Erosion of trust comes from slow drips of offenses

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure got a landslide of negative publicity after its controversial opinion to deny funding to some groups associated with abortion. The firestorm said less about Komen and the other groups involved than it did about the skepticism for charitable groups in general.
Over the last two decades, starting with the United Way, we have seen various nonprofits bring down the entire field with a multitude of sins, such as outrageous executive pay, the mismanagement of funds, and abuse of tax-exempt statuses. Over time, these offenses have sullied the reputations of many groups.
It is the same with our own organizations, even ourselves. A damaged reputation is hard to repair, and a lost reputation is hard to regain. We should always be beyond reproach with our communications with employees and external stakeholders (through press releases, annual reports, meetings and more). The public slammed Komen for the Cure disproportionally for this incidence. That does not diminish the significance of the event. It also provides a lesson for all of us in our ongoing communication on how our indiscretions may affect not only the reputation of our own organizations, but also that of all the people who work in our field.

Get Started in Social Media through "The Social Media Strategist" by Christopher Barger

The social media are not even a decade old, as Christopher Barger points out in his book, The Social Media Strategist: Build a Successful Program from the Inside Out (McGraw-Hill). They are now part of any complete communication program and, simultaneously, a mythology has grown around them. Barger’s book serves as a worthy introduction to newcomers, covering a wide array of issues.

Barger lists several necessary steps to creating a winning social media program. Some examples: Find an executive champion in the organization to support your cause. Understand which part of the organization will own social media (marketing? IT? Human resources). Hire a strong social media evangelist who also has business savvy. Create well-defined metrics and use the right tools to measure them.

Barger is a realist who recognizes much of the hype around social media. Chief among them is the notion of transparency (defined here as ingenuousness in communication and accountability). Unlike so many others, he does not underestimate the inherent risks of such openness, writing, “As a PR rep for a major national brand has told me, ‘Our execs know that the critics are out there on the Web; they just don’t think we should provide them a platform to bash us.’”

Instead, Barger’s book is practical, advising the reader how to overcome many of the barriers a corporate program might face. He writes, “If you haven’t been inside a company or organization — if you don’t know corporate culture and bureaucracy, or have no experience navigating internal minefields — then you don’t know how to make social media work inside a company.” He suggests ways to gain effective internal converts to social media while also building the most strategic internal infrastructure. He also generously mentions many other social media consultants and thought leaders, which the reader may follow in the future to keep up with the most current philosophies.

Notably, Barger advises organizations that use social media to become content publishers, rather than just republishers of others’ information. He reminds social media practitioners to think about the content they publish in terms of its relevance to its audience.  “If you create great content, the social Web will do the work for you,”   he says. He also reminds the reader that the social media are two-way. Therefore, we should do our best to interact with the audience, letting them set the tone for a conversation. (Barger points out that social media have replaced the old “letters of compliant” from customers.)

In the latter part of book, Barger veers into philosophies of overall communication, such as events and media relations. I found that, rather than diluting the social media message of his book, he placed placing social media into its proper context as but one part of an overall program. One part that resonated particularly strongly with me was his advice on how social media can support crisis communication, and he does so with several well-chosen examples of PR disasters.

In general, I found this book important as a primer for the large number of people who are getting into social media for the first time.  As an early adopter of social media, I wish I had this advice. Barger helps communication professionals tap into the wisdom of the people who have worked in these media for a while with a comprehensive and easy-to-read handbook.

Academy Awards remind us: Stories Still Key to Reaching People

An aging film star falls only to rise again. A boy connects with the father he lost on September 11. A baseball manager makes his team more competitive in the most counter-intuitive way. And African American working women illuminate their lives simply by telling their stories.
Those are the stories of, respectively, The Artist, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help and Moneyball – all films that were nominated as Best Picture at the 84th Annual Academy Awards, and they remind us how much we learn and remember from stories.

Of course, intuitively, we all know the importance of stories. After all, don’t we ask for stories when we are children? And when many summers pass, we are happy to share stories with children and others. We revel in stories, as they make facts and theories more personal, more relatable. We often tell of success through rags to riches tales. Also, think back to Hurricane Katrina. Most of us were not interested in how fast the winds were blowing at that time or the hour when the levees broke. No, we paid most of our attention to the individual accounts of how everyday people were affected by the storm.

