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Media Training Tip: What to do Before the End of the World

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The Mayan calendar ends in December 2012 and many have wondered if this signals the end of the world. One colleague jokingly asked me if her company could forgo Media Training and writing a Crisis Communications Plan in 2012, because the world may end. She has been putting off these tasks for two years. Each quarter she reminds me it is still on her to-do list, but that she neither has the time nor budget. I laugh and remind her that her company spends more time and money preparing for their company picnic than they would spend writing their Crisis Communications Plan.communications planning photo

So I asked, “If the world were to end in 2012, do you think your company might face a series of cascading crises leading up to the end of the world?”

I’m not proclaiming the end is here, yet I’m not saying it might not happen. So I asked, “If we are headed to a gradual end rather than a single catastrophic day, might your company experience an earthquake in February, an explosion in March, civil unrest in April, financial troubles in May and so on?”

The colleague responded with a look of doom and said, “Hum, I haven’t thought of that.”

The fact is, whether you believe the end is coming or a series of events may happen leading up to the end, or whether you just use common sense, the reality is you are always better to be safe than sorry. If you fail to plan, then plan to fail. Just look at my 2011 Top 10 List of Mishandled Crises and you’ll see that most of these could happen to any organization. The list proves how unprepared big name organizations are when it comes to a crisis. It also proves how quickly millions of dollars can be lost in a single, poorly handled crisis. Reputations and careers can vanish quickly in a crisis.

As a supporter of always being opportunistic, I suggested to the colleague that she use “the end of the world” premise as a reason to revisit the plea with her boss to make 2012 the year they finally write a Crisis Communications Plan and put their executive team through comprehensive Media Training. Plus, I suggested starting the year with a good comprehensive writing retreat for her entire communications staff, so they can begin the calendar year with a great library of key messages to use in both good times and in bad.

If you are thinking about making 2012 a great year, here are the programs I’d suggest.

Kick-Butt Key Message – A one day writing retreat for your entire communications team. I’ll teach you my exclusive Key Message Tree writing system. I promise it will change the way you write forever.

Media Training – I always suggest a strong one-day course for starters. For best results, I suggest a maximum class size of four people, which allows each person time for three strong rounds of on-camera role playing. If you have a large team of potential spokespeople, plan on adding an extra day or two.

Executive Team Vulnerability Assessment – A well facilitated 3 hour Vulnerability Assessment will usually scare the pants off of everyone in the room. They’ll quickly see how prone to a crisis your organization is and how a well written Crisis Communications Plan will be their ticket to surviving a crisis. Gather your entire leadership team together for a life changing day.

Crisis Communications Plan – In just 2 days you can have an entire Crisis Communications Plan written. My exclusive system lets you use the strength of your team to accomplish a year’s worth of work in 2 days. And there are 3 pricing options, so one is bound to fit your budget. All 3 pricing options cost less than the company picnic!

Crisis Communications Drill – Every Crisis Communications Plan needs to be tested at least once a year. An intense 4-hour drill, followed by an honest evaluation after the drill, moves you and your executives one step closer to being ready to tackle a real crisis. And remember, the presence of Social Media in your Crisis Drill makes it more realistic and complicated.

If discussing these options will benefit you, just give me a call at 985-624-9976. Managing a crisis is no picnic and preparing to deal with a crisis costs far less than any company picnic.

Social Media Revolutions & How to Write a Social Media Policy

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How to Write Your Social Media Policy
March 1st Webinar

Plus the Social Media Revolution – What You Can Learn from Global Events

The time is NOW. Social Media is changing nations. But are you watching from the sidelines or digging in and learning how this affects your communications where you work and with your audience. For all the benefits of Social Media, there is an ugly flip side most people won’t talk about, or fail to recognize, or turn a blind eye to. I’m ready to talk about it.

Join me March 1st for a powerful teleseminar that will cover 2 aspects of the dangers of Social Media. First, learn how to write a Social Media policy that is perfect for your company.  Then we discuss the impact of Social Media during a Crisis, what your leaders don’t understand about Social Media, and what you need to be aware of from this day forward.

