CNN I-reports | Gerard Braud Communications

Tutorial #7 How You Can Be the Source of Breaking News During Hurricane Season

June 15, 2015/0 Comments/in CNN iReporter Tutorials /by gbraud

Tutorial #7 by Gerard Braud —

This month when you visit this blog, you will learn secrets about how and why you should be crazy about iReports and using smart phones and tablets to broadcast to the world. In this blog in particular, you can learn how you can be the source of breaking news during hurricane season, during a natural disaster, or any of the crises you face. You can be the official spokesperson to the media on behalf of your organization, rather than speculating eyewitnesses on the street.

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Out of all of the people that CNN could put on television, why would they pick you? What can you share that is newsworthy?

This is an important question to ask. The answer may be easier to understand when I explain how and why I became the guy who was broadcasting live from my front porch during Hurricane Isaac in 2012.

Over the next few days you will learn the background story of how I was selected by CNN.

With 7 feet of floodwater surrounding my home and no electricity for 5 days during Hurricane Isaac, I was able to broadcast live to CNN using only my iPhone, G3 and Skype. Amid the rain, heat, waves, snakes, alligators, debris and dead animal carcasses, I kept broadcasting.

Because of the reports I filed from August 26-September 2, 2012, CNN producers chose my reports out of all the reports filed by 11,000 iReporters in 2012, to be recognized for continuing coverage of breaking news. The reports were seen both on the CNN iReport website and they were broadcast by CNN and HLN to viewers around the world.

These reports took viewers into places that even CNN news crews couldn’t reach with their million dollar satellite trucks and $60,000 HD cameras.

I have been a CNN iReport evangelist since the program began. During 4 major weather events my iReports have been broadcast on CNN and on multiple occasions have lead to live broadcasts.

The first time was when I witnessed a funnel cloud during Hurricane Gilbert. I simply uploaded a short video with no narration to iReports. CNN showed it, then my phone range. A friend in California called to warn me there were tornadoes near me and he had just seen it on CNN. Ha. Funny how that worked.

On December 11, 2010 we had an unusual 5 inch snow fall in the town I live in, near New Orleans. I had not sent out Christmas cards yet, so with my point and shoot camera I produced a short news video about the snow, then wished everyone Merry Christmas. I uploaded the video to iReports. Their producers vetted the report and confirmed it was real. They edited off my Christmas greeting, then used the rest of the video all day long to run before every weather report. That was really cool.

CNN asked me to do a live report via Skype, but that got canceled because of breaking news. That was the day the body of Caylee Anthony was found in the woods, leading to the murder trial of the child’s mother, Casey Anthony.

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In August of 2011, Tropical Storm Lee came through New Orleans and my little town of Mandeville, LA. A week before, I had moved into a new house on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. The storm surge filled my yard with 5 feet of water. Using my iPad and Wi-Fi, I shot a 90 second news report, then uploaded it to iReports. Within minutes, producers were asking me to do live reports. So with an iPad as my broadcast camera and Wi-Fi as my broadcast channel, I was on the air for 2 days.

These 3 events set the stage for Hurricane Isaac in August 2012 and the series of reports for which I was nominated. You will learn more details in our next article.

This link will take you to my tutorials on the CNN iReporter website. I hope you take the time to view, study, and share all 23 videos and articles.

This link will take you to the index for all of the articles and videos.

If you, like many others, think this information would be valuable as a workshop at a conference or corporate meeting, please call me at 985-624-9976. You can also download a PDF that outlines the program: Social Media iReports.pdf, so you can share it with your meeting planner or training manager.

Tutorial #6: Crisis Communications Technology for Hurricane Season

June 12, 2015/0 Comments/in CNN iReporter Tutorials /by gbraud

Tutorial #6 by CNN iReporter Evangelist Gerard Braud —

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In order to shoot your own videos to tell the story of your crisis, it is crucial that you have the right technology. Having the right crisis communications tools will help you communicate quickly and effectively to your audiences on your darkest day, whether your organization faces a hurricane, tornado, or a smoldering crisis.