We also want a story to unspool, with a beginning, a middle and an end that ties it together. Ernest Hemingway once famously wrote the story with just six words: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” It is said that Hemingway declared it his best work. But really, are we satisfied with that? Where are the characters, the setting, the plot line?

Whether we are speaking to large groups, a smaller department of only a few people, or one on one with a direct report, we can use stories to our advantage if we follow these tips:

• Maintain your audiences’ curiosity. The most-popular books and movies have stories that keep us wanting more. Your first step is NOT to start with the phrase, “I’m going to tell you a story.” That can be an instant turn-off. Instead, lead your listeners into it sneakily. Similarly, don’t telegraph the endings with an obvious outcome (e.g., the hero gets the girl, the disease is miraculously cured), or else your listeners will quit on you before you are finished.
• Know what you want your audience to feel in the end. It is said that we can evoke certain specific responses: think, feel, do (something!), persuade, inspire or entertain. Before you either craft or use a story, understand which of these responses you wish to evoke.
• Do not make yourself the hero of your story. Too self serving, and therefore, very off-putting.
• Don’t tell your audience, take them. Use your body, your place on the stage and your voice to bring your audience into the story. As a Toastmaster colleague once advised me, “BE the speech!”
• Make sure there is a point in the end. Psychologists tells us that the process behind the concocting of narratives is similar to that of learning. Create a payoff.

In this video, Story Time, to a group of fellow speakers, I incorporated the elements above.  Take a moment to view it to understand how they all worked together.

After the Oscars have been handed out, think back to how this year’s winners got their awards. Also, remember the past winners. When you think back to the tales of a down-and-out Philadelphia boxer, a stuttering monarch, a doomed luxury liner, or the decades of a mobster family, you will remember that the story is paramount.

Bernie Madoff Reminds Us of the Need for Open Communication and Ethics

There is a revival of interest in Bernie Madoff now that the eminent TV program 60 Minutes profiled his family (Oct. 30, 2011). It is a reminder to us all about the value of reputation. I give a speech on branding. I ask my audience if they could imagine the image that their own name would conjure. I then list the following names and show their pictures:

• Mohandas Gandhi
• Mother Theresa
• Martin Luther King
• Hitler!

The flinch at that last name is palpable, especially after the admiration and good will expressed for the others. (Stop and think: When was the last time you heard a reputable family name their son “Adolph?")
Peter Drucker noted that "ethics stays in the prefaces of the average business books." Consider the long line of lies told by a famous oil company when it had a massive spill off the Louisiana coast. The company listed lists otters, sea lions, seals, and walruses as "sensitive biological species" that deserve protection in the Gulf of Mexico. However, there are no otters, sea lions, seals, or walruses in the Gulf of Mexico. They listed emergency phone numbers for mammal specialist offices in Florida and Louisiana that were no longer in service. And their spokespeople proudly stated in their disaster plans that, "under the worst-case spill scenario," it could skim, vacuum, or otherwise remove as many as 20 million gallons of oil a day. In fact, they captured only about 630,000 gallons a day.
Even the best companies often obfuscate in their annual reports. Some may say that "We performed well in a difficult economy," rather than say, "We didn't make our numbers this again again."  Or they may state that "We have a healthy backlog," rather that "Our manufacturing inefficiencies keep us from meeting our delivery goals."
Conducting business in a socially responsible way is, in the end, a sound business practice in and of itself. It allows you to attract the best employees. It helps create an atmosphere in which quality products are produced because your people will proudly stand behind them. Trust helps maintain good relations with people and institutions such as your employees, your shareholders, the media and the local community. Your word becomes your bond, as good as a contract. But most important, it is the best branding possible. After all, if you can't be trusted to keep your story straight, why should your customer trust your products or services? So I encourage all business people to build their trust in the following ways, as I have helped my clients in my role as a professional communicator:

• Inform your employees of the state of your business regularly through face-to-face meetings and publications.
• Issue press releases and meet with members of the local media so that they learn to trust your word.
• Address members of your community and build relationships with your elected representatives.

"I would rather be the man who bought the Brooklyn Bridge than the man who sold it," said Will Rogers. The name "Madoff" is now a synonym for "swindler," and all financial planners now operate under a cloud of suspicion.  Indeed, the hell through which Bernie Madoff put his family, his employees, his customers, and even his colleagues is an argument for both ethics and transparency.

