Five Things You Should Never Say to a Journalist

Posted on December 9, 2011 by admin

The stereotypical image of a journalist is someone hell bent on digging for dirt or asking awkward questions (and it’s true that most stereotypes contain a grain of truth). However, in the technical industries, journalists should be seen as allies. Journalists from trade publications are a very different breed to tabloid hacks, but there is, as always, a code of communication to follow.

Before an interview, always find out what the interview is about and prepare fully. Think in terms of sound bites when rehearsing answers. How can you say what you want in the shortest, snappiest way? Decide what your main messages are and prepare ways to incorporate them into your answers.

But, bear in mind, there are some things you should never say.

  1. First, never say anything that isn’t true. For example, if a journalist asks, ‘Did you take your client to court?’ don’t lie. Simply respond with what you know, even if it is “I don’t have any information about that, but what I do know is…” and bring the conversation back to your plan.
  2. Never say anything you haven’t thought about before. Off-the-cuff comments can cause all manner of company difficulties. You’re much more likely to make errors or misstate something if you try to speak too extemporaneously.
  3. Never say anything controversial unless you have deliberately planned to for effect.
  4. Never agree with a close-ended statement or leading question because you feel pressured to do so. Assess the question carefully before committing to an answer.
  5. Finally, never ask “is this off the record?” You’ll only end up deviating from your core message, gossiping, or inadvertently revealing sensitive information. If you don’t want it on the record, it’s usually best not to say it at all.

Working with journalists, when approached thoughtfully, ensures a win-win situation: they get the story they want and you get the message your company needs.

Posted in Advice, Journalism, News, PR | Leave a comment

Selling out? Journalism vs. PR

Posted on November 8, 2011 by admin

Do you feel like you are selling out? This is an interesting expression that I have heard thrown around when a former journalist moves into PR territory.

Well I have become one of these ‘former journalists’, to enter the dark and mysterious world of public relations! But have I sold out my profession as a writer to help clients promote their wares? Well in a way, yes – but no at the same time. It is a lot more complicated than that.

I have recently moved from working in journalism as a freelance reporter to working for a PR company. In my eyes I am not a ‘former journalist’ I am still a working journalist, but now I am a journalist – and-then-some.

Although I may have a fancier title (Account Executive) and have an array of different tasks and responsibilities, I am still carrying out essentially journalistic duties every day. For example, I still interview people, whether it’s over the phone or in person. I still write stories that have to be submitted to my boss – partner and editor at the firm. I still have to source story ideas and follow up on leads. The only difference is that my stories and articles are all in some way related to the client that the PR firms works for.

I suppose it depends on how the PR company that you work for operates, but here you have to be much more than a journalist. A journalist doesn’t really have to be nice to people – it’s all about getting the story and who cares if some people don’t like it, it’s news, and that’s how it should be. You are not trying to please people; you are trying to report the truth. People may think that PR firms bend the truth – but we do nothing of the sort. Accurate reporting is still the name of the game, (at SE10 anyway.)

The clue is in the name

An obvious difference between the two is that PR is about building reputations and developing strong relationships with your colleagues and clients. But hold on, surely most journalists know you have to build relationships to get leads and information from your source at the police station or local council? These people are reluctant to give information out as it is, but by building up a relationship, you can make your life and job an awful lot easier.

On a slow news day journalists may be able to work off press releases and use the already useful information that’s been sent in. I am now the person that writes the press release. I realise just how much work is actually involved in getting the core information from the source, so then journalists can report it. I have learnt that people are busy – it can take days or weeks, waiting for a response, just like it can trying to get a comment off a politician or press office when you’re a reporter. This aspect isn’t so different.

You also have to be on form at any given moment. Not only do you have to keep your boss happy, you also have to keep your clients happy. So it’s smiles all round and there are no excuses. Fortunately I am naturally positive, and this suits me quite well. It doesn’t feel like selling out.

The company works for some huge clients, which means the stories that I write can be based on totally different ideas and themes throughout the business, even though they work together as a unit to enforce a brand and reputation.

I don’t see when it’s done like this how moving from journalism into PR can be a sell-out. I was working in the newspaper industry and experienced first-hand job cuts and ‘strategic money saving methods’ being enforced. I thought maybe it was time to secure a career in something a bit different but essentially the same – (drum roll please) PR!!