As an iReport Evangelist, my favorite 2 iReport tools are my iPhone and my iPad. These are my favorite crisis communications tools as well.

You are welcome to use any brand of phone or tablet you like, as long as you can

1) Take video of yourself with it

2) Upload that video to the Internet.

Getting to the internet means you either need a reliable Wi-Fi signal or a good G3 or G4 signal on your device.

Raw video, also known in the news business as B-roll, is one type of image you can send to iReports. They also accept still photos. However, my favorite approach is to do a traditional television news style reporter standup. Standup is the TV term for the reporter walking and talking on camera.

Some early generations of smart phones only allow you to use your phone screen as a video view-finder while you take a picture or video of something in front of you. Ideally, you want a smart phone or tablet that has a two-way camera — the one that allows you to hold your tablet or phone at arms length while you see yourself on the screen.

Your goal in the standup should be to make it short – usually 38 seconds. The short length makes it easy and fast to upload. Sometimes longer videos will not upload because of a lack of bandwidth, especially during a crisis or during bad weather. When doing a standup, your goal should also be to walk, talk and provide information in a quotable nugget, just as you will learn if you have ever been through a media training class. Because of this technology and demand, I’ve changed the way I teach media training classes to teach spokespeople how to walk and talk and deliver great information in a quick nugget. As you deliver your standup, you must also speak in a conversational tone and not in a stiff, rehearsed sounding voice.

Because my goal is to convert my iReports into Live interviews, I also have the right software. Skype on my iPhone and iPad, connected to the web, becomes my source for broadcasting Live. This means that you need to set up a Skype account on a clear sunny day, before you ever actually need it. Just like any other technology, you have to practice using it in order to get it right when you need it quickly in a crisis.

When I report Live for CNN, I’m asked to call one of their many Skype numbers. When I report Live for The Weather Channel, they phone my Skype number.

The iPad is my favorite out of my 2 devices, because I love the size of the screen and the quality of the camera. However, it is heavier and harder to hold. Some iPad cases make it easier. Several companies also make iPad tripod devices. While a tripod provides a steady image, the downside is that you are unable to walk and talk to tell your story. In rainy conditions, the iPhone is easier to keep dry. You can use a baggie with a hole cut in it for the camera.

In our next article, you will learn what types of stories get the best attention.

If you have questions, tweet me @gbraud or send an e-mail to gerard@braudcommunications.com

Tutorial #5: Hurricane Season Crisis Communications Lessons from Hurricane Isaac

Tutorial #5 By CNN iReporter Evangelist Gerard Braud —

So far this month, we have reviewed why you should be a CNN iReporter, or at the very least why you should learn to effectively shoot your own smartphone videos. We have learned how to set up your CNN iReporter account and how to determine what is newsworthy and what isn’t. Now it is time to learn exactly how to effectively communicate through video on your darkest, stormiest day. Here are a few lessons for telling the story of your organization’s crisis, ranging from natural disasters to tragic events like workplace shootings. As with our previous lessons, this one is also based on my video documentation of Hurricane Isaac in 2012. Enjoy!

Click here to watch video

It is important to evacuate when an approaching hurricane is going to be a bad one. Staying in your home in destructive winds and killer flooding is dumb. Hurricane Isaac was not a strong storm and mandatory evacuations were not called. So, I decided to stay in my home on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Mandeville, LA, which is 30 minutes north of New Orleans. The storm winds at the eye of the hurricane were just over 75 miles per hour, making it barely a Category 1 hurricane. The eye was forecast to pass 50 miles to the west of me, which meant the winds would not be destructive where I was. The path would push water from the Gulf of Mexico into Lake Pontchartrain, resulting in localized flooding from storm surge.

As an experienced storm chaser, my goal was to document the hurricane, from the preparation stage, through the flooding, then through the aftermath and cleanup.

