Category: Advertising & PR

Part 3: For Organizations

You have probably heard that you should have a communication strategy in place for major change. But what does that look like, who is involved, and how do you do it? Timing is also a very important factor. For example, when two major airlines merge – it is kind of hard to keep it a secret. It is all over the news and in the papers. And, to complicate things even more, the list of stakeholders spans the globe and covers everyone from internal employees to contractors, to paying customers!

In my experience helping clients navigate large scale change, these are some of the key aspects that should be included in a communication strategy.

1. Clarify the WIIFM for all stakeholders. You may be aware of the need for the change, and for how it benefits your organization. But at the same time, each group affected needs to know how it will impact them. What’s in it for me? This is the rallying cry of each individual, team and department. Good to think it through and be sure this part of the message is front and center.

2. Select credible leaders to deliver the message. This should be someone who has rapport and credibility with those who receive the message. If people automatically delete emails coming from “Leader X,” that is not the person to communicate change. Similarly, don’t send out leaders to talk about the change unless they are fully informed, on board, committed to the change, and prepared thoroughly for the presentation.

3. Make communication face to face as much as possible. It may not be as efficient as email or broadcast announcements or Twitter, but the human side of change is so powerful, it really should be communicated in person. Body language, voice inflections and facial expressions matter in getting the whole message across. Responding to questions, even heated ones, can help clear the air and keep the rumor mill in check.

4. Create a cascade-down, feedback-up loop. Make sure all your messages are consistent, so that the initial town hall meeting is reinforced by department meetings, and by team meetings or daily huddles. The messages will get more specific as you get to the team level, but they need to remain consistent from the top all the way to the team level. As issues, questions and details are hammered out at the implementation level, a feedback loop should communicate upward about what is working and what needs to be
adjusted or addressed.

5. Keep communicating all the way to the end. If you communicate once and expect compliance and acceptance for the change, good luck: it probably just won’t work that way. Constant communication helps sustain and coordinate efforts to make the change sustainable. People need to know that it is still important, in the works, and that they should continue their efforts on the change.

As you have seen in this series, communicating for effective change requires rigorous thought, strategy, and execution. You must stay focused on the change, find the right champions, be visible, and keep communicating the merits of the change every step of the way. Leaders who put in this effort can definitely reap the rewards of a well-communicated change effort.

Managing large-scale change is usually not accomplished as a grass-roots effort. It requires leaders to pave the way and set aside budget and resources for change management and communications. Every successful change that I have worked on has had adequate resource and visibility assigned to change/management and communications. Where this visibility is minimal or sub-optimal, failure is not far to follow!

In today’s world, a Technical Writer wears many hats and possesses many traits. A Technical Writer will wear hats as an Interviewer, Researcher, Analyst, Editor, and Tester, just to mention a few. The one trait they all have in common is that they must be extremely detailed. The Technical Writer has to be a detail-oriented individual with the ability to communicate to their audience via text and images. The Technical Writer has to have a sense of curiosity in order to understand and write about the framework of a product or technical information. Whether it’s as simple as writing about how and when to press a key or as complex as describing the steps involved in building a new application from inception to completion, the writer will need to be able to communicate every detail effectively.

Some other qualities that a Technical Writer has are:

Interviewing Skills:

The Technical Writer needs to be able to interview subject matter experts, project managers, co-workers, users, and clients in order to gather any relevant information needed to complete a set of documentation. They will use their interpersonal skills to understand the target audience and to find out what they need in order to complete the documentation. They will also use these skills to work with subject matter experts to gather information such as the background of a project, the steps for running routine processes or finding out what changes to the product were needed, made, and why.

Research Skills:

The Technical Writer may need to perform research for various types of tools needed to complete a document. They may need to research for an appropriate storyboard or animation tool to use along with the document to add visual clarity. If the document contains a lot of data, a suitable data diagramming tool may be needed where you can define elements and their attributes, or a querying tool to present relevant data effectively.

