2. When you hear “Made in
America” what comes to mind?
Twenty-one years ago, when
the U.S. trade borders opened,
angry picket lines provided
quite a visual. Now, a new
movement is underway. This
one is less about quality jobs,
and more about quality goods.
“Made in America used to
be supported by the veterans
who served in our wars, in our
unions,” said Molly Solberg,
director of sales and marketing
at Duluth Pack. “It’s been
great to see the next generation
which is more socially con-
scious. They are focused on
how they spend their dollars.”
She added: “They want to
support a company that’s giving
back to its community. These are
sustainable brands, local brands.
The two phrases ‘Made in
America’ and ‘hand crafted’ have
become more synonymous.”
Duluth Pack was founded
132 years ago on the need for
a heavy-duty pack. The prod-
ucts have been hand sewn in
the same northern Minnesota
manufacturing facility for the
past 103 years.
If you are curious, you can
stop in, watch your product
being made and meet the
person who made it.
It’s a successful model
many companies are adopting.
Shinola, a Detroit-based watch
and bike company, brought the
Swiss technique to Motor City.
“Made in America is not
a trend, it is really a growing
shift in the way people are
purchasing. We are all starting
to look at where products are
from, who is making it and
who is the artisan behind it,”
said Daniel Caudill, creative
director at Shinola.
“At Shinola, we assemble
every watch in our Detroit fac-
tory,” he added. “But there are
some things that we can’t get
in the U.S. For example, the 50
to 100 small parts we need to
make for the watch movement
come from Switzerland, and we
assemble the movement itself
here in Detroit.”
Both Shinola and Duluth
Pack want to eventually pro-
duce a 100% American-made
product, but that requires
other companies to develop
various components.
And that starts with a trained
workforce. Makers Coalition
was founded to bring back the
art of sewing and give Americans
a valuable, employable skill.
Jen Guarino’s commitment to
American-based manufacturing
prompted her to join Makers
Coalition as founding chair.
“There’s a resurgence
around things that take human
hands to make,” said Guarino,
who is also VP of Shinola’s
leather division. “Those trades
that work with raw materials,
not manufactured, are begin-
ning to come back—wood-
working and metals.”
If a substantial amount of
your product is manufactured
or assembled in the U.S., you
may be able to jump into the
American Made movement.
But tread lightly.
▶ Be transparent. You must
be transparent about just how
much of your product is actu-
ally Made in America.
Creating a product that is
totally sourced, manufactured
and assembled in the U.S.
without foreign parts is difficult.
Be clear on your website
about exactly what is American
Made and what is not. You’ll get
credit from consumers for your
efforts to do as much as you can
in the United States, even if you
cannot build it all from scratch.
▶ Give it a personal
touch. Solberg points to
the small tag signed by the
craftsman that
sewn in every
Duluth Pack
product as the most compel-
ling piece of marketing the
company employs. It verifies
that it was indeed crafted by a
person, not a machine.
Shinola has a similar
approach. Each item sold
comes with an ID card for the
person who manufactured it.
This personal touch goes a long
way to promote the product’s
unique quality.
▶ Share your story.
Everyone loves a good story.
Whether you are a hundred-
year old brand or a start-up,
how you got started and why
you are committed to Made in
America is compelling.
Support your story with
historic images, pictures of
your facility and employees at
work, plus a compelling video
detailing your process and like-
minded partners.
▶ Be bold. Consumers
are actively seeking American
Made products. So be bold.
Don’t expect them to figure out
you are Made in America.
Spread the word on your
social platforms, develop a
Pinterest page devoted to all
things Red, White and Blue,
make it part of your employees’
elevator speech and CEO’s key
messages when speaking with
media, stockholders and other
critical stakeholders.
After all, Americans aren’t
known for being wallflowers,
so neither should American
Made brands. PRN
CONTACT:
Maria Reitan is president and
Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of
Lola Red PR. She can be reached
at maria@lolaredpr.com.