I Tweet, Therefore I Am (Notes on Re-entry)

I have just returned from two weeks in Italy, and it is remarkable to see what two weeks away do to your public image. Because I did not have access to a computer, I had no blogs. No Tweets. No press-worthy events. It was as though I dropped off the earth, as measured by my Google Alerts.

However, I did use my BlackBerry to post milestones of my Italian journey on Facebook, and what a difference. Friends and family enjoyed hearing about the meals, the sights and the meetings with family. They were engaged, as measured by their "likes" and their comments.

This brings me back to a concept espoused by the great Seth Godin in his blog post, "The Truth About Shipping." Among other things, he stresses the importance of delivering something every day. "Ship often," he urges. "Ship lousy stuff, but ship. Ship constantly."

So I am back in the saddle, writing, Tweeting, blogging, prospecting, communicating. While I enjoyed the trip immensely, it was also a timely reminder about the value of output.

I hope to hear from YOU, too!

Giving our best, in the words of Joe DiMaggio

All I ever learned about maintaining a reputation for being the best came from the mouth of Yankee great Joe DiMaggio. When asked why he always hustled so hard, he responded, "There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time. I owe him my best."
Now compare this attitude to those of business owners, who risk their own reputations, as well as those of their companies and employees, to unethical practices. Or entertainers who don't perform at their best and create an everlasting impression -- fairly or not -- on the ticket-buyer who showed up for that day's performance. Our brands, our names and our reputations are sometimes all we have. Do you tend your image every day as you should? Will the people who encounter you today remember a superlative effort or a lackluster try?
I know this may seem harsh, and believe me, I have both benefited and suffered from this, but it is a reality to which we must all attend.

To Betty Ford, and All Those Who Build Platforms

As we celebrate the life of Betty Ford, who passed away yesterday, I am reminded of her courage to speak out on issues she embraced. Of course, her work on behalf of awareness of substance abuse and breast cancer were well known. However, she also supported the Equal Rights Amendment, which was not common to do in the mid-1970s, access to abortions, and the rights of gay Americans to serve in the military. (She was someone who acknowledged that gays had already long served in the military.)

Beyond Mrs. Ford, I began thinking of the people who found causes in their personal lives and pursued them relentlessly against the tides of their times.

• Rachel Carson, a sounder of early warnings against DDT and the dangers facing our natural environment when most people did not even know what she was speaking about.
• Martin Luther King, who spoke so beautifully on such a wide range of topics — freedom, justice, good vs. evil, mob mentality, even the nobility of work — that students should learn to look well beyond his “I Have a Dream” speech and hear words that resonate even today.
• Elie Wiesel, turning his survival of Nazism’s “final solution” to justice for all humankind.
• Dorothy Day, often a lone voice on workers’ rights.
• Ronald Reagan, who spoke so long, passionately, eloquently and consistently against Communism that his entreaty to Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall was, comparatively, one of the mildest statements he ever made on the subject (partially because he lived long enough to see that battle won).

In this era when “branding” is all the buzz, it is appropriate to review what we each stand for and the positions for which we will be known. It need not be even a global, noble cause. Perhaps we are exemplars of courtesy, disallowing coarse treatment of others in our presence. Our language and writing can make us defenders of good and proper English. Or we may choose to extol our free enterprise system.

It is commonly said that perception is reality. So, too, is legacy. Betty Ford’s passing reminds us of that. What is your platform?

From Business World to World Events, The (Social) Medium Is Indeed the Message

In his centenary year, Marshall McLuhan is as relevant as ever. For example, I just returned from a meeting at The Philadelphia Business Journal, where I spoke to the staff about possible speaking engagements. The hot topic that many hopefuls were proposing were the social media or Web 2.0, the media that are "pushed" to audiences.