Analyst Skills:

The Technical Writer may need to gather and analyze data to produce certain types of requested reports, or to create data files and be able to report on them to management. By knowing how the data was gathered and the mechanisms used to derive the results, the writer could then translate the information, and be able to format and present it in simpler terms. For example, if a computer hardware problem affected data results, the writer would work with those involved to summarize the incident, define the causes, and recommend solutions for presentations to other teams or for future referral.

Testing Skills:

The Technical Writer may need to perform tests to ensure that everything documented was accurate and valid. For example, if Test Plans for the Quality Assurance group were needed to be written, the Technical Writer must write clearly and concisely about reviewed processes, procedures, hardware, and/or software applications as a part of the test plan. To further the example, if an application field that accepts data needs to be tested, the test plan would need to contain every possible scenario imaginable to test out that particular field.

Information Sensitivity Skills:

The Technical Writer has to have an eye for detail and be able to write what the reader needs to know, especially when it comes to confidential information. They have to be able to distinguish what is important to document and what is not. This can be determined by reviewing the requirements of an end user‘s purpose of the document. For example, an IT Systems requirement document could be used by a business sponsor to justify the project expenditure and an IT project manager would use it to make sure all of the high level requirements are a part of the project plan.

So, how do you know if you have the aptitude or talent to be a Technical Writer? If you are a good listener, enjoy learning and enjoy sharing information with others, then you can be a Technical Writer. What distinguishes some writers as Technical writers is that they write about technical subjects within different industries and have the industry knowledge to do so. They could be working within a software, manufacturing, financial, automobile, pharmaceutical, or publishing company and must have familiarity with the industry terminology.

But what types of documents does a Technical Writer create? That question will be answered in the next post. I hope you will enjoy these posts on technical writing as much as I enjoy writing them. If you have any questions or would like more detail on certain topics, please leave a comment.

Part Two: For front line supervisors and managers:

As we noted last time, communicating change at all levels is critical for a successful change effort. As a front line manager or supervisor, recognize that you are the key change agent in your circle of influence. Your people look to you as they move through the change. Are you for it? Against it? Dragging your feet? They probably take their cues from you. If you are inexperienced, unskilled or uncomfortable about communicating change, learning how to do it effectively is a huge development opportunity for you. Some of the key skills to practice include:

1. Empathetic listening.

2. Helping direct employees reframe thoughts and beliefs.

3. Reinforce and support new behaviors.

Most of this work is done through your team huddles, meetings and one on one coaching. You may also assign self-study, recommend reading and discussion, or even hold a workshop or class to help your direct reports to work through change.

Watch out for these mistakes in communicating change:

Forgetting you are already ahead of the curve. You may have already had days or weeks to adjust to the upcoming change. By the time it is getting communicated, you may be well past any shock or surprise, already comfortable with the change. You may even have moved on to think about the next challenge. You may be ready for action and next steps, but your people may not. It is easy to forget that your direct reports, hearing about this change, may have emotional reactions they need to work through before they can get ready to implement it.

Underestimating your impact on others. If you seem to be “all business” about the change, while others are still reeling or dealing with emotions, they are bound to wonder why. They won’t understand that you have probably already “been there.” If they are worried about their jobs, roles, or how this is going to affect them, they won’t be ready or even able to hear your expectations. As a leader, you need to give them time and space to process the news in their time, not according to yours. Empathetic listening, working through and reframing thoughts and beliefs can take time you don’t feel you can afford. But not taking that time, rushing them to action before they are ready, can have a negative impact on the success of the change.

Not communicating early or often enough. Many times managers know the change is coming, but don’t have all the facts. Rather than talk about it with incomplete information, they stall. “I will communicate when I have the information” can sound to worried direct reports a lot like “I know but I don’t want to tell you because it is so awful.” Not communicating sends a message: it can make you look evasive, indecisive, not fully committed to the change, and not transparent. What is this doing to trust between you and your team? How much better to communicate early, saying “A change is on its way, and I don’t have all the information. What I can tell you now is this….and I will keep you informed as I learn more details.” It is not easy to face your people knowing they may be upset and knowing that you don’t have all the answers for them. But not communicating is so much more dangerous.

