Best PR AdviceWisdom from Leading Communicators

Publisher’s Letter and Masthead 3Crisis 5Social Media 11Empowerment 21Media Relations 79Tactical 91Agency/Client Relations 119Employee Relations 127Writing 131Leadership 137Index 141

Table of Contents

Best Advice Book

Published weekly by Access Intelligence, LLC 4 Choke Cherry Road, Rockville, MD 20850

Client Services: Phone: 888.707.5814 • Fax: 301.309.3847

e-mail: clientservices@accessintel.comNew York Editorial Office:

88 Pine Street, Suite 510, New York, NY 10005 Phone: 212.621.4890 • Fax: 212.621.4879

Guidebook Editor, Brian Greene, 212.621.4917, bgreene@accessintel.comGroup Editor, Matthew Schwartz, 212.621.4940, mschwartz@accessintel.comEditorial Director/Events, Steve Goldstein, 212.621.4890, sgoldstein@accessintel.comGraphic Design, Cavich Creative, 703.992.7086, mail@cavich.comAssociate Editor, Caysey Welton,203.899.8431, cwelton@accessintel.com Director of Marketing & Event Logistics, Kate Schaeffer, 301.354.2303, kschaeffer@accessintel.comSenior Marketing Manager, Laura Snitkovskiy, 301.354.1610, lsnitkovskiy@accessintel.comAssociate Publisher and Brand Director, PR News Group, Amy Jefferies, 301.354.1699 ajefferies@accessintel.comVP Content, Tony Silber, 203.899.8424SVP/Group Publisher, Diane Schwartz 212.621.4964, dschwartz@accessintel.comDivision President, Heather FarleyPresident & CEO, Don Pazour

PR News ADVISORY BOARD Paul A. Argenti - Tuck School of BusinessMary Buhay - Gibbs & SoellNed Barnett - Barnett Marketing CommunicationsSteve Cody - PeppercommNeal Cohen - APCO Carol Cone - Edelman Peter Debreceny - Gagen MacDonaldMike Herman - Communication SciencesLaura Kane - AflacKen Makovsky - MakovskyMichael McDougall - McDougall Travers CollinsLarry Parnell - George Washington University Mike Paul - MGP & Associates PR Deborah Radman - Senior PR ConsultantBrenda C. Siler - Best Communication StrategiesStephanie Smirnov - EdelmanHelene Solomon - Solomon McCown & Co.Mark Weiner - PRIME Research

PR News BOARD OF CONTRIBUTORSDave Armon - Critical MentionAndy Gilman - CommCore Consulting Bruce Jeffries-Fox - Jeffries-Fox Associates Angela Jeffrey - Salience InsightRichard Laermer - RLM Public RelationsRichard Levick - Levick Strategic Comms Ian Lipner - Lewis PR/YoungPRpros Katie Paine - Paine Publishing LLC Rodger Roeser - The Eisen Agency Lou Thompson - Kalorama Partners Reid Walker - Dir. of Communications, United States Senate Tom Martin - College of Charleston

ISSN 1546-0193

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3 PR News Best Advice Book (Volume 1)

Crowdsourcing PR Thought Leadership

Advice comes in many flavors. I recall as a child my mother telling me to “Eat your vegetables so you grow up to be strong.” She also implored me to “Always follow the

rules.” Had I taken her literally I might have missed out on trying new things, on pushing the envelope just a little closer to the edge. It’s up to you to decide how to activate advice and add your own flavoring to it.

With hundreds of contributors from all walks of PR life, this PR News Best Advice Book is your guide to personal and professional success. From advice on advancing your career, manag-ing employees, mitigating crises, leveraging social media and boosting brand leadership, this book is filled with valuable nuggets from communicators worldwide. Our chapter on Empowerment is a treasure trove of tips and guidance to get you through a tough day or to motivate you to take that chance or make that move.

The idea for the Best Advice Book stemmed from our PR News Conferences, where attendees and speakers share best practices and are at the top of their mental game as they consume a tremendous amount of material and ideas on communications advancement. We decided to take the age-old advice and “strike while the iron’s hot,” and began circulating a notebook and pen and asking attendees to share their best advice. Over the past two years, we’ve ac-cumulated thousands of pieces of advice and have narrowed it down to what you’ll find in this book.

You’ll discover tactical advice on how to deal with the social media tsunami and how to position your brand. As Krista Todd with Logitech shares in the book: “Communication is not what you say, it’s what the other person hears.” You’ll find advice worth repeating, like “The harder you work, the luckier you get” (Marcy Massura, Weber Shand-wick). And helpful instruction, such as “Your brand is talking behind your back, do you know what it’s saying?” (Adam Smith, Advent Creative).

I’d like to thank the hundreds of PR professionals who contributed to this first Best Advice Book. Your opinions are clearly worth repeating.

I hope you find this book to be a helpful guide for advancing your communications efforts, validating your thoughts and realizing your goals. The best advice I can give for making the most out of this advice book is to keep an open mind. As Harry Truman once said, “The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.”

Enjoy the Best Advice Book, please stay in touch and let me know what you think.

Diane SchwartzSenior VP & Group Publisher@dianeschwartz

Publisher’s Letter

PR News is the must-read publication for communications professionals. Each week, PR News gives you and your team a blueprint of ideas, strategies and tactics to maximize your communications and social media efforts.

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“ Don’t bury the bad.” –Jim Miller Dantsu

“ Whatever you’re going through someone else has already been through, or can give you advice. Take your time and do it right. If it’s a crisis, respond quickly. “ –Marc Moorghen Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

“ They don’t care about what you know until they know you care.” –David Scott ESPN

“ Always face issues head-on. Apologize for what’s gone wrong, communicate how you’ll address the issue and do everything you promise to do to resolve the problem.” –Lisa Saxe Business Wire

“ It is not a crisis until you start acting like it is.” –Olivia Hine Bhava Communications

“ Best advice: ‘Listen before you speak.’ Worst advice: ‘No comment.’” –Cheri Quigley

“ Just tell the truth!” –Lee Anne Peck University of Northern Colorado

7 PR News Best Advice Book (Volume 1)

“ Never be scared of a crisis. Meet it head-on and you’ll find that, if handled properly, your company will emerge stronger for it.” –Brian Eaton Great Southern Bank

“ Anticipate and prepare for a worse-case scenario and it will never happen. ‘Luck’ comes to those who work hard.” –Jennifer Perciballi Everyday Health

“ Always be the first one into the room with the bad news.” –Carl Foster Peppercomm

“ After dealing with a crisis situation, all you will want to do is erase it from your memory. Take time to evaluate and learn what worked best and learn from your mistakes.” –Lauren Felts Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity

“ Always, always, always tell the truth. The truth is easy. Unspinning a web of half-truths is daunting and destructive.” –Paul Flannigan Southwest Airlines