How could I be a sell out anyway? At the end of the day I have a job that I enjoy, it’s related to my training and qualifications, I contribute to society and am hoping to develop and gain valuable skills that I can keep with me for the rest of my working life.

Don’t get me wrong – I am a trained journalist and just because I now work for a PR company doesn’t mean that I shun journalism! I love journalism and journalists! I will always be interested in current affairs and read my favourite newspapers and magazines; I just think that people originating in journalism and then moving over to PR shouldn’t be given such a bad rep.

It also might be a little harsh to assume people get such a hard time over it anyway, the industry is moving in the direction of PR and if you have been a former skilled journalist and then become a confident PR tycoon, surely you can take any swipe that comes at you and turn it into – what else – but great PR!

Posted in Advice, Agency, Debate, Journalism, PR, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

PR: In-house vs Agency

Posted on November 2, 2011 by admin

The debate rages. The questions linger. What’s better: in-house or agency? Is there a simple answer?

In short, no. Both have their benefits. Both have their drawbacks. (As is neatly showcased by PR Daily).

So what really makes the difference? The people.

A good Public Relations Officer (PRO) can produce results whether in-house, at an agency or working in a garage on an island (so long as that island has broadband).

But let’s be specific and answer some of the usual agency vs in-house quibbles:

• Yes, in-house staff are completely immersed in one company. But agency staff can also be dedicated to a single client, completely immersing themselves in that company and its industry.

• When hiring a new person in-house, you get a new person. But when hiring an agency, you get a whole new company – a company that is hungry to prove its worth with staff eager to impress their boss.

• In-house teams are literally that: in house. But a good agency should be an extension of your marketing team, ready at a moment’s notice to help, advise and work.

• In-house for big companies, agencies for small? Rubbish. Some of the world’s biggest brands use agencies, as they can offer wider coverage of the global market and greater knowledge of different industries.

When writing the title of this blog, the decision to use ‘vs’ over ‘or’ took some time to make. Should it be vs? Are we fighting one another? Can the two not co-exist? Can the two not cooperate? Do I have an inherent and irrational hatred of in-house PROs? Or am I trying to inject some excitement into the start of this blog?

Either way, it’s too late now.

But perhaps the title should have been: Good PRO vs bad PRO. With that, the decision is easy.

Posted in Agency, Communications, Debate, In-house, International, PR, Writing, business | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

An internal approach to reputation management

Posted on October 21, 2011 by admin

This summer, as part of Marine Week St. Louis, a lieutenant colonel with the U. S. Marine Corp was invited to share the broadcast booth at a Major League baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies. A chance to share the broadcast seemed perfectly in keeping with the good-spirited nature of Marine Week, an event designed as both as a show of appreciation to honor the U.S. Marine Corp and to emphasize a softer, more relatable side of the Marines. The feel-good event, however, ran into a slight snag when the lieutenant colonel suggested a way to stop opposing pitcher Roy Halladay involved a round of tank fire. A joke of course, but delivered with just a bit too much conviction. Dan Lamothe, a writer for Military Times partially defended the Marine pointing out that if anyone needs gallows humor, it’s soldiers. On the other hand, Lamothe freely admitted that “somewhere, there are Marine public affairs officers banging their heads on a table.”

Increased focus on reputation management is not just confined to the public sector. Industries in all sectors are shifting their PR priorities. In the past, leading CEOs would immediately call their lawyers and accountants in a crisis. Now, increasingly, the person likely to be on speed dial is their PR advisor. Between the increased pace of news cycles and the ability of social media to break a story in seconds to audiences of millions, it is no surprise that reputation management has come increasingly to the forefront.

But, despite the PR minefield confronting executives and newsmakers today, one of the most critical steps in reputation management is probably the easiest to accomplish, yet the easiest to overlook. The start of strong reputation management is solid internal communication. To create a cohesive image for your company, your product, or your organization, it is absolutely critical that all the speakers for your group have the same shared idea of the image they are trying to achieve. Only when the speakers have that shared idea is it possible to disseminate it to clients, suppliers, customers, or other stakeholders.