Most leaders underestimate the importance of their ability, willingness, and visibility in communicating about change efforts. You can reinforce and support your people as they move through the change by avoiding these common mistakes, and by taking proactive steps to help lead the way.

Surprise! Your organization is experiencing a major change…again. It’s a new process…or a merger…or reorganization…or a new product launch…or a new customer…OK, you get the picture. Just about the time you begin to feel comfortable with the last major change, here comes another one. It’s a sign of the times.

In this series, we will examine some aspects of leading yourself, you team, and your organization through change. Let’s start with you; if you are a supervisor, manager or leader at any level, you will be influential in the success of this change.

In my experience, most change efforts fail because either you have absentee sponsors or you have the wrong sponsor. Communication strategies, at all levels involved with the change must be thoughtfully planned out. It is understandable that leaders still have to do their “day job” but to be effective at leading change they need to plan enough time for their visibility and they must also carefully select their “doers” in order to accomplish their goals. Let’s look at what you can do to facilitate the change process.

For leaders:

1. Be visible. Don’t delegate the change to someone else to….don’t kick off the change and then retreat to your office or another project. You need to stay visible and involved all the way through the change. Leverage your current meeting rhythms, town hall meetings, whatever you do that gets you in front of the troops. If being visible is not your style or approach – get a coach and work on it. Remember not communicating is communicating something!

2. Take an active role. Get involved deeply in change efforts; ask for additional assignments. Working through a major change is a great opportunity for you to increase your own visibility and skills. Good leaders step up to communicating change. Make a presentation, deliver key messages, and go out to other locations to talk about the change. During a recent successful airline merger, senior executives made it a point to be highly visible and made all attempts to stay out in front and communicate what was going on. It really made a difference in how well they were able to move through the change.

3. Build a coalition of partners. Here is another chance to get outside your silo and engage with other leaders. Enlist them in the change. Develop key messages together about the change. Send out key communication briefings together. How much solidarity would you create by sending out a change message that comes jointly from, let’s say, Operations, IT, and HR, all reinforcing key messages about the change? Partner up!

4. Enlist your front line managers and supervisors. These are the people who are “in the trenches” throughout the change. This is where the change really takes place. Front line managers hear the concerns, help employees struggle with emotions, and see what adjustments are needed to make the change successful. Help managers develop their skills in change leadership by coaching or training them. This is the most effective level to manage change in organizations – managers and supervisor levels are the most trusted, and the closest to those impacted by the change.

5. Reinforce the troops. Take time to celebrate each milestone, providing plenty of appreciation, thanks and fun to help sustain momentum for the next steps. Examples might include a pizza party, picnic, town hall meeting with awards and live music, followed by cake and toasts.

We have taken an overview look at communication strategies you can take to help your organization move through change. Next time, we will look at some specifics for front line managers and supervisors.

Many years ago, while leading a workshop for effective presentations, I had a number of students who were actually there because they had been asked to conduct mandatory safety training. They talked about undesirable behaviors on the part of their learners: people falling asleep during the training sessions, arguing, or making inappropriate comments about the content. I asked what they would do in such cases, and their immediate response was to “kick them out of the class.” I thought this was a pretty radical reaction, so we talked about what else they could do to get through to their learners. I am not sure they bought into my suggestions to start with a more subtle intervention at that point, but I hope as they became more experienced in the classroom they tried some more subtle techniques.

Over time, as I heard and experienced similar audience behaviors, I developed and shared the Intervention Escalator, a reminder to start with subtle interventions, and move toward more extreme responses only as needed. The hope was that presenters could use subtle but active interventions to maintain harmony in meetings, presentations, or training sessions without relying on extreme or unilateral methods.

Take a look and let me know what you think of this approach. Where do you start on the scale? What is the most effective technique, in your experience? Have you had to eject participants from a classroom or meeting? Are there other steps you would suggest adding?

Intervention Escalator:

1. Ignore it. If you see or hear a behavior once, you may be able to ignore it. For example, a short side conversation, heavy eyes, or a comment you think is just a little “off” can probably be ignored for a while without fear of losing control of the classroom. Keep an eye out for continued behaviors around the room or from the same people but just take note.