However, far from the Philly business world, we are seeing those same social media helping to foment democracies in the Middle East. Whereas the Federalist Papers and other pamphlets fueled the American revolution, and in the way megaphones stoked American students in the 1960s and '70s, protesters in Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia and other countries are organizing through Facebook and Twitter. Furthermore, these same media are allowing the world to see what is happening in these countries, uncensored and free, in many senses of that word. Both the facts and the spirits of these events are spreading.These events demonstrate just how much ahead of his time McLuhan was. He defined media as "any extension of ourselves," and that included new technologies. Though he was writing in the mid-20th century, he was analyzing not only traditional media, (print, radio, TV), but also computers, which at that time were pretty much limited to entire floors of corporate buildings. He understood early that the structures of these media would affect how we perceive the world around us.

For those of us who are promoting ourselves or our organizations, the social media/web 2.0 must be considered part of the mix, if they're not already. We are seeing how the traditional media are chasing the "new" media to get their leads or fill in the facts of a story. Certainly the people of the Middle East get it, and their worlds are reshaping as surely as they did when the Communism fell. It is exciting to see, and we can. Lucky us.

BP Teaches Us Just How Bad Communication Can Be

Let's get to the point: BP was not only unprepared for the oil spill they have caused, but they deceived the public, and possibly themselves, about their level of preparation.
I will turn this space to Mr. Dick Polman, columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The utter incompetence of BP, combined with the company's mendacity, is stultifying.

Annual Report Language, Translated to English

Over the years, I have contributed to many annual reports. I know that they can be confusing to read given the language that is often chosen. As a public service to all shareholders and employees out there, here are translations of key phrases you will often see in an annual report.

1. We performed well in a difficult economy.
   Translation: As usual, we didn't make our numbers, but at least this year we have an excuse.
2. I am pleased to report that we continue to make excellent progress on achieving our long-term goals.
   Translation: We didn't make our numbers, but we got a little closer this year.
3. We were able to deliver shareholder value by managing our costs.
   Translation: We laid off employees to make sure that our investors received their dividends.
4. We have focused our business.
   Translation: We sold off the dogs that were losing money because we didn't know how to manage them. By the way, when our current lines start to lose money, we will sell those, too.
5. In these difficult times, we experienced a lot of pain over the past year.
   Translation: We had a second round of layoffs in order to increase our profits.
6. The pain was shared across the company.
   Translation: While we in executive management still received our bonuses, it was difficult to watch from our office windows as employees left the company for the last time.
7. Our portfolio contains legacy products with a long record of success behind them.
   Translation: A lot of our lines are outmoded, so nobody buys buy them anymore.
8. We have a healthy backlog.
   Translation: Our manufacturing is so lousy that we can't get product out the door, so the orders just keep piling up.
9. We have grown through acquisition throughout our long and proud history.
   Translation: We don't know how to innovate, and we put no money into research and development. We know only how to buy other businesses.
10. Our brand still appears fresh and new in the market.
    Translation: After all these years, they still don't know who we are.

Kudos to Broadcasters; Let's Learn from Them!

Hey, did you notice that today is the FCC-dictated switch from analog TV to digital? You didn't? If not, you can't blame the major broadcasters. They bent over backwards for YEARS to make sure that viewers knew that their older sets wouldn't receive the new digital signals. (By the way, this is to open parts of the electromagnetic spectrum for emergency use -- a good thing.) Look at what they did:

• Announced the coming switchover as public service announcements so that no one should have been caught unaware
• Advised viewers of where to get converters
• Conducted tests to help viewers determine if they would be affected by the switchover ("Hey, this is what your picture looks like now."
  "Here is your picture on digital." THROW SWITCH
  "If you can't see me, then you're s.o.l after June 12.")

The broadcasters' efforts are a lesson in good community relations. They stated the problems up front, showed the results, and advised on where to find the solutions. What does your organization do when you face a change that will affect your stakeholders?
Are you proactive? Or reactive?
Do you point to the solutions?
Do you show the consequences of the event in question?

Think about all this whenever you are facing such events as product changes, price increases or layoffs. We should all do as well as the broadcasters just showed us.

SHOUT! It's No Time to Be Immodest

Bill Lampton likes my book, “The Six P’s of Change!”

Bill, who is a Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert on communication, a broadcaster, teacher, and academic administrator. He has been interviewed in countless publications. Bill reviewed my book on Amazon and said the following:

• “I rate this book highly…”
• “The author's background qualifies him to advise us… [H]e shares what he has recommended to high-level employers.”
• “The writing style surpasses what you will encounter in most business books…”
• “Can you remember another business book that opens with a discussion of a World Series game?”
• “Rocchi is on target in describing this volume as a handbook. Each chapter ends with an ‘Intermission from Your Transition.’ These brief written exercises help the reader transform ideas into action.”
• “As a leader, you will serve your company well by using this valuable handbook as a training guideline for your company's next planning session.”
  