Join us for this thought provoking webinar.

Just $79 for your entire team to listen and learn.

Register with this link

Free Teleseminar May 10-14 with Gerard Braud

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If you have to talk to the media or train people who have to talk to the media, here is a free teleseminar opportunity for you.

May 10-14, a group of All-Star A-Lists hosts will be interviewing author Gerard Braud (Jared Bro) about his new book, Don’t Talk to the Media: 29 Secrets You Need to Know Before You Open Your Mouth to a Reporter. The hosts will also be taking your questions for Gerard. All you have to do is register and call in at 11 a.m. CDT on the day of the seminar that you select. Limit 1 registration per person please. All 5 are reserved FREE for those who make an advanced purchase of the book.

Here are details about the day, topics and hosts… plus your registration links

Monday, May 10th – Christine Bragale interviews Gerard about dealing with the media regarding advocacy, public affairs and legislative issues.

Tuesday, May 11th – Paul Ladd interviews Gerard on all things media related.

Wednesday, May 12th – Michael Schwartzberg interviews Gerard about how to prepare spokespeople who come from a technical background, such as doctors, lawyers and engineers.

Thursday, May 13th – Pam Walker interviews Gerard about how to deal with small town media.

Friday, May 14th – Tom Keefe interviews Gerard about the corporate side of media relations, including media relations in large multi-national companies.

Below are the sign up links. Sign up for just one:

May 10 Sign Up

May 11 Sign Up

May 12 Sign Up

May 13 Sign Up

May 14 Sign Up

Feel free to share the links with colleagues and associations who may want to join in. We simply need each person to register so we have enough phone lines available.

If you would like to know more about Gerard or his new book, please visit:
http://www.DontTalkTotheMedia.com/

Tweet Heard ‘Round the World – Crisis Communications & Social Media

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January 15, 2009 generated the Tweet Heard ‘Round the World, as a TwitPic became the first official news coverage of an airplane landing in the Hudson River.

We’ll discuss this game changer and the changing face of crisis communications in a special teleseminar called, “Social Media When It Hits the Fan.”

Please register now.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

11 a.m. CST

Registration $99

($79 for BraudCast subscribers with discount code)

(FREE to Braud Crisis Communications Plan users with discount code)

Warning: I’m very harsh on how Social Media is used as an outgoing communications tool. I’ll also dig deep into what your leaders don’t understand about Social Media’s negative impact in a crisis.

Who should attend: Public Relations & Communications Teams, Risk Managers, Emergency Operations Teams, Human Resource Teams, Security Teams

Suggestion: Listen as a team, then schedule a one hour meeting of your teams to discuss what you heard and how it will change your internal and external procedures.

Gerard Braud – Being Opportunistic – PR Sins of 2009 & How to Redeem Yourself in 2010

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As we look back at the sins of 2009 and ways to redeem yourself in 2010, today’s lesson is about how to be opportunistic.

Opportunistic means you take advantage of a situation to get what you want. Maybe it is because I grew up in a large family and had to fight my 3 older brothers and a younger sister for everything I got, but being opportunistic has served me well in life.

Being opportunistic means that when you observe a situation, you use the power of persuasion, supported by a business case, to convince your boss to let you do what needs to be done, even if you’ve previously been told “no,” as we discussed yesterday.

You can apply this technique to many of your communications needs, but since I write crisis communications plans and teach media training, I’ll share with you a real life example of a HUGE opportunity that passed many people by in 2009.

Every year I get a wave of inquiries from people who want me to help them write their crisis communications plan, and most want a package, complete with a crisis communications drill and train their spokespeople. Many of the inquiries come this time of year because so many people these items on a list of goals and tasks to complete for the coming years. But many of those plans didn’t get written in 2009 because people were told “no, there’s no money in the budget.”

