The Intrepid Group regularly conducts media training sessions for clients. We focus on teaching, training and preparing them to present key messages effectively and professionally to the media. There’s usually a large focus on crisis in our training, where we assist them in dealing with the media in high-stress, demanding and often the most critical environments. Training includes an overview of media outlets, a discussion on communication techniques and then delves into message preparation and interview simulations. It’s intense. Our clients hate us during the process; they love us when they put the training to use. 

I’ve been conducting media training sessions for about four years and have never been interviewed on camera – I’ve done plenty of print, radio and phone interviews, but have always stood behind the camera while my clients went on air. I prefer it that way. My expertise comes from my education, from my experience under the auspices of Ari Fleischer while at the White House, from watching countless media interviews, and from conducting these training situations. 

Today I found myself on the other side of media training when a local news producer that I work with regularly called and asked if I would be a source for a story she was working on. The issue was easy and uncontroversial – she simply wanted to talk to me, on camera, about how my family’s financial savings situation. It would be brief – 10 minutes at the most – and she would only be using one or two soundbites from the entire interview. Cake, right? I agreed. 

An hour before the interview I was surprised at how nervous I was. Not because of the interview, but because I was testing my own expertise. I regularly conduct these training sessions where I tell clients exactly what to do when talking to the media and today I found myself in this exact situation. I was nervous because I had such high expectations for myself. I turned to my mentor and boss, Chris Thomas. Chris has been interviewed countless situations and under the toughest circumstances. He has been a spokesperson on national TV such as The Today Show, Good Morning America and CNN, as well as local broadcast news. I couldn’t have had a better expert at my disposal. 

Chris simply revisited the key media training points I’ve given so many times before. Since they’re fresh in my mind, I thought I would share them with you in case you find yourself in front of a news camera in the near future: 

1. What’s your objective? What are you trying to accomplish with this interview? What are you trying to avoid? 

2. What are your key messages? Have two or three prepared, know them well, and keep them short. 

3. Brainstorm possible questions – what could the reporter ask you? How will you respond? How can you tie your key message into each question. 

4. Ask the reporter ahead of time for as much information as possible. Know what the reporter’s objective is so you can help them accomplish their goal for the story, but also figure out how your objective and messages tie in. 

5. Don’t go off the record. EVER. 

6. Practice outloud. 

7. Practice Some More. 

8. Speak in soundbites. The average television quote is 12 seconds or less, so keep your messages short and simple. 

9. Look the reporter in the eyes and talk to them as they’re a friend and an equal, not a stranger or an enemy. 

10. Breathe, have some water, and stay calm. 

The world’s best athletes have coaches or trainers who work with them consistently to improve their technique, learn new skills and maintain their game. It should be the same with media preparation. Just because you had a media training session three years ago (or conducted one last month) doesn’t mean you’ll be ready when called upon by the media for an interview, especially in a crisis situation. The game is constantly changing. We highly recommend our clients continuously refresh their techniques and practice their messaging so when they do get the chance to be on national or cable television, they use that opportunity to their advantage. 

My interview went fine, although I’m sure I’ll hate how I look when the story runs. Such is the life of being a woman. But today I understand better what it’s like to have that bright light in your eyes, a camera and microphone right in your face, and the solid gaze of a producer questioning you and only you. It’s nerve wracking even under the kindest of circumstances. Luckily, I was ready for it. Are you? 

