Public Relations Stories and Strategies

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode In the work world the true generalist is very different from the specialist. The specialist tends to have a deep understanding of a certain content area while the generalist has a broader scope of the work landscape. The pros of being a generalist are understanding connections between departments and, theoreticall...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode So, you’re graduating with a Communications or Marketing degree? Congratulations. It’s a growing industry and there are plenty of opportunities. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts employment of PR specialists to grow 11 percent from 2020 to 2030 with 29,000 new jobs every year. One Canadian study (McGill...

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Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode A new survey by Brunswick Group makes it clear executive leaders today are not only expected to be online, but to be active and connected.  2,800 readers of financial publications and 3,600 employees in large companies were surveyed worldwide and in-depth interviews were conducted with more than a dozen leaders an...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode In today’s world a social media influencer is one who has the power to affect purchasing decisions of others because of their authority, their knowledge, their title, or their relationship with their audience. Often that means they have a large social following, but it can also mean they just have the right people...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode Utility Safety Partners has a simple message. Like all One-Call services it advocates for people and professional contractors to contact them before they dig a hole. One contact and locate markings result a short time later by any company with buried facilities int eh area, and you can dig that hole for your deck,...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode This Spring the PRCA (Public Relations and Communications Association) updated its Guidelines for Accessible Communications. They provide more detail on video and animated graphics, thoughtful use of language and representation, and hosting of physical and virtual events. We talk about making our processes and mat...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode The hot hand fallacy in basketball. Why we tend to grab a coffee to start our day or to have difficult conversations. The fact IKEA furniture is so hard to assemble sometimes is part of why it’s so popular. How does that make sense? All examples well-explained by Behavioural Economics.  Statistically there’s no su...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode LANGUAGE IS CLEAN IN OPENING CLIP When actor Will Smith went up on stage at the Oscars and slapped comedian Chris Rock – the noise was shocking… the impact reverberating. At the Oscars, Rock had made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith having a buzzed haircut. Pinkett Smith has spoken publicly about...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode The Harris Poll conducted a survey recently on how Americans understand and perceive the metaverse. While the majority don’t understand what it is, 70% of Gen Z and Millennials (22-40 year olds) are interested in interacting within it.  They’re interested in video games yes but also social interactions and virtual...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode Communication between and among cultures has existed for thousands of years. Successful rulers such as Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan built enormous empires because they appreciated and assimilated aspects of different cultures as they expanded. But fast-forward to 2022 and we as communications professionals...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode A lingering pandemic, accelerating technological abilities, in turn creating ever increasing stakeholder demands and expectations – combined with misinformation and disinformation in rampant circulation. Where are we going? What does the role we fill today look like in the future? If it is our job as Comms Pros to...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode More working from home, more freelancers, great focus on influencer marketing, and the rising wave of popularity for audio and video formats.  In her December newsletter, communications trend-setter Michelle Garrett takes stock of many of the things impacting marketing and communications right now. Surveys are sho...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode We know it as comms-pros – communications is the glue that holds a business together. But too often smaller businesses can’t afford professional comms. It’s a pure expense that doesn’t seem to directly generate revenue. In this episode we speak with a New York Agency that has found a solid way to help small busine...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode One could argue the concept of strategies that are both transparent (fully allowing for freedom of choice) and subtly manipulative at the same time is hardly new – perhaps only the term “Nudge Theory” is what’s new.   In this episode we explore whether Nudge Theory is a brilliant concept of behavioural economics m...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode Nudge Theory burst onto the scene in 2008 when Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler published their book “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness.” The simplest models of economics take preferences as given, but nudge ideas suggest we can be moved, steered, and in some cases manipulated.  Nudge...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode Research shows more than one-quarter of crises spread to international media within an hour; two-thirds of crises reach media outlets worldwide within the first 24 hours (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer). The democratization of information means we all have access to a global audience 24-7. First impressions set th...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode There has never been a more important time for good science communication. Not only is it important for us to understand the value of evidence-based solutions but to actually understand the fallibility and imperfection of science too. Since 2005 Laurentian, University in Sudbury Canada, has delivered graduate educ...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode Podcasts are radio but on demand, dedicated to your niche interest, and (for the most part) commercial free. There are two million podcasts worldwide right now and counting.  And lots of them need guests!! They are a terrific channel to advance your authority as a subject matter expert but like any media interview...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode As early as 40,000 years ago humans used a combination of soil, animal fat, burnt charcoal, and chalk to create colour palettes (or color in America). We know that story… but here’s the one we don’t know. In a world before trains, reliable road networks, automobiles, and urban settings, most people lived rural liv...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS SERIES - Episode 4 The emerging science of epigenetics explains how our lifestyle and environment have influence on our gene expression over time. It’s a growing field of research that’s changing the nature vs nurture debate as we begin to understand gene expression is influenced by exter...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS SERIES - Episode 3 There are many articles written by psychologists about the “theory” of working with elite-level performers; extremely few people actually get to do it. Duff Gibson is a Canadian Olympic gold medal winner who was hired to coach the next generation of athletes. He knew th...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS SERIES - Episode 2 Communications professionals have long stated they “want a seat at the table,” meaning communications needs to be part of the executive decision-making function. And that seat should be filled by someone well-versed in strategy, best-practices, and able to represent the...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS SERIES - Episode 1 There is substantial evidence that cultures of high trust outperform those where trust is low. There’s less employee turnover, higher employee engagement, better aligned organizations and more collaboration if we trust one another. That all begins with strong leadership...

Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episode Adopting a growth mindset, as opposed to a fixed mindset, is one of the best strategies for accepting and giving constructive feedback. A growth mindset thrives on challenge and sees failure, not as evidence of unintelligence but as a springboard for growth and stretching existing abilities. From these two mindset...