Then in April 2009, the Swine Flu epidemic began. This crisis presented a huge opportunity for you to go back to your boss, paint a grim picture, explain the potential negative impact the Swine Flu could have on your businesses, and get the funding you need.

Another way to be opportunistic is to get help from other departments. Pandemics are a huge concern for risk managers and human resource managers. In every risk management and human resources seminar, there are classes that focus on dealing with pandemics. This is a big issue for them. That means that if you are opportunistic, you can partner with those other managers to convince leadership that a crisis communications plan is an important element of risk management and employee communications.

Most of you who subscribe to the BraudCast are in internal communications, external communications, media relations, PR and marketing. And many folks in these fields are, by their very nature timid, and often take “no” as a final answer. I’d suggest that for 2010 you set as one of your goals to become opportunistic.

Look at it this way… In the case of the Swine Flu, workers would get sick, workers might die, productivity, production and sales could suffer… and you’d be called upon, likely at the last minute, to start crafting both a strategy and messages to deal with the impending crisis. That’s not really fair to you, is it? Especially if there is a solution, namely a pre-written crisis communications plan with pre-written templates. And if you already have a plan, you know it needs to update and tested. I have one client who is so opportunistic that I help him conduct 4 crisis communications drills every year.

So if you know in your heart that being prepared is the right thing to do professionally… then the answer is, being opportunistic is also the right thing to do professionally. If you achieve your goal and still do it legally and ethically, there is nothing wrong with being opportunistic.

Timing is critical when you are trying to be opportunistic. You have to be ready build a business case immediately after a crisis begins and present it to leadership while the crisis is still fresh in their minds. It doesn’t matter if the crisis is where you work or if it is a high profile crisis in the news. I can tell you from experience that each day that you get further from the crisis, the more likely leadership is to forget the trauma and devalue your proposal.

If your 2009 sin was a missed opportunity, your redemption in 2010 is setting a goal to be more opportunistic.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about Shinny New Objects.

And…

1) If you’d like to sign up FREE for the audio version of this, known as the BraudCast, click here.

2) For a FREE sample listen, this is your link.

3) Sign up for the upcoming teleseminar “Social Media When It Hits the Fan.”

Gerard Braud – The Sins of 2009 & How to Redeem Yourself in 2010 – Tuesday

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This week we’re looking at the Sins of 2009 and how to redeem yourself in 2010.

Today’s topic is “No” Doesn’t Mean “No!”

2009 was a year when we heard “no” a lot at work. Request for new projects, new training, new budgets, were often greeted with a big fat, flat out “no.”

A colleague told me she got in trouble recently because something important fell through the cracks in the communications department. Her boss chewed her out. The executed wanted to know why she was ill prepared to address the situation. The employee replied, “I gave you a budget request for that in January and you personally told me there was no money an not to ask again until 2010.”

Upon reflection, the executive said, “for something this critical, we can find the money.”

In other word, “no” doesn’t really mean “no.” No simply means that you haven’t built a good enough business case in order to get your boss to say yes. No means that you have not been able to demonstrate that spending money in one area can increase profits, productivity and sales in another area. It means other people and other departments have done a better job of explaining why their spending needs deserve a higher priority.

Monday we talked about scarcity mentality. This example certain relates to that category. Many of have put major projects and training on hold because you were told no previously and you haven’t gone back to get your Yes. And the only way to get your yes is with a business case that is built around protecting and building the company’s profits.

Sometimes getting the yes requires being clever or creative.

Several of my clients who really want me to do their media training or help with their crisis communications plans never got the training they wanted in 2009, because their bosses said there was no money for travel? They heard “no” and stopped dead in their tracks. Really, you have training dollars but no dollars for travel? I’m pretty sure I can come up with a creative way to mitigate or eliminate the travel costs. Maybe the answer is that we do the program by Skype with web cameras. I can probably even find a creative way to squeeze another executive into the training class at no charge. That way, you can look like you struck a good deal. With creativity, I could make them look good… but they never asked. They heard “no” and thought it meant no.