It’s difficult to try to please demanding and exacting audience members; frequently the audience themselves cannot reach a consensus about what they want to hear (it is worth noting that several listeners of baseball broadcast applauded the lieutenant colonel’s comments as perfectly reasonable for a man of his experience and worldview). Yet, while it may be difficult to create consensus among an audience, it is made infinitely more difficult if the internal speakers have not reached a consensus about what the message is.

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The changing face of breaking news – how Twitter got there first

Posted on August 30, 2011 by admin

What do American football team the Indianapolis Colts and a 5.8 magnitude earthquake have in common? They both made headlines unexpectedly last week in the United States. What else? They both did it over Twitter first.

Last Tuesday afternoon, desks and offices from Carolina to Canada shook with the strongest earthquake to hit the region in half a century. One writer remembers feeling her desk shake, and turning immediately to the single source of truth for most of us in the world: Google. No mention of the earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey website? Nothing there either. Even in this day and age, news isn’t instantaneous. It would be impossible to expect that a report could emerge in seconds. Yet, they did; thousands of them actually. On Twitter. According to the Pittsburg Post-Gazette within one minute of the quake, more than 40,000 quake-related tweets were posted.

In any nation, professional sports are no stranger to dramatic headlines, and last week the U.S. was no exception. While certainly not carrying the magnitude of the quake (sorry Colts fans), another news story broke over Twitter in either a carefully orchestrated drama or a beautifully simple lack of watch-synchronizing. On Wednesday, the Indianapolis Colts, a successful American football team, signed veteran quarterback Kerry Collins, presumably as a fall-back option in case Peyton Manning’s (their starting quarterback) injury prevents him from playing the first game of the season. What made it interesting was that Colts owner Jim Irsay (known for his skill at drumming up attention via his Twitter feed) chose to tweet the news while Colts head coach Jim Caldwell was in the middle of a press conference. A press conference with no mention of Collins.

Was it a perfectly executed “Gotcha!” trick played on the journalists at the conference? An oversight showing someone was out of the loop? A simple case of missed signals in which one party was much more willing to divulge information quickly than the other?

In any case, these two stories have a common thread- when individuals can “tweet” the news as quickly as it happens, how can the professionals be expected to keep up? Twitter’s full effects on the transmission of news are likely still to be seen, but one thing is certain, the pace of news has proven once again that it is still increasing.

Posted in News, PR, Writing | Leave a comment

Thoughts of an international PR

Posted on August 12, 2011 by admin

Ronan Cloud, Account Manager at SE10, answers a few questions on traveling.

1. Are there any challenges unique to international PR?
The biggest challenge is understanding how the media works in different countries. A story that is perfect for one market could prove hopeless in another. This is where the phone becomes your friend. Contact three or four of the major publications in each country you are targeting. Introduce yourself and your client to the editorial team. Discuss their readership, editorial calendar and agenda. This will allow you to tailor stories to their needs and generate better coverage.

2. What are your top three tips for travelling PRs?
• Always have a spare shirt and underwear in your laptop bag for when (not if) your luggage is lost.
• If you’re worried about what you might be eating, it’s probably best to ask what it was at the end of the meal, rather than when you’re actually eating it.
• Enjoy it. You’re out of the office (and on expenses).

It’s also good to try a few of the following:

Native tongue: try to learn a few phrases in the native tongue before you go. It’s amazing how effective a quick”nice to meet you” or ‘thank you’ is at breaking the ice. Especially when meeting CEOs or managing directors. Speaking the local language humanises the situation. The hierarchy dissolves and everyone is operating on a level playing field. It also shows you care more about the country than just the work.

Throw yourself in: most business trips will include a few after work events. A meal or a sporting event perhaps. Get involved. Turn nothing down and try something new. After all, when in Rome…..(or Chicago or Seoul or Madrid…..)

Know the customs: different cultures bring different rules. We all know there are different rules but we don’t all know what they are. Google them. Gain some knowledge and use it.

3. What is the best meal you’ve had outside of the EU?
An amazing Korean BBQ in Seoul. This local speciality involves cooking marinated and prepared meats on a BBQ in the middle of the table. A selection of satellite dishes decorate the feast and it’s all washed down with the local drink Soju and plenty of rice wine. Nothing better.