I could go on forever. (Believe me, I'd LOVE to!) And why am I telling you all about this praise I received?
Because I can. And I should. And you can and you should say such things about yourself.
Times are rough. GM went bankrupt earlier today. The country is in a recession, if you haven’t already heard. Jobless claims have decreased, but unemployment is still quite high, the highest we’ve seen it in a long time. If you want to rise above this din, you must make your own noise, and social media are the way to do it.
So when Bill’s sent me word of his wonderfully positive review, I emailed it to friends. And I Twittered it to my procchi tweets with a link. And I put it on LinkedIn and Plaxo. Because I can. And I should. If not, how else would you know? After all, I am the self-proclaimed agent of change. I must live up to this image I’ve created and this philosophy I espouse.
We are the Jetsons, my friends. We are lucky to live in an era when we have the means to broadcast our messages to the world. It wasn't so long ago only broadcast TV could do that, and what were the odds of your being able to buy time there? So we must take advantage of this rare opportunity to push our names not up into the stratospheres but into the upper reaches of search engines.
So shout it from the social media.
Fire away at your targets.
That’s why you’re reading this, and it’s most likely the reason you are writing about yourself. Go ahead, do it. You can, and you should.
And remember that Bill Lampton likes my book!

Networking in Person -- What a Concept!

Yesterday, I had breakfast with my friend, coach Reggie Waller. We caught up on each other's careers an d talk about latest trends in our practices of coaching and communication consulting, respectively. He talked about trends in community service (tough to get volunteers) and his own activities with youth groups (needed more than ever). He advised me to get on Facebook, and I talked to him about the things to know about publishing a book.

Later in the day, I went to the Chinese Cultural and Community Center in Philadelphia for a Chinese New Year dinner that my friends Sherry and Ron Nimitz organize every year. I saw friends from my previous employees, Shared Medical Systems and Siemens Healthcare there, and we exchanged hugs, updates and phone numbers. While many of us had been in touch on LinkedIn and other social media, the act of actually seeing each other face-to-face was totally different and more fulfilling. The social media provide an outline, but a physical presence fills in the details.

I hearken back to the words of ace networker Peter Shankman, who pointed out at a PRSA event that if you are the type of person who stands in a corner during a cocktail party, social media really won't help improve your networking. However, the corollary to his advice is that social media alone won't work for you. They need to be a springboard to an in-person follow up. Don't hide behind your electronic profile. Instead, add these other activities:

• Have breakfast with your contacts. Bring the coffee and doughnuts yourself if you must.
• Attend organizational events.
• Give presentations at organizational events.
• Have lunch. Bring a vegetarian wrap from the local convenience store if you must.
• Go to parties.
• Throw your own party.

Facebook, Plaxo, Naymz, et al, are only one set of tools in your arsenal. Let your contacts put your voice to your digital image and your face to your posting. There is no substitute for that, lest we become a virtual community of ethereal friends, only giving facts but rarely providing substance.

To put a twist to an old saying, "I shall only pass this way once. If I don't network, I may go it alone."

Creating a Public Profile

Lights! Camera! Advertising!
Boy, the things you learn trying to promote yourself. Or perhaps it's the things you RElearn. In a couple of weeks, I will finally take possession of my book, "The Six P's of Change," which means I have to launch my website (any day now; watch for it), update my social media and email blast everyone I can. Yet there are so many nuances that we overlook -- which I overlooked -- and the feedback I've been receiving is invaluable.

