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The Most Cringe-worthy Jargon You Must Avoid

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By Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC

People in public relations, media relations, and corporate communications love to make fun of jargon and most have a hit list of phrases, clichés, and abbreviations that they hate.

People hate jargon.

Employees hate jargon.

Customers hate jargon.

I once introduced, “The Worst Speech in the World” to show how cringe-worthy jargon gets.

This is not the usual keynote speech I deliver, but I could likely write a customized speech just like this for every association, conference, and convention from New Orleans to New York.

So why does your CEO, VP, or manager use jargon?https-::pixabay.com:en:conference-public-speaking-2705706:

Why do your work colleagues use jargon?

Here are some observations:

1) Many executives, business coaches, business trainers, and authors are looking for a profound phrase or expression. The “sticky” phrases get repeated by people who want to share what they learn from the coach, trainer, or author.

2) No one has taught the person using the cliché, especially in a speech, that originality is more profound then mimicking someone else. We can usually chalk this up to the speaker not having a speech or communications coach and trying to wing it.

3) The world is full of copycats who use copycat clichés. For many, it might be laziness or a time saver, to simply lift phrases they’ve heard all of their lives.

In conclusion, analogies are great. Use them with sensitivity, such as avoiding the phrase, “open kimono.”

Make your analogies original. People love original thoughts and ideas.

I invite you to add a list of the jargon you hate in the comment section below.

 

Crisis communications and media training expert Gerard Braud, CSP, Fellow IEC is based in New Orleans. Organizations on five continents have relied on him to write their crisis communications plans and to train their spokespeople. He is the author of “Don’t Talk to the Media Until…”

More crisis communications articles:

3 Lessons the Melania Trump Coat Can Teach All Public Relations People

The Biggest Lie in Crisis Communications

4 Steps Every Company Needs to Take in Order to Avoid the Default Spokesperson

 

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Is Facebook an Effective Communication Tool for Businesses?

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Social media tips can be spread across social media from consultants and public relations professionals. Communication tips can come from industry professionals, online articles, or it may come from your former or current educators.  So, what are your thoughts on these daily influxes of information? Does using social media for internal and external communications help businesses or hurt them? Should it be used to communicate with clients, customers, and employees?

To help out our corporate communications professionals, and our public relations community, this week’s communications discussion question is, “Is Facebook an Effective Communication Tool for Businesses?”

We would love to hear your thoughts this week. Comment here and on our social media pages to join the discussion. Your answers may be featured in our follow-up video!

This question is one of a series of debates in the media relations, crisis communications, public relations, and social media industries where you and your colleagues can share observations with each other. Yes, YOU are invited to share your bite-size bits of best practices. Here is how:

Step 1: Subscribe to The BraudCast on YouTube

Step 2: You will see a short video that poses a new question every Monday. You then post your best practices and observations on The BraudCast YouTube channel.

Step 3: Once your opinion is shared, you can follow the discussion online so you can compare your best practices to those of your professional colleagues.

Step 4: Watch the follow-up Friday Video where you will see a short YouTube video outlining some of the most interesting observations. Yes…your comments may actually show up on our BraudCast video, bringing you world-wide fame, fortune, a big raise, glory, street parades, and more.

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge. Please take 2 seconds now to subscribe to The BraudCast.

Should social media be a part of your crisis communications plan and strategy?

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By Gerard Braud –

It is time for you to voice your opinion on crisis communications plans and strategy. Each week we seek your best PR practices on the BraudCast. Your discussion question is, “Should social media be a part of your crisis communications strategy?” Social media has changed the way that media relations and public relations professionals must communicate to effectively manage a crisis. That is why I am asking you to contribute by sharing your best advice with your colleagues.

Thumbnail BraudCast

Click image to watch and subscribe to The BraudCast

This question is one of a series of discussions about media relations, crisis communications, public relations, and social media. Yes, YOU are invited to share your bite size bits of best practices each week. Here is how:

Step 1: Subscribe to The BraudCast on YouTube

Step 2: You will see a short video that poses a new question every Monday. You then post your best practices and observations on The BraudCast YouTube channel.

3: Once your opinion is shared, you can follow the discussion online so you can compare your best practices to those of your professional colleagues.

Step 4: Watch the Follow up Friday Video where you will see a short YouTube video outlining some of the most interesting observations. Yes…your comments may actually show up on our BraudCast video, bringing you world-wide fame, fortune, a big raise, glory, street parades, and more.

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge. Please take 2 seconds now to subscribe to The BraudCast.

BraudCast Answer: When should your CEO be your spokesperson?

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By Gerard Braud –

Public relations professionals and corporate communications managers have weighed in across the globe to answer the question, “When should your CEO be your spokesperson?” Listen to the video to hear their responses as well as my professional recommendations then share your thoughts.

CEO spokesperson Gerard Braud

Click image to watch

This question is one of a series of debates in the media relations, crisis communications, public relations, and social media industries where you and your colleagues can share observations with each other. Yes, YOU are invited to share your bite size bits of best practices. Here is how:

Step 1: Subscribe to The BraudCast on YouTube

Step 2: You will see a short video that poses a new question every Monday. You then post your best practices and observations on The BraudCast YouTube channel.

3: Once your opinion is shared, you can follow the discussion online so you can compare your best practices to those of your professional colleagues.

Step 4: Watch the Follow up Friday Video where you will see a short YouTube video outlining some of the most interesting observations. Yes…your comments may actually show up on our BraudCast video, bringing you world-wide fame, fortune, a big raise, glory, street parades, and more.

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge. Please take 2 seconds now to subscribe to The BraudCast.