If your sin in 2009 was taking “no” for an answer, your redemption in 2010 is to ask again until you get a yes. The path to yes is by building a business case.

One other way to get around “no” is by being opportunistic. We’ll look at that lesson on Wednesday.

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Top Sins of 2009 & How to Redeem Yourself for 2010 – Monday

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For the next 5 days we’ll be looking at the sins of 2009… and what you can do to redeem yourself in 2010.

Each year when I look back and look ahead for this program, I generally focus on crisis communications, media training and public relations. But this year, we need to take some time to talk about you, the person…

The best thing you can do to start the year and improve your life is flush 2009 for the economically depressing year that it was. Either your life has personally suffered or you know people who have. Many of us have friends who have lost jobs. Maybe you are one of them.

You all faced budget cuts at work, so 2009 was a tough year to manage.

Part of the backlash is that 2009 has led to scarcity thinking and a scarcity mentality among too many of my professional colleagues. You hear negatives at work all day; you get told no all day; you hear there’s no money in the budget. Then you take all those “no’s” and all that negative money talk home into your personal life. All that funk from work pollutes your own life. Hence, you start thinking small; you start focusing on what you can’t do, rather than what you can do and what you should do.

How do you fix this? What is your redemption for 2010? As an entrepreneur, I have to be success minded and positive 24/7. After I serve my clients all day, I spend the next 8 hours running the business side of my business. The best and brightest minds I’ve ever met have taught me to flush out any negatives in my life with positive information. I began this back in the days when I had jobs I hated. So at the risk of sounding like a motivational speaker, my best tip for redemption in 2010 is to start reading from positive attitude books, and to do it for 15 minutes every night before you lay your head on the pillow.

The first book I suggest you put on your reading list is “Think & Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. This 1934 classic has been a favorite of the world’s most successful people. The principles in the book will help reshape your outlook and help flush away some of the negative crud from 2009. Please be willing to forgive some of the 80-year-old cultural references to race and gender and look into the success principles that you should apply at home and at work. If you work in a company where there have been layoffs, I’d add to your reading list, “Who Moved My Cheese.” Also on this list I would place Dale Carnegie’s classic, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Even if you’ve read them before, read them again because I promise you’ll get new inspiration and wisdom. You might also want to subscribe to Success Magazine. I love it because it is so current and it comes with an audio CD that I can listen to while I drive.

You never improve your life unless you constantly make changes. If you keep doing the same things every day, don’t expect different results. And remember, what got you here, won’t get you there.

So if your 2009 sin was being sucked into all the negative thinking of the year, your redemption for 2010 is to change the way the think. I think reading 15 minutes before bed in these books will start to give you’re a brighter outlook in your personal and professional life; 15 minutes before bed makes for a much brighter morning.

When you start, please send me an e-mail and tell me how it’s going. I really want to know that you are OK and that together we can flush out the crud.

Now, enough about the that… Tomorrow turn our attention back to the workplace as we look at why “No” doesn’t mean “No!”

If you’d like to subscribe to the audio version, known as the BraudCast, please visit: https://braudcommunications.com/ You’ll find the link on the right side of the page.

Misinformation Alert: Media Training & Crisis Communications Plans, NIMS, Emergency Communications & More from Gerard Braud

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Big warning on the BraudCast today.
Big warning as we commemorate September 11th.
Big warning as we remember August 29th, the recent anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Big warning as your kids go back to school.
Big warning for all executives.
Big warning for everyone in public relations.

Why all the warnings?

After September 11th and Hurricane Katrina the Federal government launched a massive emergency communications effort. However, these efforts have little, or anything, to do with PR people communicating with the media, employees and other key stakeholders.

The reason I issue the warning is that many schools, government agencies, hospitals and companies are not doing what they are supposed to be doing… and many executives, government leaders, hospital administrators and school leaders think they now have all the communications tools they need.

They are so wrong.

All of these emergency communications efforts deal with the radio systems that allow first responders to talk with one another during a crisis. RADIO SYSTEMS.

They have nothing to do with communicating the written and spoken word with your core audiences.