1. PICTURE YOURSELF - Just as I was ready to launch my website, I sent it around for review. One friend told me he didn't particularly like one photo ("Very unPat-like," he said. "You're a friendly guy, and it doesn't come across in this photo.") Another friend flat out blasted me for the images I chose to put on it. "You look like the guy next door!," he said, "not the professional I know you are!" Point taken. This isn't Facebook. I'm not trying to converse with my friends; I'm trying to get business from people who don't know me yet. I am adjusting the images around to change the mix.
2. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION IS A REALITY - There is competitive cyclist in Santa Rosa, California who shares my name. Search engines picked him up all the time, and I was relegated to the 25th reference at best. My daughter of Italian Mother Syndrome fame advised me to start a blog. Yahoo! It worked! Now when I Google my name, even I am reminded of all the things I've done. My activity on social media only helps. It's a good lesson for all of us.
3. THIS IS NO TIME TO BE MODEST - Awards, professional designations, academic degrees, accomplishments... they all belong in our promotion. Do you write advice columns? You're a columnist! Have you written articles or books? You're an author! If you're an MBA, CPA, or JD, get them out there; these degrees are nothing to be ashamed of. (Well, okay, maybe being a lawyer, but I digress.) It all counts toward your unique you-ness, which leads to...
4. DON'T FORGET YOUR USP - ...otherwise known as your Unique Selling Proposition. There are many people competing in your space. What makes YOU stand out? My friend Shawn Doyle is a very versatile motivational speaker, but he is particularly experienced in the cable TV industry. So his URL, and his USP, is shawnspeakscable.com. Works for him; cable operators think of him readily. What is YOUR calling card?

We are all competing for something, and most likely in this economy, it is for a job. Your image is important. Think of all the ways that you portray yourself, and you are more likely to stand apart from your competitors, even the ones you don't think about.

NETWORKING: More Than Linking In or Twittering

I cannot hammer a nail, so if you gave me power tools, I would probably be dangerous. On the other hand, I am a facile writer. But if I wasn't, all the Spell Check and Grammar Check wouldn't give me the ability to construct a sentence.

I was reminded by that in a recent speech by nationally known networker Peter Shankman, founder and CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc., a boutique PR firm in New York City. At a recent PRSA event in Philadelphia, Peter pointed out that if you are a lousy networker -- e.g., if you go to an event and can't meet or connect with people -- social media will not help you. As I review Peter's background, I realize that he knows of what he speaks. This is a guy who raised the money for his first agency by selling T-shirts. (He capitalized on the success of the film "Titanic." He printed a picture of the boat with the words, "It Sank! Get Over It!" What a way to make a buck, but he has an agency and I don't.)

PR Week Magazine has described Peter as “redefining the art of networking,” and that was obvious in his energetic, presentation. While he know Peter for his ability to use press relations, marketing and advertising to get his word out, he is particularly adept at connecting with people. His talk inspired me to dig a little deeper into using social media. Here are some suggestions:

1. DETERMINE YOUR OBJECTIVES - Do you want to find a job? Find customers? Find employees? Build friendships? All worthy goals. As in most communications, know your objectives.
2. IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET - Once you know who you want to reach, what do you want them to know about you? What should they do with this information? And how will they find you?
3. MEASURE HOW MUCH INFORMATION YOU WANT TO SHARE - Think about how much information you want to share. How much detail will you go into? Do you want to share private information? Decide, and then stick with it.
4. PICK YOUR STYLE, AND BE CONSISTENT WITH IT - If you want to be approachable, write in the first person. If you want to be more formal, write in the third person.Whatever style you want, project it.
5. DON'T FORGET IT'S THE WEB; THINK IN TERMS OF KEY WORDS - As in other web-based marketing, you need to use the phrases that are most relevant to your objectives and your target audience. Google searches social media, too.

I know this is high level, so I encourage you to search your various social media and check out their capabilities. I can only tell you that I have connected with long-lost friends and colleagues through the social media, and I have made new friends and contacts. I get lots of questions answered, and I share my own experiences (yeah, like I need even the slightest provocation to express my opinion on something). And then get out to some parties, shake some hands, and also connect in person.

Experts Should Be the Sources of Our Information

Oh, how we love to skewer our experts. It makes us feel so... superior. After all, aren't we the country who loves to pick our Presidents based on how much we'd like to have a beer with them? Of course we do. On the other hand, those smart, confident guys, who look and act Presidential are just so elitist!

Just recently, Senator John McCain got all pissy because economists put down his gasoline tax abatement for the summer as a gimmick. He harrumphed that these were the same economists who missed the subprime mortgage mess and besides, "if you laid all the economists in the world end to end, they still couldn't reach a conclusion." No attribution to George Bernard Shaw for that hoary chestnut.