My home is a small cottage, raised on steel 10-foot pilings, with steel beams. Below my house is a carport and storage area that is 5 feet above sea level. That places the floor of my living quarters 15 feet above sea level and makes for a great perch to view mother nature. The storage area is constructed with mandatory breakaway walls, which will wash away in a storm, and they did.

Two days before the hurricane I began to document the flurry of activities and preparations in the community. There were long lines at the gas stations until every pump ran dry. I documented empty grocery store shelves, as water and canned goods were snatched up. At the hardware store I documented long lines as people purchased electrical generators and filled propane tanks.

On Tuesday, August 28, 2012, the evening before the storm made landfall, I filed an iReport that showed a calm lake, a green parkway and the green grass in my yard. I explained to viewers that the next day the entire area would be underwater, which all came to pass and made for a great follow up report. That was the iReport that lead CNN Headline News (HLN) producers to ask me to do a live report on Evening Express as the hurricane made landfall on August 29. By then, electrical power had gone out and I was broadcasting live using my iPhone 4, a G3 phone signal, and Skype

The big surprise with Hurricane Isaac was that the storm stalled and stayed in the same place for nearly 2 days, all the while causing the floodwaters to get higher. A fast moving storm would have come and gone in 12 hours. This one would cause flooding from Tuesday until Sunday.

By the time we hit the air live on Evening Express on the evening of August 29, there were whitecaps rolling down my driveway. After dark I did a live report for the Dr. Drew Show. Shortly after I signed off with Dr. Drew around 9 p.m., I began to hear strange creaking noises in the house. Occasionally there were unnerving vibrations. When I turned on the faucet there was no water. This wasn’t good. #understatement. I grabbed a flashlight and walked downstairs, where I could see that the breakaway walls in the storage areas on my carport began to wash out. As they did, debris in the waves broke the water supply, leaving me without running water. Then I realized that near the water pipes were natural gas lines. #causeforconcern

I phoned a neighbor and asked if I could sleep at his house just in case mine had a gas leak. I shut off all of my pilot lights, blew out all of my hurricane lanterns and candles, grabbed my life vest and paddled my canoe to his house. By this time, the water was so deep I simply paddled over my fence.

Overnight, the eye of the storm began to move again. The morning of August 30th I paddled home to find there was no gas leak, so I filed more iReports showing the damage as the water level dropped some.

I was surprised at how much debris had washed into my yard. Then nature revealed unwanted guests. First, there were 10 alligators swimming in my yard. As it got warm, dead nutria, a large swamp rat the size of a large muskrat, began popping up out of the water. I counted 50 carcasses. As the water drained off further, it revealed a blanket of swamp grass 12-24 inches deep, filled with thousands of snakes. I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie. Such anomalies mean just one thing: file more iReports and do more live reports for Evening Express and Dr. Drew.

For me, the beauty of iReports is the ability of ordinary people to take their stories right to the world’s leading news network. News happens fast and there isn’t always a professional news crew present to capture it. A citizen with an iPhone can capture and report the news even when no news crews are around.

What people who work in public relations need to be aware of is that you too, have the ability to be an iReporter. If you fail to do so, your story will be told by a citizen on the street, who may have great pictures, but not always the correct information. This is true for all spokespeople. This is true for Public Information Officers (PIO).

Who will tell your story? You or someone else?

This link will take you to my tutorials on the CNN iReporter website. I hope you take the time to view, study, and share all 23 videos and articles.

This link will take you to the index for all of the articles and videos.

I would be honored to teach you the specifics of iReports as a conference presentation or as a private training program. Download this PDF which describes the program, Social Media iReports.pdf, then call me.

Hurricane Season Tutorial #4: When Shooting Smart Phone Videos Consider “What is News?”

