When a Leader Falls Ill: How to Communicate
From Nicole Shuman, writing for PRNews: A leader of a company or organization can serve as the quarterback when it comes to delivering a positive reputation to the public. While a leader does not always handle the nuts and bolts and day-to-day details of running a brand, he/she serves as a face for employees, customers, […]
You Have a Crisis Communications Plan. Now It’s Time to Test It with a Tabletop Drill.
By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications Organizations often assume that having an up-to-date crisis communications plan on the shelf will ensure that responding to a crisis event will go smoothly as a result. If the plan was carefully researched and based on good knowledge of the organization, that may well be the case. But there’s no […]
One More Crisis Communications Challenge For Educators: The 2020 Election
By Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications A few months into a school year unlike any other, administrators and teachers have been challenged to figure out: how to reopen safely; whether to have in-person classes, virtual classes or a hybrid; how to get students to and from school; whether and how to have sports and other extracurriculars […]
What is Executive Presence, and How Can You Strengthen It?
From our good friend, Marilyn Cavicchia, editor of Bar Leader, published by the American Bar Association Bar Services Division, comes this excellent article on executive presence, applicable to lawyers and non-lawyers: Executive presence—the way a person presents themselves and their ideas live or on video—“is much more important than it was 20 years ago,” according to […]
Wells Fargo and Ellen Make it a Week of Weak Apologies
From Seth Arenstein, writing for PR News: It’s shaping up to be a week of apologies. First, there was Ellen DeGeneres’ joke-infused apology for months of allegations that the “Be-Kind” lady’s show houses a toxic work environment. Moreover, talent and staff claim Ellen is unkind. In the opening monologue of her first show back from summer hiatus Monday […]
How Viewers of the Presidential Debates Can Become Better Informed Voters (And Not Alienate Family and Friends)
By Arthur Solomon, former VP at Burson-Marsteller: In a recent post, I wrote, “Soon the presidential debates will begin with their ridiculous format of having the candidates answer questions in a few seconds, instead of giving them sufficient time to fully state their positions. Even worse, after each debate TV pundits will criticize the demeanor, […]
Why You’re Getting So Many Text Messages Right Now
From Jennifer Stromer-Galley, Professor of Information Studies, Syracuse University, writing in The Conversation: Text messages and emails from political campaigns are pouring into Americans’ phones and inboxes right now. It’s happening to political junkies, to people who gave their phone numbers to campaigns, and even to people who try to keep their contact information off […]
Mastering the Zoom Apology
By Bruce Hennes & Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications A CEO, executive director, bar association president or other business executive has to apologize or speak about something very important. The stakes are high – and in this COVID-19 era, the apology is going to have to be done using Zoom or another virtual platform. Under any […]
Crisis Comms Lessons From a Tennis Tantrum
From our good friends at PRCG | Haggerty, written by Thom Weidlich… Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 ranked men’s singles tennis player, threw a hissy at the U.S. Open on Sunday and bashed a ball that hit a line judge in the throat. Djokovic was ejected from the tournament, was fined and suffered a blow […]
The Two Political Conventions – It’s Not Just What You Heard, But What You Saw
We’ve said it over and over again to our clients and in this newsletter: how you say something is almost always more important than the way you say it. Joe Navarro agrees. He’s author of the international bestseller What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People and The Dictionary of Body […]