2 prnewsonline.com | 8.18.14
By Maria Reitan
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Craft a ‘Made in America’ Message
▶How To...
3. ▶Data Points
September 16 | 12 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | The Grand Hyatt, NYC
This must-attend event will honor the Platinum PR Award winners and honorable mentions who
represent the corporations, agencies and nonprofits who took chances, made tremendous strides and
understand the power of public relations.
Join us to salute the year’s most outstanding communications initiatives and programs in the highly
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prnewsonline.com | 8.18.14 3
Happy Medium
A new survey lends credence to how communicators can boost their value in a digital age:
Create content tailored to the various stages of the purchasing process. Rinse and repeat.
▶ It’s Not Physical. It’s Not Digital. It’s Both. Despite the tremen-
dous growth in digital media and marketing, consumers still prefer
a combination of digital and physical elements when it comes to the
purchasing process. According to a recent survey by management
consulting company A.T. Kearney, 55% of consumers prefer to
use both brick-and-mortar stores and online venues througout the
entire buyer journey. The study, which asked more than 2,500 U.S.
shoppers about their shopping preferences, said that among the 30
possible multichannel journeys, the most common is one in which
online is used solely for initial product discovery and the store is pre-
ferred for trial, purchase, pickup and returns.
This should help inform your content marketing strategy:
online content catering to the front of the sales funnel and more
traditional PR channels toward the end (for now, at least). PRN
Source: A.T. Kearney
Metrics that are helping to define the communications field.
Store, digital and multichannel shopping journey preferences
4. Platinum PR Awards Finalists Announced
Hall of Fame
Anniversary
Center/Office of Communication
Annual Report
Responsibility Report
Blog
Branding
Cause-Related Marketing
Community Relations
Crisis Management
Employee Relations
Event Marketing
Anomaly
External Publication
(print or online)
Facebook Campaign
Financial/Investor Relations
Global PR Campaign
Green PR
Influencer Communications
Alcohol
Internal Publication
(print or online)
Marketing Communications
Media Event – Brand
and
Media Event – Public Affairs
Media Relations
We hope to see you at the Grand Hyatt in New York City on Sept. 16 for our Platinum PR Awards luncheon, which will have even more stardust this year. Joining
us as emcee will be Ginger Zee of ABC News’ “Good Morning America.” To register, please go to prnewsonline.com/platinum-luncheon-2014.
4 prnewsonline.com | 8.18.14
5. Multicultural Campaign
On a Shoestring Campaign
Online Communications
Online Press Room/Media Center
PR Firm of the Year
(billings above $10m)
PR Firm of the Year (billings
below $10m)
Press Release
Pro Bono Campaign
Product Launch
PSA
and Proof Integrated Communications
Public Affairs
Re-Branding/Re-positioning
Research & Measurement
Satellite Media Tours
SEM/SEO Initiatives
or Campaign
Social Media Campaign
Speeches
Trade Show/Event PR
Twitter Campaign
Video Program
Web Site Marketing
Word of Mouth/Viral Campaign
WOW! Award
PR News Top Places to
Work in PR 2014
prnewsonline.com | 8.18.14 5
6. Distracted driving has been
called a national epidemic. In
Texas, which has more miles
of roadways than any other
state in the U.S., distracted
driving is a serious public
health threat, causing more
than 95,000 traffic accidents
in 2013. Drivers who use a cell
phone behind the wheel are four
times more likely to get into a
crash serious enough to cause
injury. Reading or sending a
text takes a driver’s eyes off the
road for about five seconds, the
equivalent of driving the length
of a football field at 55 miles per
hour blindfolded. Hands-free
cell phone use is just as dan-
gerous. Talking on the phone
while driving causes a range
of cognitive impairments that
reduce reaction time, overload
the brain and create “inattention
blindness”—the phenomenon
that makes drivers unable to
see or monitor up to 50% of
the potential hazards in their
driving environment.