June 10, 2015/0 Comments/in CNN iReporter Tutorials /by gbraud

Tutorial #4 By Gerard Braud, CNN iReporter Evangelist —

Creating and filming your own CNN iReports or smartphone videos is a useful tool for communicating with the media, your employees, your customers, and key stakeholders in your crisis. Not only is it a useful tool during hurricane season, but it is useful during any crisis or natural disaster. However, if you plan to do these videos, it is important to understand what the media consider newsworthy. Often, what you consider newsworthy and what the media consider newsworthy are two different things.

Click here to watch video

For the 15 years that I worked as a reporter in print, radio and mostly television, people questioned me daily about why certain things got in the newspaper or on the air, and why other things did not.

News is traditionally defined as what is new, unique or different. Also, acts that tend to be violent, explosive and bloody often dominate the news, hence the old expression, “If it bleeds it leads,” as in, it leads off the newscast.

News and the decisions about what gets into a newspaper or broadcast on the news, is further based on “who cares?” If it is something people will talk about, i.e., they care, it is more likely to be considered news worthy.

Watch today’s video tutorial to learn more.

What is considered news worthy and what gets on television today is far different than what was considered news worthy 10-15 years ago. News programs and news networks have shifted more toward what I would consider as “info-tainment.” Information and entertainment is blended together and sometimes it is difficult to separate them, or determine where one ends and the other begins.

A loud mouth television or radio commentator often shouts out an opinion in an entertaining way to a significant segment of the audience and produces a large amount of advertising revenue. This, in my opinion not only represents bias in the media, but is also the blurry line that bleeds from news into info-tainment.

Social media has also impacted news coverage and what gets reported. News was once defined as information designed to inform the electorate, so we could understand public issues and elect good leaders. However, today, more people care about — and the media is more likely to report on — the popularity of a viral video on the internet.

For your purpose, as a public relations professional, spokesperson or Public Information Officer (PIO), if a news worthy event happens where you work, your gut and experience tells you that a certain event is news worthy. What you must decide is whether you will be an active participant in providing official information to the media, or whether you will remain silent and allow the narrative to be told by the citizen on the street, armed with a cell phone.

My hope is that these tutorials encourage you to not only participate, but to also become an iReporter for CNN.

This link will take you to my tutorials on the CNN iReporter website. I hope you take the time to view, study, and share all 23 videos and articles.

This link will take you to the index for all of the articles and videos.

If you, like many others, think this information would be valuable as a workshop at a conference or corporate meeting, please call me at 985-624-9976. You can also download a PDF that outlines the program, Social Media iReports.pdf, so you can share it with your meeting planner or training manager.

Tutorial #3: How to Plan for Your Next Hurricane on a Clear Sunny Day

June 5, 2015/0 Comments/in CNN iReporter Tutorials, Crisis Communications, Media Relations /by gbraud

Tutorial #3 CNN iReporter Evangelist Gerard Braud

Everyday in June I will be sharing tutorials for effective crisis communications during hurricane season. The lessons apply to tornadoes, floods, blizzards, and other natural disasters. The future of crisis communications is in video, particularly CNN iReports, which allow organizations to tell the story of their crisis to their customers, audiences and key stakeholders, rather than speculating eyewitnesses. When speculating eyewitnesses videotape your crisis on their smartphones and it gets shared across local or even national media, your organizations reputation and revenue suffer.

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CNN iReports should be added to the crisis communications, media relations and social media tool kit of every corporation, government agency, and non-profit organization in the world. Should your organization experience a significant crisis that gets significant media coverage, iReports are your direct path to adding perspective and official information about your breaking news story.

Just as most of you have established an account at Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, you should have an account pre-established at www.cnn.com/ireport so it is ready to use if you need it. Unlike other social media sites, you will use this one less often.

The set up process is fast and simple. If you have created any online profile in the past you can figure it out and complete the task in 5-10 minutes.

Some leaders and executives may question whether the company needs an iReport account. My philosophy is that if you experience a newsworthy crisis, you have two options. You can either have your story told by an unofficial eyewitness on the street that has an iReport account or you can provide better video, more factual details, and dispel rumors.

