Taking Notes: Press Releases

Following up on my post about taking notes on how interviews are structured, I now bring you a prime example of why public relations professionals should do the same with press releases.

The example I'm linking to confirms that untimely death of a professional hockey player in the middle of his career. In the hockey world, this type of press release might be written a few times a decade. In sports in general, it will probably be written 10-20 times a year. So even if you're not in hockey PR, but lets say in baseball PR, you can still find reviewing this press release useful.

Now I know this example is a depressing example, but tough news is always harder to deal with emotionally and mentally then others. Tactfulness and compassion are paramount and time is often short at best. That's why reviewing bad news examples are more important because they have a sense to be more "on the money".

Again, review it, take notes, and stash it away in a folder labeled "Just In Case - PR". Sooner or later, you'll be looking at this folder for one reason or another and it's always better to be prepared with examples that you have previously found to be a great that look over.

And remember, topics you want to look out for can be about anything - good or bad.

Taking Notes: Interview Preparation

One important responsibility of a good PR department is preparing a subject before an interview. This isn't something that's taught in school and they more you do it, the better you get at it. But that doesn't mean you, as a PR professional, need to actually prepare an interview subject to gain valuable experience.

One exercise that I like to do to watch interviews about important, controversial or breaking news. I try to study the interview process to see how the journalist is shaping the interview, how the questions progress, what types of questions are being asked, etc. I do this so I can have a better understanding of what to expect if I ever have to prepare one of my clients or supervisors for an interview about a similar subject. (I do the same with reviewing press conferences, press and media releases, website/social media coverage.)

"60 Minutes" reporter Steve Croft recently interviewed President Barack Obama about the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound and spoke to Poynter about how he structured his interview that the entire world would be watching.

While I will probably never have to prepare the President of the United States for any type of interview, being able to get into the head of a veteran journalist like Steve Croft holds invaluable lessons that every PR professional should take note of.

Crisis Communication & Social Media

I previously wrote about using social media as part of a crisis communication plan. About a month ago, Tonya Garcia of PRNewser tackled this topic using General Electric as an example of how not to use Twitter to deceive the public. More importantly, Ms. Garcia detailed three steps that will help turn a negative PR event into a one that will not sting as much.

The article focused on using Twitter to help set the record straight, but in my opinion other social media platforms can be used just as effectively. For example, Facebook can be used to host Q&A chats and post responses.

The point isn't about which social media platform would work better in this situation, rather this should serve as a reminder for public relations professionals to include using social media as part of your crisis communication plan because it's the quickest and most direct way to communicate with all of your audiences. Just make sure you tell the truth.