Sherry Matthews Advocacy
Marketing’s “Talk, Text, Crash”
public education campaign
for the Texas Department of
Transportation (TxDOT) was
designed to reverse the number
of crashes, fatalities, and inju-
ries tied to distracted driving.
HARD DRIVE
The integrated campaign,
which launched in April
to coincide with National
Distracted Driving Awareness
Month, used paid media,
news coverage, social media,
corporate partners, statewide
organizations, law enforcement
and community stakeholders to
deliver an important reminder
to drivers: You Talk, You Text,
You Crash.
The campaign positioned
TxDOT as a leader and driving
force behind a comprehen-
sive and sustained statewide
movement to stop distracted
driving. The communications
strategy was designed to raise
awareness about the dangers
of distracted driving, promote
practical alternatives to using
a cell phone while driving and
encourage commitments from
stakeholders and drivers not to
text or talk and drive.
The “Talk, Text, Crash”
slogan delivered a direct
instruction to Texas drivers
of all ages. The campaign also
included these elements:
activities educated Texans
about the prevalence and con-
sequences of distracted driving
and provided useful infor-
mation about how to affect
behavior change.
-
ship was launched to coincide
with the “Distracted Driving
Summit” to make prevention of
distracted driving a statewide
business priority.
phone” was taken on tour and
carried campaign messages
to major media markets and
communities throughout the
state, providing a platform for
local news and storytelling
(see image on p. 7).
were leveraged to deliver cam-
paign messages to employees,
customers, and constituents.
amplified using a strong word-
of-mouth delivery system via
business, media and commu-
▶Case Study
6 prnewsonline.com | 8.18.14
The Texas Department of
Transportation took the dis-
tracted driving message to the
streets with a graphic expression
of its “Talk, Text, Crash” public
education campaign. Sherry
Matthews Advocacy Marketing
developed the car-sized, 950-
pound crashed smartphone as a
mobile backdrop to use at public
relations events. The traveling
prop toured Texas communities
to spread the word about the
dangers of distracted driving
and was center stage at media
events in six major media mar-
kets in the Lone Star State.
The truck was positioned in
front of community landmarks,
with local law enforcement,
traffic safety specialists, and
community partners standing
in front of the truck and
delivering the message to
pay attention while driving.
Community members who
lost loved ones to distracted
driving crashes shared their
personal stories as well.
The giant phone delivered sig-
nificant results, appearing live
on several local morning-TV
shows. The 950-pound phone
clocked more than 2,200 miles
during a two week period
and yielded almost 700 print,
broadcast and online images.
TxDOT will continue to use
the prop at community and
educational events after the
campaign concludes.
There were five PR elements
designed to drive the campaign:
1. Tell a story. Content is key to
reach and influence. Use data
to build a relevant, newsworthy
and compelling story that
underpins the entire campaign.
2. Think visually. Find a way to
break down your message and
express it with a single image.
3. Think locally. Develop strate-
gies to make your message
resonate and connect with
communities. Don’t presume
that your audi-
ence will find
you. You have
to package
the message
for them.
4. Be consistent.
Be sure that every element
in the campaign carries
the same personality and
delivers a coordinated mes-
sage and tone.
5. Leverage partnerships. Find
ways to engage partners by
accenting the intersection
where your goals and their
goals meet.
—R.N.
Racecar driver (and advocate against
distracted driving) Zach Veach
talks about the importance of driv-
ing focused at TxDOT’s Distracted
Driving Summit, which was held last
June in Austin.
PR Effort Looks to Put a Stop to Texting While Driving
Photocourtesy:SherryMatthewsAdvocacyMarketing
2,200miles
Number of miles
covered (in two
weeks) by car
carrying a
950-pound
smartphone.
Robert Nash
Going Mobile With a 950-Pound Smartphone
7. prnewsonline.com | 8.18.14 7
nity partners, with an emphasis
on social media.