4. What is the luckiest thing that has happened to you while travelling?
I feel lucky just being able to travel and see how companies and clients are working in different parts of the world. I couldn’t pick out a single “lucky” incident. There have been plenty of times where I’ve caught planes by the skin of my teeth or met an obliging person at check in who’s helped me get oversized baggage through without the usual headaches. But then I’ve also lost plenty of luggage and missed lots of planes and buses. It’s just the way it goes!

5. During your travels, where would you most like to move to if you were asked to open up another SE10 international branch?
Hong Kong. An international hub of activity. Close to China and the rest of Asia, amazing food, beautiful scenery – and it has a Disney World.

Posted in Advice, Communications, International, PR, Writing, business, eating, travel | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Teh rite’s and wrong’s of grammer and speling

Posted on July 22, 2011 by admin

With much of the world communicating regularly through Tweets, Facebook posts and text messages, do spelling, punctuation and proper grammar really matter anymore?

According to a recent BBC article, they do. Charles Duncombe, an online entrepreneur who runs travel, mobile phone and clothing Web sites, says that there’s evidence that spelling errors on Web sites can cut sales significantly – by as much as 50%, he estimates. If true, this proves that ‘old-fashioned skills’, as Duncombe says, are still critical, and getting the basics right – the first time – is important because you don’t have much time to get a customer’s attention and make a good impression.

Proper grammar and spelling are matters of professionalism, polish and intelligence. And, of course, they’re especially important in the communications business. If we as writers can’t keep ‘there’ and ‘their’ straight, that says something about us – and it ain’t good. It tells clients we’re either sloppy or ignorant. That eats away at our credibility.

It’s bad enough that poor grammar and spelling are irritating and distract from the message. But there’s also the very real possibility that what’s being said could be completely misunderstood – think of the old ‘eats shoots and leaves’ joke. Since getting the message across clearly, concisely and quickly is what matters most, eliminating the possibility of misleading readers – or setting their teeth on edge – is just common sense, pure and simple. There are those among us who will correct a wrongly used apostrophe on a business’s sign – it’s best not to cross them by

There are probably those who would pick holes in this argument. One could reason that society should be exempt from any expectation of perfectly proper writing because students aren’t really taught grammar in school anymore. Or that grammar rules are largely subjective (after all, the writer of this piece has just broken a basic grammar rule with this fragment of a sentence!). Or that people who insist on good grammar are simply being fussy pedants.

Okay, so good grammar and proper spelling don’t matter to everyone. Some people could look at a Web page that’s riddled with misspellings or misplaced apostrophes and either not notice or not care enough for it to influence their buying. But the aforementioned BBC article is a stark warning that there’s still a strong contingent of people who do care. The fuss about grammar isn’t much ado about nothing. Even now, how you write something still matters.

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The Power of the Press Release

Posted on July 20, 2011 by admin

A recent study estimated that the average person living in a metropolitan city is exposed to 5,000 advertisements each day- and 54 percent of people make efforts to avoid ads when possible.  In this era of “information overload,” the good old-fashioned press release should not be overlooked as a vehicle to reach your target audience.

When you pay for an advertisement, you have the ability to make any claim you want about your company or product- and the customer knows this.  However, a product that is featured in a trade publication article is deemed more credible because the reader knows you did not pay for your product to be included- a professional journalist decided it was worthy enough to feature.

The capabilities of a press release are endless, as each release can be distributed to dozens of publications for free.  A recent study by Newswise found that 93 percent of research-related news releases and 77 percent of feature news releases generated a minimum of five or more different published articles.  Each release can be exponentially distributed across a variety of platforms to achieve maximum brand exposure for your company.

Press releases allow for more detail than some other forms of publicity, which is vital for SE10’s business-to-business clients.  Writing a release also allows you to create an eye-catching headline to entice readers to keep reading.

Furthermore, the content within a press release can be recycled for other uses such as on your company’s website or in a newsletter.  Thus, press releases are a cost-effective method in getting your product featured – and noticed- throughout dozens of vehicles to reach your target audience.