On the other hand, let's look at the recent cover story of FORTUNE magazine. It features Meredith Whitney, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co., who predicted the credit meltdown a year ago. She called downturns at Citigroup, Bank of America, Lehman Brothers and United Bank of Scotland. Hence, the article's author calls her "the most influential stock analyst in America."

Now she calls for even worse trouble ahead - a big recession down the road. Who am I to believe - an obvious expert with a proven history of success or a legislator given to rehashing a century old gag?

My point is that many of us are so given to believing only what we want to believe that we disregard the people who should really know. Senator McCain was absolutely wrong in his assertion - I read of MANY economists and financial experts were scratching their heads in wonder at the huge run ups in mortgages to overextended home buyers. (Apparently, Phil Gramm was not one of them, but I digress....) And back in the 1990s, those same observers saw that the tech boom was unfounded, correctly predicting its eventual crash.

Why believe the testimonies of Government insiders about the run-up to the war in Iraq when a fat blowhard on the radio who acts as my surrogate blusters otherwise? Let's set the Wayback Machine even further back, Sherman, to the early 1980s, when Meryl Streep raised all kinds of concerns about the chemical Alar in our kids' apple juice. Her high-profile Senate testimony, caused a lot of concern and knitted brows. I grant Ms. Streep the best of intentions, but that particular case turned out to be much ado about nothing. I submit it would have not gone so far had it not been for her celebrity.

The danger is a Gresham's Law of knowledge, where bad information drives out the good. I am hearing this occasionally in Toastmasters' speeches, where up-and-coming speakers are making dogmatic statements with no reference to their sources. This practice is bound to be a habit for which they will suffer when they speak in the big, bad real world. (To their credit, I am hearing other good and experienced evaluators catch these misstatements and challenge the speakers.) Certainly we are hearing it in the body politic, where there are more independent fact checkers reviewing public statements than ever before.

So for all of us who make our living communicating, along with other nascent communicators, we should all remember:

1. Respect Real Knowledge - look to the true experts in their given fields, who usually do not include actors, broadcasters and religious leaders (unless, of course, these people are discussing acting, broadcasting and theology, respectively)
2. Research - look for your facts; don't presume that you have them already.
3. Fact Check - challenge even your most cherished beliefs.
4. Have Others Review Your Work Beforehand - better to have your friends find your errors than your foes.

A Lesson In Sound Biting - Barack in Berlin

Barack Obama may be accused of criticizing America in Europe. He will have no one to blame but himself.

I read the full text of Obama's famously received speech in Berlin. As usual, it was a masterpiece of oratory, with soaring phrases and a powerful yet graceful delivery. Here are some examples:

• SPEAKING OF COURAGE: "...(T)he people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city's mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. 'There is only one possibility,' he said. 'For us to stand together united until this battle is won...The people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty. People of the world: now do your duty.' People of the world, look at Berlin!"


• ON U.S. CONTRIBUTIONS TO DEFENSE: "...(J)ust as American bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom around the globe."


• ON COOPERATION: "In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more, not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity. That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another."

But these are not the words I heard. Instead nearly every newscast I heard, even among the so-called liberal, drive-by media, carried this excerpt: "I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions."

So those who wish to impugn Obama will be able to say with some small measure of legitimacy, "He went overseas and used the occasion of his speech to talk about the mistakes our country has made. Doesn't Sen. Obama love America? If he does, then why would he criticize us to others?"

If that happens, Obama will need to face up to the fact that he handed his adversaries a loaded weapon to use against him. It may be unfair, but it is a reality. I truly believe that he loves America and that he is grateful for all he has gained as a citizen, despite his humble, non elitist roots. But as someone who has felt the sting of third-party analysis, I am all too aware that messengers must parse every single word of their public statements. It is called "staying on message." Here is how I might have written the paragraph in question to defuse its potential damage:

"Like you, my country has tried to do its best to strive for the ideal of perfection. We have always fought to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. In fact, our actions have always been matched to our best intentions for you and all our fellow citizens around the world ."

Idealistic? Probably. Selective? Absolutely! But the reality is that as he marches toward the election, this is no time to be completely honest, not when foes are ready to take every utterance out of context. And that is the way all of us in external communication must prepare. The electronic media does not live on banquets of information but on sound bites. A newscast is made up of such 20-second clips. We must know our messages, state them at every opportunity, and not deviate from them.