An innovative paid media
plan using billboards, gas-
pump ads, radio, theater ads,
digital and online video, in
both English and Spanish,
launched in April to support
national Distracted Driving
Month. Educational toolkits
were prepared for traffic safety
specialists, community partners
and Texas businesses.
A sustained presence online
reminds millions of drivers to
pay attention to the road and
avoid texting.
EXTENDING THE MESSAGE
TxDOT’s Texas Distracted
Driving Summit event, last
June, was a critical message
extension strategy, as it cast the
traffic safety issue as a real and
urgent business concern.
During the summit busi-
ness leaders were asked
what they can do to protect
employees, reduce liability and
help keep Texas roadways safe.
When employees crash
while using a mobile device
their employers can be held
liable. Every day, nearly 9.5 mil-
lion Texans commute to work
by car, and truck drivers haul
more than one billion tons of
goods and products each year
within the state’s borders. More
workers are killed every year in
motor vehicle crashes than any
other cause, and an employer’s
price tag for an on-the-job
crash is about $24,500 per
vehicle crash, $128,000
per injury, and $3.8 mil-
lion per fatality.
The summit’s objec-
tive was to highlight the
economic and societal
impact of distracted
driving and encourage
businesses to implement
policies and educate
their employees about
the risks of texting and
other distractions.
TxDOT invited busi-
ness leaders from across
the state to hear experts
discuss the business
impact and financial
liability for crashes that
result when employees
drive distracted on the
job. Summit attendees
became valuable torch-
bearers for the “Talk,
Text, Crash” campaign. The
executives were provided with
talking points to discuss at their
office, as they became valuable
evangelists for the “Talk, Text,
Crash” campaign.
THE LONG HAUL
The event was held in April, at
The Circuit of The Americas
racetrack, home to the world’s
most focused drivers, featuring
the United States Grand Prix
Formula 1. Summit attendees
were treated to VIP tours of the
track, and the agenda featured
a blend of expert discussions,
case studies, practical tools and
resources to implement a com-
pany distracted driving policy.
Speakers included national
experts on distracted
driving and corporate
liability, cognitive
scientists, and Texas-
based businesses that
have implemented
successful distracted
driving policies,
including ExxonMobil,
AT&T and All My
Sons Moving &
Storage, which shared
their experiences and
best practices. A news
anchor from the local
CBS-affiliate televi-
sion station moderated a panel
at the Summit, providing
embedded coverage.
The cognitive scien-
tists who presented at the
Summit—also hosts of a public
radio talk show—used material
about distracted driving as the
subject of one of their radio
shows, further extending the
campaign’s message.
Zach Veach, Andretti
Autosport racecar champion
and advocate against distracted
driving, also participated at the
event, sharing the story with
his social network and boosting
the campaign’s visibility.
Similarly, meeting attendees
posted campaign informa-
tion and personal pledges
to drive distraction-free
using #TxDDSummit and
#TalkTextCrash.
The Summit event also
included national advocates
against distracted driving and
heart-wrenching testimonials
shared by families of victims of
Texas distracted driving crashes.
The 950-pound crashed
smartphone prop was unveiled
at the Summit and served as
an effective backdrop for local
media live coverage.
The ultimate goal of this
campaign was to save lives
and prevent injuries by moti-
vating drivers to give driving
their full attention. Changing
public opinion and behavior
takes time.
After the Distracted
Driving campaign concludes,
Sherry Matthews Advocacy
Marketing will work with
TxDOT to understand shifts in
attitudes, self-reported changes
in behavior and increases in
distracted driving policies.
Once available, crash sta-
tistics will gauge whether the
messages are getting through.
Meanwhile, public rela-
tions and earned media
efforts are keeping the topic
of distracted driving front
and center in the media. To
date, we’ve had more than 500
media stories in every major
daily and every major network
affiliate in Texas. PRN
(This article was writen
by Robert Nash, PR director
at Sherry Matthews Advocacy
Marketing.)
CONTACT:
Robert Nash, robertn@
sherrymatthews.com.
