy to tailspin, and hiring froze across the board. I was sitting that morning in a coffee shop with a group of fellow unemployed professionals who had agreed to form a job/networking group. When one of the group members said, “Hey, someone just flew a plane into the World Trade Tower,” I replied, “That’s a shame, but we’ve got to focus on getting a job.” Of course, what I mistakenly perceived to be an accident caused by a poorly skilled pilot turned out to be one of the most significant events of this decade.

It also marked the beginning of a two-and-one-half-year period of under- and unemployment for me. It was a humbling experience, which continues to make me more empathetic with current people who are “in-transition.”

Like the fellow IABC/Chicago members who shared a drink with me after the lunch seminar at Maggiano’s in Chicago. (I took the afternoon as vacation time, and they had time to spend.)

Like the soon-to-graduate Loyola University students who later that evening asked me and three other professionals for advice about a communications career—and whose stiff expressions and carefully chosen words revealed their unspoken, deepest question: “Do we really have a CHANCE to get a decent job?”

At times like this, job seekers need to be heard. It sucks to finally get an interview after weeks of no nibbles, only to be discarded because someone else matches your work experience, AND has something else that the hiring manager preferred. When you are in mid- or late-career, your spouse doesn’t want to hear it. He or she wants to hear that you got the job, along with the salary and benefits that you’ve struggled without for so long.

When you are about to graduate, your parents and friends don’t want to hear that you don’t have any prospects. They want to hear that you have landed a terrific position that will allow you to move out on your own and pay back your student loans.

No, in this scary job market that scars more than it soothes, people need to have someone who has an open ear.

Someone who has been there…and knows that he might be there again one day.

Can't see what's wrong

Most of us understand remorse; too few of us understand consequences

February 19, 2013 /

bigstock_The_See_No_Evil_we-200x300If you are an elected official, a spokesperson for a not-for-profit organization, or a leader within a corporation, you may be faced one day with the need to address wrong-doing within your organization.

At that time, the first words that crisis communications consultants may suggest that you utter are a version of “We’re sorry.”

When shaping your responses, it will be critical to consider the public’s perspective. They will want to hear you express genuine remorse, and they will want you to understand that the wrong-doing may come with consequences that you do not necessarily want, but that you accept.

Here is what I wrote on my former blog in September 2011 when Democratic New York Representative Anthony Weiner finally came clean over his inappropriate texting:

Democratic New York Representative Anthony Weiner is the latest person to exhibit a condition that afflicts more people than anyone would care to admit.

The condition is remorse over one’s behavior and decisions—without a corresponding acceptance that behavior and decisions carry consequences.

This condition is evident in children who, when caught doing something such as lying, stealing, cheating, or hurting another human being, demonstrate remorse—typically with tears and cries of, “I’m s-sorry!” They’re looking for a way out of the situation, but don’t consider that they might have to face consequences of their behavior and decisions. They don’t want a time-out, or spanking, or to ask forgiveness of the person from whom they stole, to whom they lied, or whom they hurt. Their immediate, typical response when told about consequences? “But I SAID I was SORRY!”

Weiner isn’t a child, but he isn’t much of an adult, either. An adult assumes responsibility for his or her actions and decisions, and when it’s clear that an apology, or restitution, or a change is necessary because of those actions and decisions, an adult makes good. A child thinks of how to save face, or “get out of trouble.” An adult thinks of others; a child thinks of himself or herself.

It isn’t just politicians who suffer from this condition. In the wake of the economic meltdown of recent years, while financial services firms were doling out huge bonuses to their executives and employees, the public screamed. How many of those executives and employees, many of whom expressed some form of remorse in public comments, stepped up to accept consequences of their decisions and actions which flamed the meltdown? I believe the answer is: none.

I have two close acquaintances who separately ended up being divorced because of marital indiscretions on their part. My church lost a pastor who, as it turned out, years before in a different congregation, had an affair with a church member and kept it hidden until the church member’s husband uncovered evidence of the affair and confronted them both.

In all of those cases, the original bad decision/action didn’t have to cause the death of a marriage or pastoral ministry. But the offender would have had to see the wrong, admit to it, and then agree to whatever consequences that the offended party would see as a way to restore the relationship. To my knowledge, that never occurred in any of the above situations.

Representative Weiner’s forceful refusal to consider resignation indicates to me that he doesn’t think that his decisions and actions require him to face consequences. Sadly, his innocent wife has been subjected to media hounding as people wonder why she hasn’t either stood by her husband’s side, or left him. She is reaping consequences of Weiner’s acts. Why can’t he see that?

Finally, I don’t know that I’m seeing more of this condition in the work world, but I certainly see daily evidence that people think a simple, “I’m sorry” should excuse their every decision and action—without consideration of how those decisions and actions have impacted the people around them. These people don’t seem to think that they might have consequences that are a natural outcome of those decisions and actions.

Someone might say that these people just don’t think. I disagree. They think a lot…but not about consequences.

I’m Getting Comfortable With the Blackberry Playbook

February 19, 2013 /

blackberry-playbook-OS2-img-1As I recently updated the operating system on my Blackberry Playbook, I reflected on how I’ve made peace with the tablet. I’d say that peace came from lowering my expectations.

For the background on my love/hate relationship with the Playbook, read this post on my former blog.

