Peak Communicators
April 9, 2015

Watch Your Language: 7 Ways to Avoid Reputation-killing Exaggeration

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The foundation of successful communication is clear writing.  If you want your message to get across and be taken seriously you need to be clear.

Some people believe that in order to gain attention, their story needs to be BIG and that leads to exaggeration.

One year at CTV Vancouver, we were major offenders ourselves.   We had to ban the term “parent’s worst nightmare” because we used it so often on our newscasts.  It had become lazy shorthand for almost every story involving a child.  A child’s serious life threatening illness was a parent’s worst nightmare.  A child being bullied was also a parent’s worst nightmare.  So too were a murdered child, injured child, a missing child, even a close call involving a child.  It was unnecessary hype which detracted from the news rather than enhancing it.  Our news had become a parent’s worst nightmare.

You see this phenomenon in other storytelling.  I had a chuckle recently when the price of oil rose by about three dollars overnight and business writers said it had “skyrocketed,”“soared,” or “surged” higher.

The writers might defend themselves by saying a  seven per cent overnight move in oil prices, albeit temporary,  is a big move, but in saying so it lacked context.  It ignored the fall that preceded it.  By having a narrow focus on just a few hours, the writers looked foolish to anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of the oil market.

Imagine you are watching a movie where actor Jackie Chan jumps off a 107 foot tall building.  I like Jackie Chan; he does all his own stunts and has the bruises to show for it.  At the 45 foot mark Jackie hits an awning and bounces up about three feet.  Would movie goers gasp and say “look at him skyrocket! Wow Jackie is soaring!”?  I think not.

Oil had fallen from a high of $107 in the summer to about $45 before thisskyrocketing, soaring, surging move happened.  That’s the proper context.

Here are seven ways to avoid similar news release exaggeration, that makes you and your company look silly:

  • Never forget the context. Context is important and relates not only to you but also to your community and sector in which you operate.  So for example, your “best year ever” may be true, but if your competitors have grown twice as fast as you, you might want to focus on something else—like innovation or new product development.
  • Don’t be lazy; be creative. Clichés such as “parent’s worst nightmare” are a crutch.  Don’t use what you used last time by default.   Take the time to be creative and get it right.
  • Be specific. If it’s your best year ever, what is the measure?  Sales, sales growth, staff growth, profit, happy customers?
  • The headline needs to match the story. The headline at the top of the news release needs to be supported by the words below.  A critical error is using a jaw-dropping headline which isn’t supported by the facts.  It causes media blood pressure to shoot up with excitement and they get let down by the content.  A disappointed assignment editor will kill your future story opportunities.
  • Stick to what you know and can prove. Facts are important.  Media will want proof and if you can’t prove what you are saying then a positive event can turn negative in a hurry.  Media are like sharks, when they smell blood in the water a feeding frenzy begins.  Don’t believe me?  Ask a media person.  Feeding frenzy is a news media term not limited to the Nature Channel.
  • Tell your best unique story. If everyone in your industry is telling the same story, highlight what makes your story unique.  If you can’t think of anything fresh, neither will the media.
  • Be flexible. If it’s a busy news day, your story is not getting on.  It means your plans need to be flexible.  If breaking news has made your story no longer relevant for that day, make yourself available tomorrow.  Show you understand the needs of the media and it will pay off down the road.  Don’t get mad that your story was bumped, even if the media cancelled an interview at the last second; get your story out there the next day instead.

One final thought.  Every time you interact with the media you are making an impression, even when the media decides not to run your story.  A good impression means you will get a fair hearing next time while a bad impression closes that door, sometimes forever.

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July 2, 2014

Email Etiquette 101

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By now everyone knows to be careful what they share on social media.

Potential and current employers may be monitoring your online activity, or it may be brought to their attention by others who deem your posts inappropriate or offensive. Even corporate social profiles have a heightened sense of what they share after the US Airways NSFW image fiasco, and more recently the Delta Airlines giraffe debacle (get it together airline social media!)

When we share on social channels like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, we know our posts will be broadcast to either the public or to a list of followers we have approved. Emails, however, we often assume are private. Like a phone call, they are typically not intended to be viewed by the general public.

Evan Spiegel, the 23-year-old founder of the billion-dollar app SnapChat, learned that this isn’t always the case, when a number of blatantly sexist emails he sent out to his fraternity during his college days, were publicized on Gawker.com and nearly every major business and technology publication in the days following. I am not here to condemn Mr. Spiegel on his less-than-eloquent language, as it may be argued that he was, and is, a 20-something frat boy uneducated in the impact of language. What I am here to do is remind us that we too could fall victim to embarrassing email mishaps, and provide some simple steps on how to prevent them.

