Tag: Media Training
Tarnishing the Brand: Tiger Woods as a Business
Don’t think of Tiger Woods as an athlete. Think of him as a business, a brand. Now let’s ask if Tiger Woods, Inc. was well served by its Founder/Chairman/CEO in the ongoing solo car accident scandal. From the public relations point of view, I think not. On November 30, Nancy Armour, a reporter for the [...]
Posted by George Merlis on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009Posted in Essays
Tags: Media, Media Training, News
Warren Buffett: A Media Master
In my media training workshops I always encourage my clients to read newspapers and magazines with new eyes and listen to broadcast interviews with new ears. In addition to absorbing the facts of a narrative, I urge them to analyze how those facts are most effectively presented. In other words, how good soundbites work. I [...]
Posted by George Merlis on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009Posted in Quotes
Tags: George Merlis, Media, Media Training
Media Traning Basics: Mastering Tough Questions From the Media
Back in the early 1980s, when I was producing the “CBS Morning News” (now renamed “The Early Show”) Diane Sawyer, the co-anchor, booked an interview with former President Richard M. Nixon. This was a considerable time after Mr. Nixon had undergone the grilling by David Frost depicted in the play and movie, “Frost/Nixon,” and through [...]
Posted by George Merlis on Friday, October 9th, 2009Posted in 101
Tags: Media, Media Training
Three Step Self-Defeating Media Relations Strategy
For two decades I’ve urged my media training workshop clients to be candid with the press. In fact, the fifth of my Five Commandments of Interviews is: “Thou shalt not lie, evade nor speculate.” (Only five commandments? Yes, I haven’t the temerity to come up with ten.) While I teach this candor lesson to all [...]
Posted by George Merlis on Friday, September 11th, 2009Posted in 101
Tags: Business Tips, Media Training
Communicating in a Business Crisis: Part 2
Last time we asked whether or not your business needs a crisis communications plan. On the assumption you are reading this post because you answered “yes,” to the question, here are some tips for you and your spokespersons. Assign your spokesperson or spokespersons in advance: Often, when a crisis breaks, you see multiple personalities jostling [...]
Posted by George Merlis on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009Posted in 101
Tags: George Merlis, Media, Media Training, News
Communicating in a Business Crisis: Part I
Does every business need a crisis communications plan? No, but a surprising number of businesses — even small businesses — do need such a plan. Crises vary in degree, intensity, and effect on the public. A company’s bankruptcy is a tragedy, one that deeply affects employees, customers, and stockholders. It might even have a ripple [...]
Posted by George Merlis on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009Posted in 101
Tags: George Merlis, Media, Media Training
Media Training Basics
Radio II: Mastering the Radio In my last post I wrote about booking yourself on call-in radio shows. This can be the easiest access you’ll have to media, but live radio is very unforgiving in a number of respects, so let’s deal with live radio media mastery today. There are some basic radio rules. Last [...]
Posted by George Merlis on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009Posted in 101
Tags: George Merlis, Media Training, Radio
Media Training Basics
The Fundamentals — Telephone Interviews At the risk of revealing my age, when I began in journalism the publisher of my newspaper, The New York World-Telegram and Sun, calculated it cost us about $7 an hour to cover a news story while it cost the local television stations $70 an hour. An added benefit, he [...]
Posted by George Merlis on Monday, June 22nd, 2009Posted in 101
Tags: George Merlis, Media Training
Media Training Basics
A primary goal of any media interview is to inject your agenda into the news story. The best way to do that is to express yourself in “gotta use that” language, phrases so compelling the reporter thinks to herself, “I couldn’t say that better myself.” Here are some “dos” and “don’ts” for creating compelling answers. [...]
Posted by George Merlis on Thursday, May 28th, 2009Posted in 101
Tags: George Merlis, Media Training
Noteworthy, Quoteworthy and Foot-in-Mouth Statements
Want the media to use your agenda in their stories? The key is expressing your message points during interviews and news conferences in extremely compelling language. You want the reporter to think, “I gotta use that,” or “I couldn’t say that better myself.” When those thoughts flitter through a reporter’s mind, it’s almost a guarantee [...]
Posted by George Merlis on Thursday, May 14th, 2009Posted in 101
Tags: George Merlis, Media, Media Training, Quotes
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