Again, read the full text of Obama's Berlin speech, and consider whether that is the message that you received. Then let's plan to discuss this again closer to the election, along with Mrs. Obama's statement that "for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country." That one's sure to be a crowd-pleaser!

PR TIMING: One Vote Beats 148,000

So let me get this straight. Hilary Clinton beats Barack Obama in West Virginia by 147,551 votes, and he gets the lead story in the news the next day? Brilliant! All he needed to do was announce his latest endorsement - this one by former senator John Edwards, a man who couldn't even carry his own district in the 2004 election - and the media knock Senator Clinton off her perch above the fold in their lemminglike rush toward All Things Obama.



This is classic public relations, and a lesson to be learned: When you are losing the spotlight, win it back by playing ugly. Oh, I know that the Obama team did nothing illegal, immoral or unfair. It was just so calculated. A couple of other notable examples:

• While President Reagan was recovering from the assassination attempt on him, his staff retained a scheduled visit from a Chinese leader who was older than he was. One of the most notable images from that visit was Reagan holding his visitor's elbow as they climbed stairs, which actually made the president look more vigorous.


• When Michael Jackson was facing myriad accusations of child molestation, he announced a multimillion dollar contribution of computers to a school district. This worked for about 48 hours. If Jacko could have controlled his bad behavior, the benefit of this tactic may have been extended.

When I worked media relations for GE turbine business in upstate New York, we were continually announcing layoffs. One day, the GE Foundation announced that several organizations were receiving matching contributions.... a few thousand here, ten thousand there. But when I added up the total number, it was very close to a million dollars. So that was our story:

GE Contributes Nearly One Million Dollars to Community

That bought us a well-needed respite.

The point here is that the Obama campaign knew how to take center stage away from Senator Clinton. It is a lesson those of us in external communication can well emulate. Just be sure you have a legitimately newsworthy story to tell, or the press is likely to recognize it for what it is - opportunism.

Claim Your Domain Name!

My good friend, Philadelphia photogrpaher and media philosopher Ed Wheeler, recently made a statement in a promotional mailing that struck me. It's all about the growing reality that we will need to manage our domain names as part of our identities. He's given me permission to recreate it here:

"The day will come when parents name their children based on the availability of a dot-com. Companies have been forced to become creative with their brand names. Their ultimate goal is to garner an unsullied URL. In the future, parents will have to do the same. Unless your last name is Radziejowski, Mary or Kevin will not be an option for the kids. There are 17 Ed Wheelers in the Philadelphia area alone. You do the math. If I was born in 2010, I might be Elvis Wheeler. Would you let your child grow up with a name that was owned by some guy is Pascagoula, Mississippi?

"At the start of the presidential campaign, half of the candidates did not own their domain name. RudiGiuliani.com was owned by a used car dealership. Now they all own their names, and you can imagine how much that cost them.

"Everyone should take a minute at [a domain name seller] to check out the availability of their name. I bought my children their domain names for Christmas. Who knows, some day they might even run for President."

Hmmm. I'm willing to bet that there weren't too many Barack Obamas out there in cyberspace, but Ed's points are well taken. Good advice for the 21st Century, Ed. Thanks a lot.

By the way, Ed's a really good photographer. Check out his work at www.edwheeler.com.

Welcome me back and pardon me for breaking the cardinal rule of blogging

Wow, what a mistake that was! More than a month without posting to this blog. I have lots of reasons: mostly my day job, with writing and publishing the annual report, and then writing a video script and traveling to Mexico to shoot part of it. But these are not excuses. I should have been keeping up on this. I believe I have more to say than I allowed myself. There is so much going on in the public arena with the Potential Prezes, General Petreaus, the Pope coming to America, and so on.

There is a lesson there. Mostly, this blog should be a conversation between you and me, and I did not keep up my end of the bargain. This two-way thing we have going between us is the very heart of blogging, a trust. Otherewise there is no raison d'etre (I think that's the way you spell it). But I ask you: What should we do when we don't have much that is worthwhile to say? Should we just go on for the sake of blogging, or should we give it a rest? I'm interested in your thoughts on the very nature of this communication. In the meantime, look for more from me. And please let me hear from you.