Tutorial #23 Your Official Responsibility as a Public Relations Professional or Corporate Spokesperson

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Tutorial #23 by Gerard Braud —

These 23 crisis communication tutorials are meant to inform you and help you realize  your official responsibility as a spokesperson. You need to communicate to the media within the first hour of a breaking crisis.  You can do this by uploading your own professionally done videos to the web, which also serves to tell your story straight to your customers and you employees, in addition to the media. The challenge is now yours. Are you a positive person who says you can or a negative person who says you can’t?

Click image to watch video

Click image to watch video

When public relations people, corporate spokespeople and Public Information Officers (PIO) tell me they can’t do something, I know they are right. Negative people are always right when they say they can’t, even if it means they won’t try. This makes me crazy.

Usually they blame it on their boss, who first says no. Sometimes, they won’t even try, out of fear of being told no.

As I’ve taught workshops on this topic of filing CNN iReports as part of your crisis communications and media relations strategy, I’ve had way too many people tell me they don’t think they could get permission to do it. That’s sad.

Of course, many of these people work for bosses who don’t want to speak at a news conference either.

I have some final thoughts in today’s video tutorial. You can watch it here.

I think you can. I’ve done it many times as a way to show you what you can do.

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 #12: How to Create Proper Lighting When Creating Videos on Your Smartphone

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Tutorial # 12 By Gerard Braud —

Public relations professionals, emergency managers, corporate spokespeople and public information officers (PIO) need to create quality smartphone videos to communicate with their audiences effectively during their crises. Among many elements to consider when creating your own smartphone video, lighting is another tricky, but crucial one. After viewing this tutorial, make sure to practice this skill on a clear sunny day in advance of your crisis or newsworthy event, so when your darkest day comes, you have it perfected.

Tutorial 12 Still Gerard Braud

Professional photographers know how to adjust the iris on the lens of their expensive cameras. But when you take a video with your smart phone or tablet, you become a slave to the automatic iris on the device’s built in camera.

The only control you have is based on what you are shooting.

If you are appearing in your video, as I do in many of my CNN iReports, your goal is to have good flesh tones. The brighter the objects behind you, the darker your flesh tones will be. The darker the objects behind you, the brighter and more natural your flesh tones will be.

If you like to move while shooting your videos, you have to constantly be aware of what happens to the iris on the device as you move. While you are looking at the camera lens for your report, you must be looking out of the corner of your eye to have a sense for what the image looks like on your screen.

Persons with dark skin have an even harder time managing their skin tones on video.

View the tutorial video to see exactly what I’m talking about.

 

This link will take you to my tutorials on the CNN iReports 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 #11: Where to Look When Using Your iPhone or iPad for a Smartphone Selfie Video

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Tutorial #11 By Gerard Braud —

Learning to properly shoot smartphone videos as part of your crisis communications and media relations strategy is a skill every corporate spokesperson, Public Information Officer (PIO), or public relations professional should practice and perfect. You will want to also include training for your emergency manager who heads your emergency operations center. It is crucial to practice where to look and how to hold your device in order to create a professional looking video. This can be extremely difficult during your crisis, and should be practiced on a clear sunny day when you are not under the pressure of a natural disaster, hurricane, or other crisis event.

Tutorial 11 Still Gerard BraudIf you are recording yourself, your eyes are drawn to the screen, because you see yourself. But to produce a great web video or CNN iReport, you have to avoid looking at yourself on the screen and instead, look at the camera.

This is one of the most unnatural experiences you will ever have. The camera is so small… barely a dot on the side of the device. It is so much easier to look at a big video camera lens. With a big lens, you can usually see your reflection. Not so with that little dot of a lens on your iPhone, iPad or computer.

So here is what you must do — you must take out your smart device of choice, then shoot a video of yourself and then watch it.

Take a look at this instructional video hosted on CNN iReports. It will help you understand where to look to create a great news video for iReports, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or any other outlet you may need to assist with your crisis communications needs.

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 #8: Telling Compare and Contrast Stories to the Media During Hurricane Season

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Tutorial #8 by Gerard Braud —

As mentioned in all my tutorials this month, my goal for you, if you are a spokesperson, public relations expert, or Public Information Officer (PIO) for a government agency, is to make iReports part of your crisis communication and media relations plan. Now I’m asking you to think in terms of telling compare and contrast stories, especially during hurricane season or your natural disaster. Here is why:

Tutorial 8 CNN Gerard BraudThink about when you watch television news. If there is a natural disaster, in order for you to appreciate the magnitude of the disaster, don’t you really need to know what things looked like before the disaster?

The best stories are told when the audience can see before, during and after an event.

I want this to always be your goal when you file your CNN iReports. This means not just filing one report, but filing several.

Watch today’s video tutorial to learn more.

During Hurricane Isaac in 2012, as it impacted my home in Mandeville, Louisiana, 30 miles north of New Orleans, I filed CNN iReports for five days.

My first report was on a clear sunny afternoon, as I told the audience how Lake Pontchartrain would flood portions of the community. You can watch that original video here.

The next day, I filed several more iReports as the storm moved in, and specifically, as Lake Pontchartrain caused flooding, just as I had predicted in the previous video.

Over the next 24 hours I continued to file reports showing the progress of the storm.

As flood waters receded, I filed reports about the damage, cleanup and aftermath.

The audience was able to compare what was to what is.

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

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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.

Tutorial 7 Gerard Braud

Click to watch video

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.

CNN Ireport gerard braud snowOn 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.

Tropical Storm Lee iReport

Click image to watch video

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.

 

 

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

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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.

Tutorial 4 Still Image Gerard Braud

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.