Many school systems and many law enforcement agencies around the country spent the summer rolling out what are known as NIMS Emergency Plans. In the program, government buildings and school buildings have all been given special numbers to identify them during an emergency.

One PR person recently told me her boss said he no longer needed Media Training because if there was a disaster, the FBI would be their spokesperson. Another executive stopped a PR department from working on their Crisis Communications Plan because they were part of the new Federal Emergency Communications System.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

It frightens me what executives know, what they think they know, what they don’t know, and what they don’t know they don’t know.

For clarification, yes, executives and administrators still need Media Training because in a crisis, they still need to talk to the media, employees and other key audiences. In schools, that means the training needs to include talking with students, parents, faculty and staff. In a hospital it means talking with patients and their families. In a company it means talking with customers as well as the media and employees.

If your event involves first responders, they DO NOT become your spokesperson. Their interest is different than your interest. If a Joint Information Command is set up for news conferences, your spokespeople talk about what you know, while the responders and law enforcement talk about what they know.

Additionally, every organization needs its own Crisis Communications Plan in addition to any NIMS plan, Incident Command plan or Emergency Operations Plan. Those plans ONLY coordinate responders arriving in a timely manner and talking to one another through secure radio systems. They DO NOT include instructions for your written and spoken communications to your audiences. They DO NOT include all of the dozens of pre-written news releases that your crisis communications plan should contain.

I’ve posted new resources in the definitions section of 2 websites, including:
www.crisiscommunicationsplans.com and www.schoolcrisisplan.com

Please forward these to your leadership to educate them.
Please forward the link to the podcast to educate them.

As you can tell, I’m passionate about this and I’m concerned about the misinformation and misconceptions that is out there. Your own Media Training and your own Crisis Communications Plan can save lives through communications prior to a natural disaster, such as communicating evacuations for a hurricane… and during a crisis, such as a school shooting or workplace violence event. You would be using your written and spoken communications skills long before first responders even get involved, while responders are on the scene, and long after they have left the scene.

Here’s today’s call to action. Meet with your leaders and discuss this with them. If your leadership won’t listen to you, I’ll be happy to talk with and explain it. I’m also happy to speak to any association conventions where your leaders may be in the audience. As PR professionals we need to stick together on this and educate our leaders and executives. I’ve updated my website at www.braudcommunications.com with a new keynote called Leadership When “It” Hits the Fan, specifically designed to address some of these issues.

Let’s work on this together. After all, it is our job as strategic communications professionals.

Here is your link to listen to today’s BraudCast.

Here is your link to sign up for FREE.

Crisis Communications, Michael Jackson & Your Executives

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I’ve been wanting to share these thoughts with you since the story first broke about the death of Michael Jackson, but I thought some may consider it insensitive or overtly opportunistic too close to his death. But now that some time has passed, let’s examine what we, as communicators, can learn from the death of Michael Jackson.

The first thing I would ask is whether a Michael Jackson mentality exists in your company and among your executives?

If you consider Michael Jackson, he provided great service to his customers… in other words, his fans loved his music and shows.

At the same time, Michael Jackson did many good works, traveling the world and giving away millions of dollars to charities, especially for children.

But then, there is the negative. The suspicions about whether he had inappropriate relations with children haunts him to this day.

These 2 sides of Michael Jackson polarized audiences.

Furthermore, the death of Michael Jackson, the investigation and the massive quantity of drugs found in his home, indicates that he had a big problem. I would even go so far to say that his advisors probably knew about his dangerous drug addictions and they failed to speak up, take action and do something about it.

I see this very same behavior everyday in corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations.

Many of you work in organizations that have a loyal customer base and give back to the community, but there are those in your organization that simultaneously do things that raise suspicion… sometimes to internal parties; sometimes to the suspicion of the public.

It is a classic case in which you know that someone needs to tell the emperor that he has no clothes, but no one will.