Zach Veach talks to a reporter in front of a 950-pound crashed phone. Sherry Matthews
Advocacy Marketing created the visual as part of TxDOT’s “Talk, Text, Crash” statewide,
distracted driving public education campaign.
Photocourtesy:SherryMatthewsAdvocacyMarketing
The ultimate goal
of the PR campaign
was to save lives and
prevent injuries by
motivating drivers to
give driving their
full attention.
8. 8 prnewsonline.com | 8.18.14
Culture
▶ Page 1
different prism—what does this
mean for women?” said David
Johnson, CEO of Strategic
Vision. “Communicators need
to show that this is not a PR
move, but a cultural shift for
the entire league, and what the
team is doing to cultivate a new
generation of female fans.”
NEW QUESTIONS
Indeed, the Spurs’ move raises
myriad questions for com-
municators that they may not
necessarily have confronted in
the past. Whether it’s women
breaking the glass ceiling (in an
industry dominated by men),
gay marriage, income inequality
or immigration reform, several
societal and cultural issues are
starting to come to the fore.
Fueled by the Web, both
social activists and consumers
are increasingly demanding
that brands and organiza-
tions stake their position on
hot-button issues. And the
responses can’t be condensed
into few sound bites.
“Social media has given
a voice to the socially active,
who now expect brands to tell
a story about their values and
know whether consumers share
those values,” Johnson said.
For example, companies
including American Airlines,
Apple, AT&T and Intel ear-
lier this year called on Arizona
Governor Jan Brewer to veto a bill
permitting businesses to refuse
service on religious grounds,
allowing them to discriminate
against same-sex couples.
At the time, AT&T issued
the following statement: “While
the stated intention may not be
to discriminate, we believe the
actual language could open the
door to discrimination against
anyone, including those the bill
is intended to protect.” (Brewer
vetoed the bill.)
SPARKING A DIALOGUE
“Companies have to bal-
ance their dialogue and the
messages they want to share
within the context of larger
cultural changes,” said Anne
Green, president-CEO of
CooperKatz. “They now
have an opportunity to con-
nect with different groups of
people through multiple chan-
nels. But it has to come from
an authentic place.”
Green recommended three
tips for PR managers who need
to think more strategically about
how their brands and organiza-
tions can best respond to cul-
tural changes, including whether
their company will want to take
a leadership role regarding the
issues in question.
1. Conduct a pre-analysis
of how a story may unfold.
Communicators need to antici-
pate what kind of questions
they’ll get from both the media
and consumers—pro, con or
neutral—and craft some initial
responses for spokespeople and
the organization as a whole.
2. Understand top execu-
tives’ intentions. It’s impor-
tant for senior PR managers
to be a conduit between the
employee who is being inter-
viewed and senior manage-
ment to ensure that all mes-
sages are aligned with both
the organization’s values and
its overall mission, which
plays into the third tip.
3. Strive for balance.
Communicators can play an
important role in striking a
balance between the media’s
interest in an issue and the mis-
sion of the organization.
With many cultural issues
continuing to swirl around the
country, PR pros have to pre-
pare to potentially answer some
tough questions, according to
Makovsky’s Sharkey. “You can
say all the words you want but
you have to make sure you walk
the talk,” she said. PRN
CONTACT:
Anne Greene, agreen@
cooperkatz.com; David Johnson,
djohnson@strategicvision.biz;
Kristen Sharkey, ksharkey@
makovsky.com.
Bold moves make news one
way or another. When compa-
nies make history with high-
impact business or cultural deci-
sions—such as the San Antonio
Spurs’ hiring Becky Hammon as
the NBA’s first full-time female
assistant coach—they must take
charge of their destiny or others
will do it for them. Brands need
to position themselves vis-à-vis
the decision, set the tone, create
context and put it all in perspec-
tive. That’s how you win the “big
news” game. Some PR tips for
you to consider:
1. Zoom out. Even look back.
Position your game-changing
move in the context of your
entire company history, story,
and brand. Use the news to
reinforce that perspective. Hire
a female coach and many will
jump on the “female” aspect.