By Christy Dimond, SE10 intern

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Summer sun

Posted on June 29, 2011 by admin

When it rains, it pours: this month, three American industry giants announced, within just days – and completely independently – of each other, their plans to help beef up solar energy usage in the US.

The biggest news comes from Google, whose plans to sink $280 million into SolarCity, a US solar panel leasing company, will help finance solar installations in as many as 9,500 homes. Just previously, US Bank’s parent company, US Bancorp, had released plans to collaborate with SolarCity as well, creating a fund to invest a total of $158 million in financing for solar panel projects.

Meanwhile, publishing and information services giant McGraw-Hill announced its intention to build what will be the largest privately owned solar facility in the US at its New Jersey headquarters. As the Times of Trenton (New Jersey) reported last week, McGraw-Hill’s switch to solar energy will reduce its output of greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 13,000 metric tonnes a year – equivalent to removing 2,500 cars from the road. The company’s annual global carbon emissions are expected to decrease by 10%.

These prominent projects could be a very good thing for solar system manufacturers like SE10’s client Tenesol. Massive investments like these don’t go unnoticed: a higher profile for solar power is bound to make its mark, with sustainable energy likely to barge its way onto the radar screens of more consumers and businesses. And as SolarCity’s chief executive Lyndon Rive commented (quite rightly): when one of the world’s most visible corporations, Google, leads the way on a project such as this, other companies could be enticed to make similar investments. An increase in solar panel installation – and in solar energy awareness, in general – could help grow the already strong standing of Tenesol within the solar industry.

What’s most notable about the projects is that none of these three companies works directly in renewable energy; they don’t tackle environmental causes for a living, and no one would fault them if they never invested a single cent in solar energy. On the contrary: they’re high-profile Fortune 500 corporations, and the expectation is that they’ll care more about turning a profit than taking care of the environment. But as consumers and shareholders grow increasingly worried about climate change, they expect the companies whose products and services they use to be similarly concerned. In that world, Google, US Bancorp and McGraw-Hill are leading by example – and solar leaders like Tenesol are in a good position to benefit.

And more importantly, so is the environment.

Posted in Tenesol, solar | Leave a comment

Why English is the language of business

Posted on June 24, 2011 by admin

Today, business is global. And of course it needs a common language. But why is that language English? Well, there are two major reasons.

The first reason is historical. For four centuries, the British Empire was the biggest in the world so English spread from Britain across the empire to its colonies. The expression ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire’ highlighted how broad the British Empire reached. What’s more, trade routes were built between the colonies (such as the Silk Road which joined up China to Europe) and these routes, with their different countries and populations, needed a single language. Because of its widespread use, that language became English.

After decolonization in the middle of the 19th century, Britain maintained good relations with its former colonies, unlike some European countries, and this led to English remaining a central language in those countries. These good relations led to the creation of the Commonwealth of Nations and English was spoken between them (and still is today).

The second major reason for the global use of English is that it is spoken in the United States. The US has been the world’s largest economy since the 1870s, so any international company wishing to trade there needed a decent level of business English. Furthermore industrialization taking place in Britain and the US around the same time was exported, and the language of the processes and technology that accompanied that industrialization travelled with it.

Today English remains the language of business, although it is not the world’s number one language. In fact, it’s not even number two. In fact there are more native Mandarin Chinese speakers (882 million) and Spanish speakers (329 million) than there are native English speakers (328 million). But English is spoken as a second language by the second most populated country in the world (India) so we can reasonably think that this language has a brilliant future.

So, English look set to remain the single most popular language in which to communicate. It is not only the language of business, but the language of politics, scientific research, the Internet etc.

For a French national (which your correspondent is) it’s clear that anyone who wants to communicate internationally has to speak at least a little (or ‘un petit peu’ as I say!) of English. Some people are resistant to speaking other languages and talk of the pride they have in their language. But to me a person can still be proud of their heritage (I am proud to be French) but recognize that English is important to global business.

Working with SE10 in the London office has really helped me improve my English and to understand how businesses can use it to communicate globally. My next post is working with SE10’s client Manitowoc, so I am looking forward to seeing what life is like on the other side of the relationship and, of course, how English is used inside the company.

Posted in International, PR, Tenesol, Uncategorized, business, language, solar | Tagged , , | 1 Comment