2. Silence it. Instead of stopping your presentation or commenting directly to the offender, insert an extended pause into the conversation. Most times, when the room gets quiet, so do those who are indulging in side conversations. Wait until everyone is quiet, then continue without comment.

3. Eyeball them. Often you can head off a confrontation non-verbally by making extended eye contact with people who are distracting others. Your silent message is: “I have my eyes on you.” You still don’t have to be confrontational or put anyone on the spot. Just extend the eye contact beyond 5 seconds and they will get the point.

4. Stand by them. As you move around the room, standing close to those who are being disruptive can help quiet them down, again without a direct confrontation. If only one party to the side conversation is “into it” the other person may appreciate your non-verbal intervention.

5. Ask a question. As the behaviors continue unabated, you are moving toward direct action. But before you jump on someone, start with questions. Ask a question of the audience at large: for example, “I have shown you some of the facts about eye safety, now who can tell me which one you think is most compelling?” Questions sound different than questions, and this may be enough to grab the attention of those who are drifting. By the way, ask the question first, then call on someone. That way, everyone in the room must think, in case you call on them.

6. Ask for input. If lots of side discussions are breaking out, or if lots of eyes are fluttering, you are going to have to deal with it. Call it out: “I see some of you are drifting… Is it too warm in here? Do we need a break now? Did you have a question? Was there a comment you could share?” Note that it is really easy to sound sarcastic here, so try not to let that happen. You could try humor too, if it seems natural and appropriate. “Try this lecture tonight on your three year old to get her to sleep.” (And if you are lecturing, stop, and change the pace to discussion or action.)

7. Talk offline. If one or two people are causing the distraction, try connecting with them on a break. Let them know the impact of their behavior, on you and on others. Ask if there is anything you can do to keep them engaged. Let them know the consequences of continued behavior. At least this way you aren’t embarrassing them in front of others and you are giving them fair notice.

8. Divide and conquer. If certain people are developing distracting behaviors, it may help to get them apart. Break into “discussion groups” by counting off, thereby breaking up teams or whole tables who are too chatty. After lunch or a break, ask people to sit in a new spot so they can “meet new people.” In long meetings or training sessions, this is great practice anyway. Just note that people get attached to their territory and sometimes resist moving. If you use name tents, you can move them over lunch, or catch people at the door and ask them to move. If even a few people change seats it is often enough to change the dynamics.

9. Address them directly. You are getting toward the most direct approaches. If behaviors have continued to this point, you will have to address them directly. Be direct, calm, and factual. “Bill and Sam, I am going to ask for your cooperation. Let’s eliminate the side comments so we can finish our session on time.” (I love telling them this; everyone wants to finish on time.)

10. Eject them. In twenty years of leading training sessions, I have only had to ask someone to leave once or twice. But if you feel their presence is impacting or threatening the physical or psychological safety of the other participants, you will need to take action. Personally, I would ask them to step outside the room and then privately ask them to make a choice about leaving the class or changing their behavior. If you feel threatened, you will want to call security or ask for help. Hopefully, you never have to get this far on the Intervention Escalator.

It is a fine line to walk between being respectful to individuals while being a strong leader, but by starting at the bottom of the escalator, you may never have to get to the most direct actions. Don’t confuse subtlety with avoidance or evasion; take action early to maintain a healthy environment in your next meeting, training session or presentation.

Have you considered a career in Public Relations? These basics may help.

Significant Points

• Although employment is projected to grow much faster than average, keen competition is expected for entry-level jobs.
• Opportunities should be best for college graduates who combine a degree in public relations, journalism, or another communications-related field with a public relations internship or other related work experience.
• Strong communication skills are essential.

Public Relations Job Duties

Public relations specialists handle organizational functions, such as media, community, consumer, industry, and governmental relations; political campaigns; interest-group representation; conflict mediation; and employee and investor relations. Public relations specialists must understand the attitudes and concerns of community, consumer, employee, and public interest groups to establish and maintain cooperative relationships between them and representatives from print and broadcast journalism.

