The Public Relations Podcast

There are two techniques I'm sharing in today's show. Firstly, the importance of being an advocate for your customers or followers and secondly, the importance of leaning into their style but without copying them. Both are techniques I learned from journalism that help you gain a connection with your followers.

Welcome back to series 4 of the public relations podcast

I'm taking a 4-week break. The Public Relations Podcast will return in late September for Series 4.  If you missed any of the last 32 episodes in series 3 then there is a tonne of content sitting in your podcast app feed right now waiting for you.  I'll be announcing the return in the newsletter so if you are not already signed up, head to www. ThePublicRelationsPodcast.com  Speak s...

Are you sure you are getting your PR and comms messaging right? Are you sure the target audience you identified last year is the same today? There are plenty of examples of organizations that thought they knew their market and failed. So what can you do? What are other firms doing to stay up to date with their audience? In this episode, I share some stories, examples, and a little exercise to refl...

A very quick episode rounding up a few data points I've been noticing with this podcast that you may also find useful. There are so many tools out there that can be used to identify who is you are reaching with your public relations efforts.

Imagine the next time you put out a bit of "comms" material that you were laughed at or voted the worst comms person if it went wrong? That's the kind of pressure many PR people feel but not necessarily immediately.  Now imagine you got instant feedback from your audience. How would you handle your PR now? What would you do to ensure you connected with your avatar? How would you adjust your p...

Could you use your own personality to drive your organization's brand? That's exactly what Dominic Walker is doing.  He's using his own personality and contacts in the city where he lives popular sporting venues to connect with people and develop his firm's reach. Could you do that too?

Will Smith has broken his silence. The Hollywood star who slapped Chris Rock live on stage during the Oscars has released a video on social media. So, what can we learn from what he said? What can we learn from a PR and comms perspective about his apology and what he said as he addressed the key questions he's being asked? Did he do it right? In this episode, we play a part of Smith's video and an...

Why do short-form videos work? How are they being used and could you use them for your organizationhighlights? Short form videos are popular. They are highly engaging and highly addictive. It's no wonder so many people are using them. In today's episode, I discuss a recent Instagram post that highlight work the Washington Post had done with videos like these. So could you use them too and what wou...

Is it worth launching a social video series for your organization and how do you persuade "management" to let you do it? This was a situation Dominic Walker of JMW Solicitors found himself in but he actually found it to be a lot easier than he expected. In today's episode, I'm sharing a section of a chat I had with my good friend Dominic.  He was telling me how he pitched the idea for the Ins...

Is it possible to get journalists to come to you? According to a book by Iliyana Stareva called InboundPR, written a few years ago, it is, but it takes a bit of courage and a wish to change your approach.  Inbound PR is a book I've dipped into over and over again over the past few years and I'm reading it once again on my Kindle by the pool this week on holiday in Sarnia, in Italy.  The premise of...

Journalists are everywhere. It's a lot harder trying to find a journalist and pushing a story to them when you need it.... than calling a "friend".  In this quick update I share a story that just happened of connecting with a journalist. #pr #publicrelations #pressofficer #Marketing #communicationsmanager

Tourism PR is a niche in itself. How do you build the reputation and awareness of a location when there is so much competition? I'm currently in Sardinia (Italy) on holiday. Apologies about the sound on this episode. I couldn't help look at some PR from the island. Not surprisingly much of it is focused on tourism. One of the tools in the tourist PRs arsenal is the FAM trip. In this short episode...

There is a news story almost every day that you could latch onto for PR or social media. In this episode, I look at today's news to see what stories a business could be part of today. There was a surprising number.   Whatever industry you are in one of the easiest ways to build relationships with journalists is to help them write the stories they want to write already.  We can see those...

Why does timing matter? It sounds so obvious doesn't it? But, once again, it's one of those things that often isn't considered enough. In major companies, there are banks of screens monitoring the public's real-time feelings about a brand in the marketing and PR department. It allows them to monitor what people are thinking and then react to it.  The importance of timing can be seen in a book...

What Joe Rogan can teach us about crisis PR. Last week as I lay in bed with COVID, I watched a video on YouTube with Joe Rogan in which he was asked how he dealt with the massive attacks on him earlier this year. There was a lot to pull from this conversation from a PR perspective because so often in PR the focus is on the techniques of crisis management, not us. So how do you cope when your organ...

There is a way to approach a journalist for the first time that if you follow is much less likely to result in a grumpy response.  The secret is to help them do their jobs. But that is not by reaching out to them with your story. In this episode, I talk about another approach you can make which the best PRs used on me when I was a news editor.

I suspect you know pretty well how your organisation wants to be seen but is that how the public are seeing it? How do you get people to believe the brand?  How do you show people that your brand isn't just a slogan but real. This week I have been in Greece and for one day I hosted a communications day to my colleagues at a hotel in Athens. In today's episode, I share some of what I shared wi...

What is the perfect length of a press release? What length should it be to attract a journalist to want to read it? In this episode I share some stories of what it is like to be on the receiving end of press releases in a newsroom and what I looked for as a news editor. The episode contains 4 takeaways to help you write your future release.   

Podcasting is all the rage right now but is it the right time to introduce a podcast to your organisation? Having been around the podcasting world for several years and spoken on the topic, I wanted to share my perspective on this topic today.  Is it a good time? What are the pros and cons and if you decide to go ahead, how should you approach it?  Here is the link to the article I mention in this...

Rounding up some PR stories which might provide some inspiration for your own campaigns in your organisation.  We're looking at the "Most Connected Brands of 2022" and how it might challenge your ideas about branding. Do you really need to be "liked"? We're also talking about a winner in the Cannes Lions event recently called "The Breakaway". And lots more. 

Ok. So another catchy title but why is it that sometimes when you ring up a journalist with a cold pitch, they can be pretty grumpy? That is the question we're talking about in today's episode.  This week I've got a series of short special episodes.  Do let me know whether you prefer them or find them less useful on Twitter @thatprchap or Richard Midson on LinkedIn

Are your press releases failing to get journalists' attention? Have you thought about the story you are trying to put across? Is it the right one? This week, I've going to be recording a few shorter episodes and I'd love to know what you think. Let me know on Twitter @thatprchap or reach out to me on LinkedIn "Richard Midson"

What secrets can we learn about approaching journalists from the State of PR Report 2022? How to use summertime to build a connection with the public and we've got diary dates and more. 

How a grainy photo is helping a British Royal develop his brand.  How French politicians this week are using words to capture interest and why your mantra when you take photos for your organization should be "show don't tell". Oh, and I need your help to help me get across what you need to the tech industry. There is so much in this week's episode. Get the newsletter at www.thepublicrelationspodca...