Who’s Zoomin’ Who? Zoom Body Language Hacks
by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications The more we get used to Zoom, Webex, Microsoft Teams and other live video teleconferencing platforms, the more danger that we get a little too relaxed. I’ve seen Zoomers drone on and on, delivering their presentations in a disinterested monotone. I’ve seen “listening” participants slouching, checking email and who-knows-what-else on […]
Eight Lessons I Learned from Hiring a Writing Coach
By Ari Lewis, writing in Crain’s Cleveland Business… The best athletes in the world have personal trainers: LeBron James, Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe. I knew that to be the best, I needed to hire a writing coach to take me to the next level. As a species, we have a monopoly on collective knowledge. So […]
How to Nail Your TV News Interview – Part 1
By Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I earned my stripes in TV producing newscasts and managing newsrooms for the better part of twenty years, and I can now freely admit the following: I loved reporters who came trotting breathlessly back into the newsroom with video of […]
National Museum of African American History and Culture Releases “Talking About Race” Web Portal
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture today launched Talking About Race, a new online portal designed to help individuals, families, and communities talk about racism, racial identity and the way these forces shape every aspect of society, from the economy and politics to the broader American culture. The online portal provides digital tools, online exercises, video instructions, scholarly […]
Science vs. Politics
When the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine became available ten years ago, at first the scientists and other public health experts said that pregnant women should immediately get the vaccine. Then they said it should be administered to those over 65 years of age, then it was anyone who was immunocompromised, with changing death projections and […]
How Gender Stereotypes Kill a Woman’s Self-Confidence
From the Harvard Business Review: Women make up more than half of the labor force in the United States and earn almost 60 percent of advanced degrees, yet they bring home less pay and fill fewer seats in the C-suite than men, particularly in male-dominated professions like finance and technology. This gender gap is due […]
When Court Moves Online, Do Dress Codes Still Matter?
From The New York Times: Justice is supposed to be blind. But in courtrooms, decorum matters. Judges typically dress in somber black robes. Lawyers, plaintiffs and defendants are encouraged to dress modestly to signify credibility. Does that change when court hearings are moved online to enable social distancing during the spread of the new coronavirus? Absolutely not, according […]
Now is the Time – Media Training for Attorneys & Their Clients
Whether it’s a staff meeting on Teams, a webinar on Zoom, a private conversation on FaceTime or a short training video you record on WebEx, it’s not just what you say, but how you say it. And if it’s an interview with a seasoned reporter, the stakes are even higher. You must be prepared to answer […]
Murdering the King’s English: Grammatical Gaffes Can Kill Your Communications
[by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications] His Former Royal Highness Prince Harry dropped a grammatical bomb on all the world in a speech cutting his royal ties: “The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly.” What’s wrong with this picture? Give up? Forbes contributor […]
9 Corporate Communications Changes to Anticipate for 2020
When it comes to corporate risk and resilience, one of the gurus in the industry is our friend and colleague, Richard Levick, who recently gazed into his risk-ridden crystal ball. Richard believes that 2020 will bring precedent-shattering cyber breaches, radical revisions to enterprise risk management, a public relations backlash to the #MeToo movement, litigation funding […]