Public relations specialists draft press releases and contact people in the media who might print or broadcast their material. Many radio or television special reports, newspaper stories, and magazine articles start at the desks of public relations specialists. Sometimes, the subject of a press release is an organization and its policies toward employees or its role in the community. For example, a press release might describe a public issue, such as health, energy, or the environment, and what an organization does to advance that issue.

Public relations specialists also arrange and conduct programs to maintain contact between organization representatives and the public. For example, public relations specialists set up speaking engagements and prepare speeches for officials. These media specialists represent employers at community projects; make film, slide, and other visual presentations for meetings and school assemblies; and plan conventions.

Employment

Public relations specialists hold about 275,200 jobs in the U.S. They are concentrated in service-providing industries, such as advertising and related services; healthcare and social assistance; educational services; and government. Others work for communications firms, financial institutions, and government agencies.

Public relations specialists are concentrated in large cities, where press services and other communications facilities are readily available and where many businesses and trade associations have their headquarters. Many public relations consulting firms, for example, are in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. There is a trend, however, toward public relations jobs to be dispersed throughout the Nation, closer to clients.

Job Outlook

Employment is projected to grow much faster than average; however, keen competition is expected for entry-level jobs.

The recent emergence of social media in the public relations is expected to increase job growth as well. Many public relations firms are expanding their use of these tools, and specialists with skills in them will be needed.

Public Relations Wages

Median annual wages for salaried public relations specialists were $51,280 (in May 2008, the latest date for which information was vailable). The middle 50 percent earned between $38,400 and $71,670; the lowest 10 percent earned less than $30,140, and the top 10 percent earned more than $97,910. Median annual wages in the industries employing the largest numbers of public relations specialists were:

Management of companies and enterprises	$55,530
Business, professional, labor, political, and similar organizations	55,460
Advertising, public relations and related services	55,290
Local government	51,340
Colleges, universities, and professional schools	46,660

For the latest wage information:

The above wage data are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey program, unless otherwise noted. For the latest National, State, and local earnings data, visit public relations specialists.

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net-Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available very soon. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

When you hear the word “Free”, do you think, “Oh really? What’s the catch?”

When sellers are indeed offering buyers a bonus, “free” is a powerful draw. But when companies use “free” as a deceptive come-on, they can find themselves in legal hot water.

Fast-talking Telemarketers – Not so Free

Law enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) highlight the importance of caution when using the word “free” in advertising. In a case brought with the Kentucky Attorney General, the FTC alleged that the defendants – claiming to be calling from major retailers or the consumer’s credit card company – offered what they said were “free” gift cards or resort vacations. The defendants then used a variety of shady tactics to trick people into saying the word “yes,” which the defendants then used as their purported billing authorization.

In some cases, the defendants told consumers they had to confirm their acceptance of the free products. In other instances, they asked people to listen to a “pretend” telemarketing pitch, answer “yes” when prompted, and then rate the caller’s sales skills. According to the FTC, fast-talking telemarketers raced through the pitch so rapidly that many consumers didn’t realize they’d agreed to buy products. To add legal insult to financial injury, the defendants charged consumers’ credit cards or debited their bank accounts without permission and never sent the “free” goods as promised. The upshot? Settlements with all but one defendant, tough injunctive terms, and a $5 million performance bond.

“Free Sample” Case Example

In two other FTC actions, dietary supplement marketers lured consumers to their websites by offering “free” samples of products for weight loss or to treat sexual dysfunction. According to the FTC, to get the samples, consumers had to give a credit card number to cover shipping and handling. Once the defendants had the account numbers, they enrolled unsuspecting consumers in continuity programs, charging them for additional unauthorized shipments. In addition to injunctive provisions, the settlements impose judgments totaling $10.3 million and require the companies to disgorge more than $600,000 in cash.

What tips can marketers take from these cases?