But if your commitment has
always been to hire the best
talent, that’s your story. You’ll
drive continuity, broaden
perspective and shift the con-
versation for a more holistic
impact. Step back and see
your news as one point in the
long-term timeline you’ve built.
2. Calm the hype. Even when
it’s great big news, apply the
rules of crisis communication.
Strip out the spin and focus on
transparent, honest quotes. Be
thoughtful—even reflective—as
you talk about impact. See this
as a moment in time, not your
one shot at glory. A great exer-
cise: imagine the story a year
from now (even five years) and
think about how you want to
look back at it. Discipline your-
self, even if you could use the
news to grab attention. Take
a deep breath. Think “quality,”
not quantity.
3. Make friends. If it’s really big
news, it’s going to take you
beyond your usual audience
reach. Work it. Think about
who might be listening. Make
them feel so welcome they stay
for your next news. Use the
moment to connect new dots
at the edge of your traditional
markets and your reach and
ratings will
move in the
right direction.
If your news is
about a new
hire, coach
him or her on your thinking.
They’re part of your brand now,
of your timeline, and of your
big-picture story. Focus on the
big picture. Stay cool and bal-
anced. And deflect the glory
of the moment onto all of the
things you’re doing well. Focus
on the bigger game and you’ll
be more likely to play like a pro.
This sidebar was written by
Barbara Bates, CEO and founder
of Eastwick. She can be reached
at barbara@eastwick.com.
24
Number of
female CEOs in
the Fortune 500.
Fortune
Barbara Bates
PR Tips for Excelling in the ‘Big News’ Game
9. The best step is to proac-
tively lock up URL’s and sub-
domains before you publicly
announce a new brand’s name
or a campaign that will have
major investment.
2. Build a central reposi-
tory. We all know that the
weakest link leads to the easiest
entry point for a hacker to get
into your servers. The weakest
link often is a social channel or a
website in a country off the radar
that’s not well maintained.
Do you know who has the
user name and passwords for
every channel or site today? Is
it in the hands of your company
or an agency? Does more than
one person have it in case that
person leaves?
Your step here is to develop a
policy so that all usernames and
passwords for all websites and
social channels (in all countries)
are all housed in a central repos-
itory that is well protected.
3. Know your top 100
search queries. Identify the top
100 search queries, in order of
volume, for your brand. Look at
what those queries are and also
look at the first screen of each
one. Is that the brand story you
want to tell? What are people
actually interested in when they
are not pleased with your brand
or your category? How are
these queries shifting and what
does that tell you about trends?
Your next step is to create
this top 100 and then deter-
mine, via analytics, who is
actually shaping your story
via search.
4. Know your antagonists.
The good news is that human
beings always follow patterns
online. This empowers you to
understand exactly how your
antagonists are likely to act.
This is small data. Imagine
identifying 5,000 people to
track for a large brand. That’s
not really all that much, yet it
defines the voice of unrest.
Your step is to identify all
antagonists for your brand.
Then, track what they have been
doing and saying for the last
year. And see what this tells you
about the relevance of your issue
to the antagonist. You’ll see what
you should be doing to prepare.
5. Identify issues before
they hit the press. More than
90% of issues for any brand are
known in advance. The key is
that you identify what they are
and build a multicountry, mul-
tifunction team, informally, to
share what members are learning
on a continual basis.
Often, because we know an
issue may present itself, when we
see the first public mention of it,
it becomes a high-level alert. If
we don’t have a system in place,
we tend to react to what media or
social media have flagged for us.
At that point we’ve lost.
6. Know what reputational
triggers matter. We have a ten-
dency to think that all attributes
of a brand’s reputation matter.
However, what we see is that, at
best, 25% of the attributes you
track really matter. The majority
don’t. The key is that you know
the true weighting of each attri-
bute, so your radar is adjusted as
knowledge pours in, good or bad.