Right now it’s March and that means my mind is wandering to the important questions of life: Does Florida have the talent to repeat? Can Villanova really go to the Sweet 16? Who will this year’s George Mason be? And since I have been invited to be a part of six different brackets, I’m obviously dedicating a few minutes of today to pondering these questions.
Fortunately, I work at a really cool place. My bosses happen to be huge sports freaks so they encourage us to participate in brackets, and actually have two separate games going on in the office. There’s no cost to enter, but there is a cash prize at the end. Starting Thursday, the conference room will have a game on the flat-screen consistently … until we need the conference room for real work.
The understood March Madness law is that no work gets neglected, no client gets ignored, and no job goes undone. But as long as we’re doing what we need to be doing, why not have a little fun?
The Salt Lake Tribune ran this fact in a recent article: “According to Chicago-based firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc., companies stand to lose close to $3.8 billion in worker productivity during the tournament. The firm estimated companies would lose $4.05 for every 13.5 minutes employees viewed games online rather than tending to their duties.”
This could be a compelling argument for business owners to set strict rules about the tournament, but what my bosses understand is that they have employees who care about March Madness and are going to be paying attention to the games whether or not it’s allowed. They don’t want us sneaking around, calling in sick, taking long lunch breaks to watch the game, or constantly checking the Internet for scores. Plus, the bosses care about the games as much as the employees. So they use this common interest as a chance to connect with their employees, and an opportunity to build company morale. We love March around here. And the winner of the bracket REALLY loves March, and our bosses, who provide cash as a reward at the end of the tournament.
Work is just that: work. But I’m impressed with companies that truly recognize that its employees are its most valuable asset. The most important aspect of public relations – and unfortunately, the most overlooked aspect – is INTERNAL relations. You know, relationships with your employees.
I’m not saying you have to make every day a nonstop party. Obviously you’re in business and that means working hard. But encourage your employees to play hard too. Make sure they have lives outside of the office and you are supportive of those lives.
And at least for the next three weeks, let your employees linger a little longer in the break room to watch a close game, or a top seeded team get upset. Because, let’s face it, you know you want to know the score.

I absolutely hated middle school. I was surrounded by beautiful blond girls named Staci and Tiffani and other 80s “i” names. But I was too skinny, wore huge plastic framed glasses, had braces, and didn’t really ever learn how to do make up or hair. I was ugly. And the girls at Herndon Middle School let me know it.

So I anxiously waited to finish middle school so I could get to the stage of life where people don’t write notes about people they don’t really know, don’t push the ugly girls into lockers, and don’t pick on smaller kids. I survived by thinking, if I can only endure school and get to adulthood where people use common sense, and live by the golden rule… Or karma… Or some other philosophy that all adults seemed to understand that made them nicer than teenagers. Yes, adulthood. That would be better.

But here I am, all grown up, and it still feels like middle school. I recently heard a story from a client who had gotten an anonymous e-mail (I’m not making this up, someone actually created a fake e-mail name like somethingyoushouldknow@hotmail.com). In the e-mail, there was a link to a negative web site article about a person this client works with regularly. As he told me about this, my mind wandered back to the time Staci slipped a note into my best friend’s locker telling her that she shouldn’t be friends with me. Staci didn’t sign it, but we knew it was her.

In this situation, my client already knew the fact provided by the anonymous tipster and it had the reverse effect – the client had a good idea of who the sender was and thought it looked pathetic and desperate. But it did get me thinking … where are the adults? I hear all the time that it’s a “dog eat dog” world, but I disagree. Dogs seem more honorable than a lot of business people these days. I think the honest truth is that some of us never grew up and we’ve maintained middle school attitudes.

Don’t get me wrong, I strongly support a competitive marketplace because healthy competition is good for the consumer, and it forces companies to create and offer better products and services. But I’m also an advocate of fair play. Anonymous e-mails? Seriously? Again, where are the adults? What ever happened to “good goes round,” “do unto others,” and qualities such as share, respect, honor? Is adulthood going to be one huge disappointment?

Another notable component of this story is that e-mails are easily tracked. The same way we could tell the note given to my best friend was from Staci by the way she dotted her I’s with hearts, here in 2007 it’s VERY easy to track IP addresses. Who comes out looking worse — the subject of the e-mail or the person who sent it and reverted to juvenile habits, even creating a silly e-mail address?

This story emphasizes that public relations is much broader than media relations alone. Today, anything you say can be used against you. Every memo, every e-mail, every conversation over lunch or in an elevator or behind closed office doors… it’s all public relations. You are defining your own brand by what you tell others and how you treat others. Do you want to be the company or executive who is always verbally attacking and criticizing competition, making enemies with everyone else on the playground? Or shouldn’t you be the company who is involved in the community, has healthy relationships with competition, and uses the industry as a gauge to improve your own product or service offering? The company that people respect.

I think it will be fun to see Staci at our ten-year reunion. I plan on putting on a smile and letting things from the past remain in the past. I’m an adult now. (Besides, I landed a hot husband and will enjoy showing him off … again, I’m a fan of healthy competition!)

A lot of us get so emotionally involved in our jobs that we often don’t step back and look at the big picture. We say negative things about others to help ourselves in the moment, but often end up hurting ourselves in the long run. When we’re tempted to criticize or burn the competition, we need to remember that Salt Lake is a very small market. Word gets around in a small town, and our reputation is our most valuable asset. Unless you’re in the business of making enemies, it’s best to think positively, speak positively and act like adults.