I’ve since updated to the latest release of the Playbook OS (2.1.0.1526 as of this post), and the glitch that kept me from reading emails sent to my Blackberry phone has been resolved. I also can log into my work’s wifi network after getting a tip about disabling bluetooth prior to logging in. (I restart bluetooth after logging in, to link the tablet with my phone.)

The tablet’s poorly designed onscreen keyboard still frustrates me as I have to toggle between letters and numbers on separate screens. I also dislike being unable to sort images by date, meaning that whenever I want to view a recent photo, I have to spin down screen after screen of saved photos to get to the recent ones.

The tablet’s larger screen is better than the phone when I need to use the calendar or lookup a contact. The browser is quick, but it can’t handle certain sites like Hootsuite. For example, I have several columns set up for direct messages and search terms like #iabc12. I can’t move across the screen cleanly to see columns to the right of the current view. Hard to explain, but maybe I’ll make a video and post it.

Still, I use the Playbook every day. It has become useful enough that I forgive its faults…for now.

Cowboy bites the dust

Another Sober Celebrity Bites the Dust

February 18, 2013 /

bigstock-Another-Cowboy-Bit

GQ: Are you sober these days?
Bruce Willis: I had been sober [for a while]. But once I realized that I wasn’t gonna run myself off the pier of life with alcohol, drinking vodka out of the bottle every day… I have wine now, mostly when I eat.

With the recent news that actor Bruce Willis has decided that two decades of sobriety was enough, and that he now can handle wine with meals, I thought about a post I wrote about putting people on pedastals. The point that can help you in your communications is that your decisions affect your “public brand,” and you usually will benefit by having someone to act as a filter/gatekeeper/trusted advisor when you are planning to publish anything that might be sensitive or open to criticism.

In the case of Bruce Willis, online articles that detailed his deliberate decision to end his sobriety—and then tell the world through GQ—resulted in a flood of comments from recovering alcoholics, who felt that Willis was sadly delusional if he believed that an alcoholic could successfully drink again.

Here’s what I wrote in a post on my Commakazi Speek blog, titled, “We tend to fall off of pedestals and soap boxes.” Just add Bruce’s name to the list!

I don’t know whether Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana), Tom Cruise or the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. are familiar with any 12-Step Program, but they could benefit from some helpful guidance offered by those programs.

Most of the well-known 12-Step Programs (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous) operate under a set of principles known as the Twelve Traditions. Number 11 states, “Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.” Number 12 states, “Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.”

My friends who taught me about 12-Step Programs said Traditions 11 and 12 protect both the individual and the 12-Step Program as a whole. They protect the individual because they discourage a member of the program from being “put on a pedestal” and becoming known as an “expert” on addictions or compulsive behavior in the media. That media spotlight could bring pressure that might, in combination with a failure to “work the program,” prove detrimental to the member. The traditions protect the 12-Step Program because it won’t be linked in the public’s mind with the failure of any individual member.

Take an example of a celebrity who goes on a media tour, stating that he or she is an alcoholic, but has stopped drinking thanks to Alcoholics Anonymous. If that celebrity later drinks, and that is reported in the media, some other active alcoholic might say, “I guess that A.A. Program doesn’t work.” Regardless of the fact that millions of people have successfully found and maintained sobriety through the A.A. Program, this person sees the failure of one famous person as representing the effectiveness of an entire program.

When 15-year-old Miley professes her Christianity–then agrees to be photographed in a sexually-tinged pose, she falls off the pedestal. When Rev. Wright engages in a clash of religion, politics and race, he stumbles from his soap box. When Tom Cruise appears irrational, then attacks someone for trying to retain rationality, he slides off of the pedestal and upsets the soap box.

No one is perfect, of course. None of us on a bad day would want to be held up to the media spotlight. When circumstances or good fortune, or old-fashioned hard work culminate in media attention, those 12-Step Traditions can be helpful in maintaining our perspective, and the reputation of the organizations or movements we hold dear.

Woman angry at phone

Your Privacy Might Take Another Hit, Thanks to “Nomi”

February 18, 2013 /

Woman angry at phoneDo you want your mobile phone to be used to track your presence in a store, how long you stay, where you browse and what displays make you linger—all without your prior knowledge or approval?

That already is happening in merchant locations served by retail-tracking startup Nomi, according to Advertising Age (online registration may be necessary to view). The system currently is tracking such information at stores in New York City.

My concern as a private citizen is that Nomi (“Know Me”–yikes!) has little, if any, notification on consumers’ phones that the tracking is occurring, and consumers are automatically “opted in” to being tracked, according to AdAge.

Until Nomi moves to a system that would provide deals or some other tangible benefit in exchange for the consumers’ opt-in approval–and refrains from automatic opt-in, we have one option to protect our privacy. Click the “Opt Out” option in the footer of the Nomi site and enter your phone’s MAC address to be removed from Nomi’s database.

Don’t know your phone’s MAC address? The opt out link provides other links for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows  7 phones, detailing how to locate your MAC address.

As marketers focus on gathering data on the shopping, viewing and buying habits of consumers, these kind of intrusions into our privacy will continue to creep up. Technology developers like Nomi certainly don’t “know me” if they think I will blindly accept it.

What do you think?

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