Double check who you’re sending to

A certain member of my family who shall remain nameless once told me how he responded in a not-so-favourable manner after finding out that one of his colleagues would be taking charge of a major project, not realizing that the same person had been cc’d on the email. This resulted in a 45-minute phone call of back pedaling and apologies.

Proofreading the body of an email is second nature for many, but it is also important to make sure you check who exactly you are sending a message to before hitting send.

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Know your audience

You may be quite chummy with clients, reporters or coworkers, but at the end of the day you are involved in a working capacity and a level of professionalism must be maintained when communicating over work email. Be aware that what you share and how you present yourself to these people could have an effect on your rapport with them.

Be wary of your formatting

Tying into the previous point, how you format an email to your mother or best friend should be different to how you format a business email. A proper greeting and signature, punctuation, and a clean font can say a lot about the quality of your work. It’s difficult to take someone seriously in Comic Sans.

Think before you hit send (or at least be prepared to stand by what you say)

At the end of the day, be it on social media or in an email, don’t send something you’d be embarrassed to have publically shared. I’m sure Mr. Snapchat figured his messages would never go beyond the inbox of those in his fraternity, but in a leadership role with his Stanford University chapter there was an expectation of him to have a  level of professionalism, and his subsequent success made him an easy target for dirty laundry airing.

Though most of us won’t go on to create wildly successful phone apps, everyone wants to have a good reputation in the working world. If you are going to say something risqué, be confident in backing that statement if it is ever brought to light.

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May 9, 2014

10 Tips on How to Avoid Pitching the Saddest Press Release

When a well-respected newspaper reporter at a major paper says he received “the saddest press release I’ve ever seen,” it’s definitely worth looking into.

The short email pitch in question promoted the latest book predicting the end of the world, from an author who had incorrectly predicted the end of the world in 2012. Vancouver Sun reporter Douglas Todd, who received the pitch in his inbox, wrote, “I am speechless. The things that publicity companies will do for their paying {delusional} clients.”

Reporters get a lot of releases. On a single day as assignment editor at CTV in Vancouver in 2001, I got over 2,000 pages of faxes, all claiming to be news. Today the internet has made it even worse, because delivery is easy and free.

So here is my top-10 list for getting noticed and avoiding becoming “the saddest press release I’ve ever seen.”

A news release needs to be actual news. That’s why we call them newsreleases. They need to be a news story that meets the standards of the particular outlet, including bloggers.

Link it to a current issue. The media don’t really care that you are opening up another restaurant in a city full of them. But these days, if you are training local workers and providing opportunities for the unemployed, that is news.

Solve a problem. Too often news stories present problems without solutions. The public craves solutions. I was a TV consumer reporter for almost 10 years and many of my stories showed viewers how they could solve issues themselves in the real world. In news-speak it’s “news you can use.”

Focus on those affected, not on yourself. The more people affected, the bigger the story. If your news release is all about you, the newsroom won’t care. Show the individuals who are positively affected, what assignment editors call “real people,” and give reporters access to them as part of your pitch.

It’s not an ad. If your news release reads like an advertisement, the assignment editor is going to say “go buy an ad.” Replace your company name with your competitor and then see if your family would watch or read that story. If not, it isn’t news.

Give it context. I worked with an assignment editor who would ask the same short questions every time you went out on a story and when you returned: “Biggest ever? Worst ever? Best ever?” He was really asking reporters to give the story some context so the public understood its importance.

Facts are good. You don’t need to overwhelm reporters with facts but key facts that support a story are welcome. If you don’t provide facts, reporters will go looking for them on the internet and as we know many internet “facts” aren’t true. So do some of that research for a reporter and provide them with the facts they need.

Timing may be everything. If you have the greatest school backpack ever made, that ensures children don’t get sore backs, it makes sense to tell the world when parents are out buying for back-to-school, not at Christmas.

Be the good example. Many businesses large and small give to charity and they hope to get a mention in a charitable foundation’s thank-you news release. Next time, take a leadership role by encouraging others in the community to join the cause and show how giving impacts real people. You see the difference? It’s not about you and the big cheque, and getting thanks for it. It’s about the real people that benefit as a result. They represent the larger picture.

Pick the right media targets. Not all news releases are suitable for all outlets. So being more selective can improve your results. Customizing the release and its style can improve pick-up as well.

If I were choosing the saddest news release, it would be the one that follows all the 10 points, gets the media all excited, after which the client says they are too busy for interviews. Getting media pickup is not easy and you don’t get second chances.

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