• “Free” means free. Don’t make an unqualified “free” claim when you really mean “free for now, but we’ll bill you later” or “free, plus additional fees.”
• Dial back on deception. The Telemarketing Sales Rule outlines specific requirements for “free” offers made by phone. Read Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule, available at business.ftc.gov, to keep your claims compliant.
• Negative (option) feedback. Whether you call it a continuity program, a free-to-pay conversion, or advanced consent marketing, take particular care to explain the terms of negative option plans before you seal the deal. Promoting a product as “free” and then burying the details in a fine-print footnote or through an obscure hyperlink is likely to draw customer ire and law enforcement attention. Check out Negative Options, an FTC staff report, to find out how to do the deal right.

Do you have examples to share?

(Thanks to Lesley Fair – an attorney in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.)

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net-Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available very soon. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Recently I attended a speech given by a brilliant but soft-spoken philosopher and author. Even though he had a gentle, thoughtful way of speaking, and a serious topic, he managed to connect well with the audience, and got some great chuckles with his stories and his subtle humor. It started me thinking again about how important the first few minutes of every presentation is, and what you can do to make a good connection with your audience early on.

Check your next presentation to see how many of these you are doing.

Tell a short human-interest story. This speaker made a reference to boy scouts, comparing how they were years ago, to how they are today. It illustrated a point he was making in a highly visual, personal and memorable way. And it took less than one minute.

Refer to the audience and their worlds. More important than telling them all about you, let them know you understand who they are, what their concerns are, and how you plan to address them. The old adage is true: they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Engage them in some way. Get them to do something besides just sitting. Ask a question, ask for a show of hands, ask them to greet their neighbors, ask them to write down their questions, ask them to gather in the four corners of the room according to…well, you get the idea. Unless you are mesmerizing, you really should get them engaged and involved, and do it sooner rather than later.

Start without slides. It sends a whole different energy into the room than starting with your slides on and ready to go. In fact, this speaker used no more than 10 slides in two hours, and he turned them on when needed and off when not needed. And another thing; they were all images, not bullets! Maybe you need to use slides. If so, then make them as clean and simple as possible, and start (and end) without them.

Find the humor. It could be in your story, in the audience, in a misfire or mistake, in a cartoon you show, or in something you heard or read recently. Look for humor that is comfortable and natural for you; don’t try to be a comedian. It doesn’t have to bring the house down; even a chuckle can bring us all together.

Yes, this speaker did all five of these in the first few minutes. He showed humility, depth, and passion about his topic. I bet you can too, and I would love to hear what you do in the first five minutes.

Yesterday I volunteered to make some phone calls on behalf of my professional organization, ASTD-TCC, in order to support their annual Regional Conference. It started me thinking about how much of my professional life has been spent on the telephone. When I needed a second job early in my career, I worked a phone bank for a political party. When I was a technical recruiter, virtually all my work was done over the telephone. My boss called it “dialing for dollars.” And when I started out my business nearly twenty years ago, I had a goal of making 20 cold calls every day. Whew!

Nowadays I rarely ever make a cold call, and in fact, I sometimes think I spend more time on e-mails than I do on the phone. Still, the phone is one of the most important business tools we have. Today we don’t use the phone just for conversations or to set up meetings; we use it to have the meetings.

Has the art of the telephone been lost? Or do we just take it for granted? Here is a checklist of best practices and a few no-nos to keep in mind next time you are doing business over the phone.

TELEPHONE DO’S

Slow down. The listener can’t see you or read your lips, and maybe can’t hear you all that well, especially if they—or you—are on a cell phone or in a noisy place. So slow down and enunciate just a little more than normal.

Take a breath. Sit up straight. And smile. These are tips given to customer service reps and phone salespeople, and for good reason. You sound better if you smile, and you will speak with more power when you breathe and sit or stand tall.

Greet your listener. “Good morning, good afternoon,” or “hello” set a friendly tone. Keep your opening brief but cordial to make a personal connection. (Don’t overdo it; most of us can see a sales pitch coming a mile away.)

Provide your name and contact information. Somehow we forget this or assume the other person knows who we are. Name, organization, and phone number, all spoken clearly and slowly really help. If you want a call-back, repeat this information again at the end. Slowly.