Shortly after your video is filed, a team of CNN iReport producers will watch your video. if they like it, they label it as vetted by CNN. The link is then shared with producers for the various CNN news programs. If those producers like it, they may place all or part of the video on the air in their news program. If your video proves that you have great visuals, a compelling perspective and compelling information, expect to get a phone call from CNN producers, asking you to do a live report via Skype, using your computer, smart phone or tablet.

You will learn more about how to properly produce a newsworthy CNN iReport in an upcoming article. But before we go into depth on that, your assignment is to set up your official account right now.

This link will take you to my tutorials on the CNN iReporter website. I hope you take the time to view, study, and share all 23 videos and articles.

This link will take you to the index for all of the articles and videos.

If you, like many others, think this information would be valuable as a workshop at a conference or corporate meeting, please call me at 985-624-9976. You can also download a PDF that outlines the program, Social Media iReports.pdf, so you can share it with your meeting planner or training manager.

Hurricane Season Crisis & Emergency Communications: Why You Should be a CNN iReporter

June 3, 2015/0 Comments/in CNN Ireport Awards, CNN iReporter Tutorials, Crisis Communications, Media Relations, Social Media, Social Media for Crisis Communications /by gbraud

By Gerard Braud —

Click here to watch video

The future of crisis and emergency communications in hurricanes, natural disasters and other weather related events, is in creating CNN iReports. It is a brilliant way to add to your crisis communications and media relations strategy. This strategy is perfect for public information officers (PIOs), emergency managers, and any corporate communications experts. Best of all, what you do for your iReport can be re-purposed and posted to YouTube, shared with The Weather Channel, and in many cases, uploaded through links with your local media outlets.

I started pioneering these reports as an experiment during Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 and then took it up a notch during Hurricane Isaac in 2012. You can do what I have done, provided you are willing to train and practice before the event is upon you. Since many of you will never have the chance to attend one of the live training sessions I teach at emergency management and public relations conferences, I thought you might benefit from this online tutorial.

I’ve created 23 online videos with associated articles on how and why you should be a CNN iReporter. When your organization faces a major crisis or news event that gets significant attention from your local news media, and has the ability be get national news attention, these will be useful.

I have extensive experience as an iReporter. In 2013, CNN selected me as one of their top iReporters, out of more than 11,000 reporters, for my in-depth coverage of Hurricane Isaac near New Orleans on August 28, 2012.

Most iReports are eyewitness accounts of events. They are filed by the average person on the street who sends photos, video and narration directly to CNN, in the very same way that they can send videos to YouTube. What you will learn in these 23 lessons also applies to placing videos on YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter and your official website.

Who would you rather have posting photos, videos and narration? Should it be someone speculating about what they see? Would it be better if it came from an official source, with real knowledge of the event? Shouldn’t the media have official information from someone like you?

A CNN iReport is a direct path to one of the world’s premier news networks.

This link will take you to my tutorials on the CNN iReporter website. I hope you take the time to view, study, and share all 23 videos and articles.

This link will take you to the index for all of the articles and videos.

If you, like many others, think this information would be valuable as a workshop at a conference or corporate meeting, please call me at 985-624-9976. You can also download a PDF with a description of the program: Social Media iReports.pdf, so you can share it with your meeting planner or training manager.

Crisis Communications Through Technology and Social Media: The Earthquake Video

April 28, 2015/0 Comments/in Media Relations, Public Relations, Social Media, Social Media for Crisis Communications /by gbraud

By Gerard Braud –

The day is coming when you will need to be an expert in crisis communication using smart phone technology and social media. Actually, you should already be an expert and it is just a matter of time before we discover if you are prepared.

Saturday morning I turned on the Today Show and learned of the devastating earthquake in Nepal. As I flipped through the channels to CNN, Fox, Good Morning America, and to CBS, I was disappointed to once again watch a global crisis covered by reporters stationed in places such as London. Trust me when I tell you the reporter in London knows as much about the crisis as the reporter in New Orleans or New York. Only a person on the ground in that location can provide us with real details.