• There are 10.6 million women-owned businesses in the US today
• These firms employ 19.1 million people and generate nearly $2.5 trillion in sales.
• Between 1997 and 2004, the number of 50% or more women-owned firms increased at nearly twice the rate of all firms.
• Women-owned businesses spend an estimated $546 billion on salaries and benefits annually ($492 billion on salaries and $54 billion for employee benefits  health, retirement and insurance). Health benefits comprise the largest share of benefit expenditures, with 2004 spending estimated at $38 billion.
• Women emphasize relationship building as well as gathering facts; are more likely to consult with others, including experts, employees, and fellow business owners; and may take more time to make decisions.
• Women owners of businesses with revenues of $1 million or more are more likely to belong to formal business organizations, associations, or networks than other women business owners (81% vs. 61%).
• Women-owned businesses with $1 million or more in revenues are more likely than smaller businesses owned by women to have large corporations (34% vs. 12%) and the government (31% vs. 8%) as their primary clients.
• Fifteen percent of women-owned businesses with revenues of $1 million or more characterize their primary market as international. More than two-thirds of these women (69%) are involved in international contracts and almost half of them (49%) export directly.
• Women business owners are more willing than other women or men to take above average or substantial financial risks when saving or investing for their households (57% of women business owners, 14% of women in general and 26% of men in general).
• Women business owners are even more risk-tolerant when investing for their business than their households. Most women business owners (66%) are willing to take above average or substantial risks when investing for their businesses.
• Annual expenditures by women-owned enterprises for just four areas  information technology, telecommunications, human resources services, and shipping  are estimated to be $103 billion.
• Although a majority of both women and men owners of businesses with revenues of $1 million or more started their firms, women owners were more likely to have started their companies than men owners (73% vs. 60%), rather than have purchased, inherited, or acquired in some other way.
• The majority (72%) of women business owners surveyed in 2003 who were successful in obtaining expansion capital and had set specific expansion goals were found to have achieved or exceeded their goals.
• Eighty-six percent (86%) of women entrepreneurs say they use the same products and services at home as they do in their businesses.
• Women business owners are philanthropically active: 68% volunteer at least once a month; 31% contribute $5,000 or more annually to charities and 15% give $10,000 or more.
• Women-owned businesses are just as financially strong and creditworthy as the average U.S. firm, with similar performance on bill payment and similar levels of credit risk, and are just as likely to remain in business.

*From the Center for Women’s Business Research (www.centerforwomensbusinessresearch.org)

This Sunday, this blessed Sunday, is my favorite day of the year. This blog entry might be atypical for a woman, but I was raised on the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Orioles as much as I was politics and history (I’m a DC native). Sports are in my blood. I served as the sports editor at BYU’s newspaper for several years, shocking most of the men reporters under me as I rattled them with statistics, facts and figures that most women roll their eyes at. I can’t throw a football to save my life, but when playoffs and the Super Bowl rolls around… Let’s just say that my life revolves around that magical day. 

The Super Bowl has taken on a life of its own during its unique history. I personally find it appalling that the majority of the watchers now tune in exclusively for the ads, which have a track record of being more uneventful than the game itself. Seldom do you see one ad, or a series of ads, that is worthy of the hype associated with the price point of that :30 spot. 

What is especially noteworthy to me as a PR practitioner — besides the fact that Peyton Manning is getting his well-earned and much deserved chance to wear the ring — is how everyone seems to jump on the Super Bowl bandwagon in order to get some extra publicity. My grocery store and even my bank are offering football related specials. Does it work? Only for the select few who are doing something incredibly different.  After practicing PR for the past five years, I’ve learned that one of the best ways to get PR is to be where the cameras are. Election Day, the post office on Tax Day, the Super Bowl, 4^th of July Events …

The local media consistently covers these stories, and I am shocked that more companies don’t take advantage of these opportunities. For example, we had a spa client and wanted to generate publicity for them around Valentine’s Day, another PRable event. Rather than simply creating a Valentine’s Day package, we partnered with a women’s shelter and provided pampering services and chocolates to the residents leading into the holiday. We were covered by three of the local TV stations and garnered a major newspaper feature. 

The key element to all of this is to be creative and tell a compelling story. If the news is going to be covering it any way, give them a unique angle that no one else will have. Take advantage of big stories – make them work for you. If the media is going to be there, you should be there too. Just be there with something VALUABLE and NEWSWORTHY to say. And if you’re not sure what that is, call and ask a professional who does. 