Give the purpose for the call. Be direct. “I am seeking sponsorships for the conference, I am looking for a speaker, I am asking for a recommendation, I need some information,” etc. are direct ways of letting people know why you are calling. Don’t make them guess. Don’t beat around the bush, and please, don’t just give your name and number with a request for a call back. You will have much better response if you give the reason for your call.

Listen to your outgoing phone calls and messages. Periodically record your calls with a voice recorder or your smart phone (there’s an app for that.) Listen for your tone, rate of speech, enunciation, the number of fillers you use, and generally how clearly you articulate your message.

Take a break. Phone calling is hard work; it calls for fast thinking and concentration. If you are getting tired, bored, or have just had a negative experience, walk away for a few minutes. On the other hand, instead of stopping after a great call, keep going. When you experience success, you get a whole new tone in your voice. That’s the time to place one more call. That is when I would typically place my “most important” calls; when I was feeling I couldn’t miss. It very often worked!

A COUPLE OF DON’TS

Don’t distract yourself. Stay focused on the message and clear delivery. If there is noise or distraction, shut your door or wait for a better moment to place the call. If you are thinking about what to have for lunch, stop and focus on the reason for the call.

Don’t slam the phone down to hang up. This is my personal pet peeve. Come on! If you are trying to gain cooperation, make a sale or build a professional relationship, don’t slam the phone down at the end of the call or your message. What a poor “last impression.” Disconnect the phone quietly, then replace it on the receiver.

We may use them a bit differently, but great telephone skills will never go out of style. Over time you will be in countless conversations, meetings and webinars. You might even find yourself “dialing for dollars.” Take time today to check your telephone skills and see if they measure up.

The Pioneer of Social Sciences and Psychology in the PR Industry

Edward Louis Bernays (November 22, 1891 – March 9, 1995)

Bernays was the nephew of Dr. Sigmund Freud, who dramatically helped shape his psychoanalytic approach to PR. Bernays used manipulation to sway the public’s subconscious mind, and thus, public opinion. Also quite influential in his Public Relations practices were the crowd psychology ideas and beliefs of Gustave Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter.

One of the first to use manipulation in PR, Bernays felt that it was absolutely necessary in Society, which he believed was ruled by the ‘herd instinct‘ – irrational and dangerous.

Psychoanalyst to Troubled Corporations

According to Irwin Ross, a writer, “Bernays liked to think of himself as a kind of psychoanalyst to troubled corporations.” His famous corporate clients included Procter & Gamble, the American Tobacco Company, Cartier Inc., Best Foods, CBS, the United Fruit Company, General Electric, Dodge Motors, Knox Gelatin, and innumerable others.

Clearly, his campaigns worked.

Inventor of the Press Release

One of Bernays’ most famous campaigns attacked the 1920’s stronghold social taboo of women smoking in public. He shocked the public during the 1929 Easter Day Parade by staging debutantes holding cigarettes. He sent notices out to media and made it news – which legitimized his message in a way that paid advertising just couldn’t.

Today, more than HALF of what we think of as news is actually initiated by the PR industry.

Inventor of PR Testimonials

According to Bernays, “If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway.” At the time, this was a groundbreaking idea!

Faced with the challenge of promoting bacon for one of his PR clients, he surveyed physicians. Finding that they recommended people eat a heavy breakfast, he sent the survey results to 5,000 physicians – promoting, of course – bacon and eggs.

Bernays’ Public Relations Legacy

Bernays was named one of the 100 Most Influential Americans of the 20th Century by Life magazine. Although his celebration of propaganda helped define public relations, it didn’t win the PR industry many friends. In a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter described Bernays and his associate Ivy Lee as “professional poisoners of the public mind, exploiters of foolishness, fanaticism and self-interest.”

(Thanks to Wikipedia for info and references.)

In your opinion, could psychoanalytic manipulation possibly be extracted from PR today?

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book has a name change! The Net-Powered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide will be available very soon. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com