Eventually, one of the networks showed a smart phone video report filed by Arjun Vajpal, from a base camp on Mt. Everest, where we learned that there were avalanches on the mountain and climbers killed in base camps one and two. The selfie style video was posted to social media, where the mainstream media found it and began using it.

How well are you prepared to do what that climber did? Are you able to pick up your phone and in one take, record a narration with video that takes television viewers directly to the scene of your crisis? My experience while teaching workshops to public relations professionals is that most are shocked to learn just how hard it is to produce an effective video. My 15 years as a television reporter doing live shots daily have prepared me to use this technology. But people without live shot experience struggle to find the words to tell a story in one minute, without messing up the narration and defaulting to 10 to 20 tries to get one good take, if they can ever get one.

My fascination with smart phone and social media news coverage began with my reporting for CNN and The Weather Channel during Tropical Storm Lee in 2011. I took it to a whole new level during Hurricane Isaac in 2012. I reported for both networks for five days, while living without electricity and being surrounded by seven feet of flood waters, four ten foot alligators, thousands of snakes, and more than 50 dead animals killed in the storm.

Often video of a crisis is provided by an eyewitness, who usually provides poor quality video that is often laced with f-bombs or crazy comments. Imagine how much better it would be when a crisis happens at your company if quality video and a quality narration were provided in expert fashion? Imagine if that video was narrated by a well trained spokesperson with real facts, rather than the crazy speculating eyewitness?

The report from atop Mt. Everest was better and more accurate than the on-camera narration from the reporter in London. Likewise, my reports in Tropical Storm Lee and Hurricane Isaac were more visual and informative than the reports being provided by network correspondents. Those reporters were much farther from the storm than I was, leading the networks to lead each newscast with my reports.

If you don’t know how to do a great video, please take time to view a free tutorial I built on the CNN iReport website. If you’d like to take your skills up a notch and do the same for your colleagues, please contact me about setting up in-person training at a future conference or workshop.

Effective communications is in your hands. The reality is that you can be the expert who provides effective crisis communication or you can take your chances by relegating your responsibility to the reporter in London or the random eyewitness with a smart phone.

Experience tells us that trying to perfect this skill in the midst of your crisis is the wrong time. The best time to prepare for your effective crisis communications is on a clear, sunny day when you have all the time in the world to practice. Practice until you can call yourself a crisis communication expert who can effectively use a smart phone to file stories to social media and with the mainstream media.

PRSA Workshop Resources

September 17, 2013/0 Comments/in CNN iReporter Tutorials, Crisis Communications, Social Media, Social Media for Crisis Communications /by gbraud

As a PRSA member, here are some additional resources and links to supplement our program on social media, crisis communications, and secrets to effective communications when “it” hits the fan.

1) A copy of my First Critical Statement can be downloaded with this link.

To download it for free, enter the coupon code CRISISCOMPLAN

An e-mail will be sent instantly. Make sure it doesn’t go to your spam filter by authorizing my e-mail address gerard@braudcommunications.com

2) I think video is an amazing way to achieve effective communications during a crisis. It should be a vital part of your social media strategy and it can be an amazing way to get your message directly to the media. Training is critical to getting it right. This link takes you to a tutorial that teaches you everything I do when I’m creating iReports for CNN. The same strategy works on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

3) A crisis communications drill is vital to good performance during your crisis. This article outlines the elements of a good drill.

4) Speed is critical in a crisis. This article outlines missed opportunities to communicate quickly during a shooting.

5) Sometimes a crisis is the result of problems on social media. This article outlines how

Burger King failed to practice good crisis communications when their Facebook page was hacked.

23 Tutorials on How to Effectively Use Social Media When the Next Katrina Hits

August 29, 2013/0 Comments/in CNN Ireport Awards, Social Media, Social Media for Crisis Communications /by gbraud

Today marks two years since Hurricane Isaac and ten years since Hurricane Katrina.