I’ve seen those in the C-suite lose their temper so outrageously, in meetings, to the point that everyone is afraid to speak up, because no one want to be reamed out next. I’ve known of non-profit executives who own businesses or property on the side and have suspicious dealings with their own non-profit, and they have fired those who have questioned those dealings. In the world of government, there are constantly questionable relationships with vendors.

In the world of public relations, media relations and crisis communications, these are classic smoldering crises.

They also put you in the awkward situation of even compromising your own ethics if you fail to speak up. Yet, you also know that if you do speak up, you could jeopardize your own career and possibly get fired.

So what do you do? My first suggestion is that if you can’t fix the problem, you should start looking for a new job. I’ve challenged my bosses before and faced repercussions. When I couldn’t fix it internally, I decided to change jobs. I knew that eventually the company would pay the price for their bad ethics and misguided deeds. My goal was to be long gone so I wouldn’t be tainted by those bad deeds. After leaving I was happier and I always got a significant raise in salary.

If you do find yourself trapped between bad executive behavior and no prospects for a new job, realize that you, as the communicator, may eventually have your good name and reputation smeared when the scandal breaks, affecting your own future.

Does a Michael Jackson mentality exist where you work? If it does, your crisis communications plan may be need of a serious rewrite. Before you begin the rewrite, consider conducting a full blown vulnerability assessment so you can include all of the smoldering crisis that exists. Chances are there are other people in your organization who know of other misdeeds that you may not know of. Many crisis communications plans are flawed because they are only made to deal with a sudden crisis.

Don’t delay. Act now. Move it to the top of your priority list. It’s only a matter of time before your smoldering crisis ignites and everything goes up in flames.

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H1N1 Swine Flu Crisis Communications Plans in Vacation Land – Mexico and the Swine Flu

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I’m just back from a summer vacation to Mexico, where I’ve been thinking about you.

My wife, 2 daughters and I went on our annual scuba diving trip to Cozumel, Mexico, to find the island is virtually deserted because tourists are afraid they’ll get the Swine Flu.

One tourism official tells me it is worse than the last 5 hurricanes combined.

So what are our communications lessons?

Some may say Mexico is the victim of the old adage that, “no good deed goes unpunished.” I would say that is only partially true.

To Mexico’s credit, it did alert the world early of a possible Pandemic, to which the World Health Organization responded with a bevy of travel advisories. Those advisories indicated it would be a risk for people to travel by cruise ship to islands such as Cozumel. The cruise companies responded by canceling most of their trips to the island.

Experts applaud Mexico, indicating this is the first time Mexico actively engaged in such crisis response and crisis communications. And for this, some would say the drop in tourism is their punishment for the good deed of being proactive.

In the world of public relations and crisis communications, this lack of tourism amounts to a lack of crisis communications plans and skills by the tourism industry and the individual tourism destinations.

For example, when we arrived in Cozumel on a flight only three-quarters filled, we were greeted by a sign in the airport that says, “there have been zero cases of Swine Flu on the island of Cozumel.”

Well this was news to me. My airline never told me this. Travelocity, with whom I booked my trip, never told me this. My resort never told me this. The airline, the travel agency and the resort all should have a formal, well written crisis communications plan with instructions on how to communicate this critical information. Each failed to communicate with me.

Crisis communications is about keeping people safe and protecting the revenue of your organization. Swine Flu has taken a huge financial toll on Mexican tourism destinations. Tourism officials have invited tourists to return, but I’ve seen no extraordinary campaign to undue the Swine Flu stigma.

And if you’d like to look at the facts, to date, Mexico has reported 10-thousand cases and 117 deaths while the U.S. has reported 33-thousand cases and 170 deaths.

What lesson is there in this for you? Don’t depend upon others to do your crisis communications for you. If you want true crisis communications, it needs to come from your crisis communications plan. And the midst of a crisis is the worse time to plan for or write communications for a crisis. The best time to do it is on a clear sunny day when emotions are low, pressure is low, and you have clarity of logic.

Swine flu could still become an issue for your organization later this year. The best time to prepare is now.

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