But don’t call this Sunday. I have a game to watch. 

Every woman business owner in Utah and even those who are thinking of starting a business, you need to read this study! Amazingly, Utah has five cities in the top ten. Peter Horan at All Business talks about why:
“Our study was unique because, we let our audience decide what criteria are most important in terms of geographic location. The results are fascinating. The typical hot economy metros that make these types of lists are absent and four of the five metropolitan areas in Utah are in the overall top ten,” said AllBusiness.com CEO Peter Horan. “We found that women entrepreneurs say they are looking for a balance of factors that show a strong geographic tendency to be found in the Rocky Mountain States, with 13 of the 30 metros ranked by size being located there. Additionally, college towns like Iowa City, IA, Boulder, CO, and Logan, UT dominate the list of small and medium metros, which shows the strong connection between academic research and business development in a knowledge-driven economy.”

To look at the study and learn more, go to the following links.

http://www.allbusiness.com/3776361-1.html

http://www.allbusiness.com/3776543-1.html

I attended the first ever Startup Princess Conference on Sat. and was pleasantly surprised at what it turned out to be. I was also impressed with the quality of women that were there. So many already successful with their businesses and also women who are in the process of developing an idea for a business. Kelly Anderson, founder of Startup Princess (www.startupprincess.com), put together the event wonderfully.

These are some of the highlights:

The two guest speakers were Rachael Herrscher from Today’s Mama and Kristen Lamb from Design It Boutique. One of my favorite things Rachael said was that we, as entrepreneurs, should be “risk friendly”. An entrepreneur is not afraid of being poor, making sacrifices, hard work, investing into something they believe in, and lets not forget, doing a whole lot of research. This definitely takes a certain kind of person. Rachael also said, “the best thing about being an entrepreneur is that there isn’t anyone telling you how, when and where you can make money”. In 2006, Today’s Mama received more than a million hits on their website and is now one of Utah’s fastest growing companies.

The topic Kristen Lamb, of Design It Boutique, gave was “Do you need it? Can you afford it? Can you do without it?”. She said these three questions are important when deciding to start a business or not. Kristen was Mrs. Utah 2003, had one of the most successful  spa distributing businesses in the United States and now owns Design It Boutique. Her 6000 sq. ft. showroom in the basement of her house is worth seeing, and like she says, “worth the drive too”.

Kelly Anderson hopes to have another Startup Princess conference in the spring of 2007 and I strongly suggest that if you want to be surrounded by inspiring, fun, women entrepreneurs, you make an effort to go.

Last Friday I attended the networking event Utah First Fridays for the first time. After I was through signing in, I stood there in amazement and felt as if I was in an episode of the Office when Dwight stares at the camera and you can’t help but get the strange feeling of awkwardness. “Ugh!!!” I thought, “What am I supposed to do now? Wait for someone to come and talk to me or do I just start introducing myself to every person here?” I really didn’t know, considering this was my first time to a networking event in Utah. What’s the protocol? How long do you spend talking to someone before moving on to the next person? What’s the point of all this anyway?

After spending a few very awkward moments just staring at people who were staring back, I decided the best thing to do would be to get some food. Maybe if I go eat something, I will appear less approachable and it will save me the time and effort of actually having to introduce myself to anyone. Or, maybe people will decide that since I’m stuffing bagels into my mouth to leave me alone. Either way, I thought it would be better than standing there laughing under my breath at the situation.

As I was eating a woman approached me and I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, what am I supposed to…….” Before I could even finish my thought, she had already said hello and given me her name. Well, after a few minutes of finding out about her and why she was there, I had a huge sense of relief come over me and realized that most of these people are just trying to meet people who can help them meet people. So I decided to forget about my insecurities and feelings of awkwardness and start getting my $5 worth of networking. After an hour I had met and talked to at least 15 people all who were very nice, genuine and just trying to get the word out. One man came up to me and told me a little about his cleaning business and gave me a brochure. I told him, “Well, I don’t have an office for you to clean but I’ll pass the word a long to someone who might” he looked at me said, “That would be great!” as if that’s all he wanted to hear.
So I’ve determined that after my one experience with networking events, feeling awkward is pointless and doesn’t it get you anywhere. So you’re if debating on whether networking events are for you or not, just think, “Office episode” or sitting at home wondering when you’re business is going to take off.