In that short time between these two hurricanes, media relations and crisis communications has been affected by social media and technology.

Are you ready to effectively communicate in your next big natural disaster, be it a tornado, snow storm, forest fire or hurricane?

Today we share tips on how to weather your storm with effective crisis communications, based on my coverage of Hurricane Isaac last year.

With seven feet of water in my yard, white caps rolling down my driveway, thousands of snakes, four 10-foot alligators and no electricity, I was able to broadcast live to CNN and The Weather Channel.

This series of 23 tutorials tells you how I did it and how you can do it too. Enjoy!

To view more videos on my hurricane coverage click here.

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Click here to read Lesson #1 Why Be An iReporter

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Click here to read Lesson #2 Game Changers in Crisis Communication and iReporting

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Click here to read Lesson #3 Set Up Your IReporter Account

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Click here to read Lesson #4 What is News?

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Click here to watch Lesson #5 Hurricane Isaac: iReports Before, During and After. Is This Guy Crazy?

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Click here to read Lesson #6 Get the Right Tools to be a CNN iReporter

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Click here to read Lesson #7 How a Guy in Mandeville, Louisiana Became a Source of Breaking News

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Click here to read Lesson #8 How and Why to tell a Compare and Contrast Story

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Click Here to Read Lesson #9 What to Say in Your iReport

Click here to read Lesson #10 Manage the Expectations of Your Audience

Click here to read Lesson #11 Where You Should Look When Using an iPad or Iphone for an iReport

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Click here to read Lesson #12 Good Lighting for Your iReport

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Click here to read Lesson #13 How to Manage Your Audio

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Click here to read Lesson #14 How to Properly Frame Your Video

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Click here to read Lesson #15 When to use earbuds and headsets

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Click here to read Lesson #16 How and Why to Plan Movement in Your iReport

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Click here to read Lesson #17 The Secrets to Using Skype for a Live CNN Interview

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Click here to read Lesson #18 Secrets to a Professional Reporter Style “Standup” While Holding Your IPhone at Arm’s Length

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Click here to read Lesson #19 How to Shoot Great B-Roll

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Click here to read Lesson #20 Learn Why Crap is King When it Comes to TV

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Click here to read Lesson #21 Get Great New iReporter Gadgets

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Click here to read Lesson #22 Keep it Short

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Click here to read Lesson #23 Final Thoughts on How You Can be an Award Winning iReporter

YouTube, Media Relations & Crisis Communications for Cleveland Kidnapping Victims

July 11, 2013/0 Comments/in Crisis Communications, Media Relations, Social Media for Crisis Communications /by gbraud

By Gerard Braud

YouTube is great for crisis communications. It is even more powerful when this social media tool is combined with traditional crisis communications and media relations.

Hats off to my colleague Barbara Paynter at Hennes Paynter Communications for the way her team used YouTube with regard to the three Cleveland women who underwent years as kidnapping victims. They include Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.

As a self-admitted control freak, I love that Barbara and her team used YouTube this way.

This technique gives the PR team and the spokespeople complete control over the content of what they say. This, thereby, controls what the media can use.

YouTube keeps reporters from asking uncomfortable questions of these three women, who are likely still in a fragile emotional state.

YouTube allows the women to take their message unfiltered and unedited to the world, via social media.

Given the choice, the only additional thing I may have done is to also upload this same video to CNN as an iReport.

Good job to the people who got the domain name I wanted before I could get it: http://www.crisiscommunications.com/

I ended up with www.crisiscommunicationsplans.com which still serves my purpose.

To learn more about how to create great videos for the web, follow this link to a 23 video tutorial.

Posts

Tutorial #7 How You Can Be the Source of Breaking News During Hurricane Season

Tutorial #6: Crisis Communications Technology for Hurricane Season

Tutorial #5: Hurricane Season Crisis Communications Lessons from Hurricane Isaac

Hurricane Season Tutorial #4: When Shooting Smart Phone Videos Consider “What is News?”

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