Archive for October, 2009
Winning Media Interviews, Part I: Ten Most Common Mistakes in Dealing With the Media
Posted by: | CommentsMore than ever before, executives are being called on to represent their organizations in backgrounders, briefings and interviews with reporters from the print, broadcast and online media. These discussions offer an excellent opportunity to tell a positive story about the organization and its products and services.
Every discussion is different depending on the length, format, reporter’s style and whether he or she is working for a print publication, radio/TV station or online media outlet. A reporter with a monthly magazine generally will have the time to explore a subject more thoroughly than an on-air TV reporter who, more often than not, is simply seeking a juicy “sound bite.” With the advent of the Internet, the news cycle is now 24/7 and an executive may be called at any time of the day or night for a quote.
In every case, executives increase their chances of being included in a story by using techniques regarding form and content that can be learned and practiced and avoiding these common mistakes:
- Replying “No Comment.” No comment translates to “guilty as charged.” The reply is used most frequently when the responder has bad news. You are under no obligation to give out information that would be damaging to you or your company. However, a response like “I can’t discuss the matter at this time, because of SEC regulations” accomplishes the same thing.
- Not Being Prepared. You need to have your facts and figures at your fingertips prior to the interview.
- Repeating a Negative. Your response: “Yes, earnings are down, but we made a capital investment of $50 in the quarter to expand our production capacity to meet consumer demand.” What is written: “Yes, earnings are down.” Some notable quotes: President Richard Nixon: “ I want the American people to know their President is not a crook.” Jessica Hahn: “I am not a bimbo.” Bank regulator: “We were not asleep at the switch.”
- Being Late to an Interview. Reporters are on tight schedules. If you are late (either by phone, in person, or online), besides irritating the reporter, you reduce your chances of getting in all your key messages. Being late to a live television interview is fatal to the relationship.
- Restricting Your Answer to the Question. You don’t have to narrowly respond to a question with a “yes” or “no.” Use the opportunity to “bridge” from the question to offer information that will broaden the reporter’s understanding and knowledge of your company and its offerings.
- Ignoring the Question. You must acknowledge the question, but you can say, “It’s not a simple yes or no, but let me tell you about how our company is addressing this is important public policy issue.”
- Not Returning Phone Calls or Emails. This is a cardinal sin, especially if a reporter is on deadline. Return all phone calls and emails (and text messages) as soon as possible, even if you know you’ll be asked questions you’d rather avoid. Otherwise, you’ll find reporters not returning your phone calls or emails.
- Using Jargon. Not every reporter is knowledgeable about your industry and its acronyms. Use language in terms that are understandable to a layman.
- Lying. Never lie to the press. They can always find out the truth from another source or by searching the Internet.
- Dribbling Out Bad News. The cardinal rule is to get all the bad information out at once. Do not dribble out morsels one at a time as this is guaranteed to keep the bad news in front of the public until all the bad news is out — and it will come out.
Email Communication Still Rules
Posted by: | CommentsThe Wall Street Journal had an article yesterday “Why Email No Longer Rules” about the slow demise of email, which is giving way to text messages, Facebook, Twitter and other communication channels.
But is that true? I think not. The article states, “In August 2009, 276.9 million people used email across the U.S., several European countries, Australia and Brazil, according to Nielsen Co., up 21% from 229.2 million in August 2008.” A 21% increase seems to me that email does still rule, even if other channels are increasing their share of traffic.
This isn’t a horse race with only one winner. What is happening and will continue to happen is that people and companies will begin to segment their messages and target audiences by communications channel. You may make a new business connection using a 140-character Tweet, but it’s likely that you will build the relationship with a deeper discourse that email – and the old-fashioned letter – allows.
Also, there will always be an element of the consuming public, possibly your target audience, that isn’t jumping on the social media bandwagon, at least not now. They don’t want to be force fed with small bites of Tweets. They will stick with old-fashioned email, thank you.
So let’s not count email out yet. Remember, the pundits predicted the demise of direct mail with the emergence of the Internet yet we’re all receiving more catalogs than ever before. Companies like L.L. Bean and Chico’s know that relaxing in your easy chair while thumbing through pages rich in color and photographs still holds a lot of appeal. Not that these companies expect you to fill out the tip-in order form. Their purpose for sending the catalogs has changed: they have learned that after browsing and earmarking pages, you will go to your computer to place an order online. See, you can teach old dogs new tricks, but don’t count out what’s working well, like email and catalogs, just yet.
F-Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content Could Enhance SEO Rankings
Posted by: | CommentsI’m not exactly sure how I came upon the study done by Jakob Nielsen about how people read web content. The study claims eyetracking visualizations show that users often read Web pages in an F-shaped pattern: two horizontal stripes followed by a vertical stripe. This could be helpful information in enhancing SEO rankings for your website or blog.
This dominant reading pattern looks somewhat like an F and has the following three components, according to Nielsen:
- Users first read in a horizontal movement, usually across the upper part of the content area. This initial element forms the F’s top bar.
- Next, users move down the page a bit and then read across in a second horizontal movement that typically covers a shorter area than the previous movement. This additional element forms the F’s lower bar.
- Finally, users scan the content’s left side in a vertical movement. Sometimes this is a fairly slow and systematic scan that appears as a solid stripe on an eyetracking heatmap. Other times users move faster, creating a spottier heatmap. This last element forms the F’s stem.
Implications of the F Pattern
Quoting from Nielsen’s Alert Box, the F pattern’s implications for web design are clear and show the importance of following the guidelines for writing for the Web instead of repurposing print content:
- Users won’t read your text thoroughly in a word-by-word manner. Exhaustive reading is rare, especially when prospective customers are conducting their initial research to compile a shortlist of vendors. Yes, some people will read more, but most won’t.
- The first two paragraphs must state the most important information. There’s some hope that users will actually read this material, though they’ll probably read more of the first paragraph than the second.
- Start subheads, paragraphs, and bullet points with information-carrying words that users will notice when scanning down the left side of your content in the final stem of their F-behavior. They’ll read the third word on a line much less often than the first two words.
You can learn more about the F Pattern theory and see actual heatmaps from user eyetracking studies at http://bit.ly/18Zl1I and decide for yourself if you want to follow Nielsen’s advice.
What I Learned From My Husband About Having a Passion for Life
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This is going to be a very personal blog to celebrate my husband Charles. My beloved passed away a week ago, but his lasting legacy will be his passion for life, especially for family, books and music.
What I admired most about him was his zest for learning. Once he became interested in a topic, he would become passionate about learning everything he could about it: printing, typography, arctic exploration, and military history were just a few of his interests. His passion extended to the interests of friends, too. Once he learned what you were passionate about, he would pepper you with letters, articles, and books on the topic. His friends would say, “please don’t go out of your way for me.”
But the truth was, they were doing him a favor because he loved the “hunt.” He once told me he could literally feel his fingers tingle when he entered an antiquarian bookstore and he approached the stacks. He knew most of the books by their spines.
I learned from Charles how important it is to be passionate about life, your friends, the arts and your life’s work. Passion is what makes life so endlessly interesting and what makes us interesting to others. Thank you, Charles, for teaching me this great lesson of life.