The next step is to take your
reputational attributes and see
how they stack up in all chan-
nels of online media. With the
right algorithm, you’ll be sur-
prised by what you see.
7. Understand the value
of each voice. When you are
thinking of commenting on social
channels, ask yourself if you have
analyzed the reach and influence
of the person you will respond to.
When you do this routinely,
you realize that often, those who
don’t like your brand are simply
talking to themselves. You may
decide to respond to requests
large and small, but know whom
you are reaching out to and what
is likely to happen. Ensure you
speak with the voice of the brand
on a consistent basis.
Your next step here is to
develop a model to understand
who you are responding to before
you do, so you know their reach,
influence and likely response.
8. Improving your search
position. This is a longer topic,
so it is important to point out
what doesn’t work well. Stop
stuffing links with code. Stop
trying to game the system. What
works is what communicators
are awesome at doing. It is real
content that gets shared by your
target audience that matters. It is
having the right keywords within
this content that matters.
Your next step is to stop lis-
tening to self-proclaimed search
experts using tools that don’t
work well. Focus on telling your
story with the right language
to the right people, leading to
sharing of what matters to your
brand. Keep it simple. PRN
CONTACT:
Bob Pearson is President
of W20 Group and author
of “Pre-Commerce: How
Companies and Customers
are Transforming Business
Together” (John Wiley and
Sons). He can be reached at
bpearson@w2ogroup.com.
prnewsonline.com | 8.18.14 9
Security
▶ Page 1
The Concept of
‘Mutual Intelligibility’
It’s more important than ever to monitor the languages of the
online world. As communicators spend more time online, lan-
guage relationships become a key to effective brand listening.
“Mutual Intelligibility” means that because you speak language
X, you are likely to understand language Y, dialect Z and follow
closely what is said in the languages that are one degree of sepa-
ration from your mother tongue. Basically, what the other party is
saying is “intelligible” enough to follow.
All multilanguage customers, which is the majority of the world,
have a comfort zone of languages and dialects they will learn
from. It’s not about one language anymore.
Mutual Intelligibility listening shows us exactly how an issue is
likely to evolve and cross languages and countries. For example,
if Czech is your main language, you may also be following Slovak
and Polish. If you are Danish, you may be tracking what is said
in Norwegian and Swedish. If you are Serbo-Croatian, you may
understand Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian. If you
are living in China, you may understand Mandarin and Jin, which
is a dialect of Mandarin spoken by 45 million people.
And of course, Americans, well, we would say we understand the
dialects of the South or the Bronx, but not much more. Not sure
what to do there.
What it means is that when you have a listening program in
place for your brand, you should automatically track the related
languages and dialects of the country or language of origin
for the issue you are tracking. In an increasingly globalized
economy, not to mention the Web, this should become standard
for brands and organizations. —B.P.
10. 10 prnewsonline.com | 8.18.14
and praise the pause
Most of us fear presenting
or speaking in public. No
one is a born speaker. It
takes discipline, practice and
good habits to channel your
nerves. Here are some guide-
lines and rules to help you on
that journey.
Let’s count them down by
the numbers.
55: Use great images.
Visuals aid recall by
55%. (Great images for a
dollar at Canva.com or
DollarPhotoClub.com.)
36: Preparation is key. It
takes at least 36 hours to create
an hour-long presentation.
30: Minimum font size is
30 on a slide.
20: Don’t play 20 ques-
tions. Finishing your presenta-
tion with a Q&A tends to land
with a veritable thud. Take
questions, but then finish with
a strong story/close.
16: The maximum number
of words on any given slide is 16.
15: Less is more. Use a
maximum of 15 slides for every
20 minutes of presentation.
14: Here are 14 fonts
you should add to your
arsenal. Baskerville,
CantoraOne, Hobo Std,
GOTHAM, Impact, Marker
Felt, Montserrat, Open Sans,
Oswald, Pacifico Regular,
Proxima Nova, PT Sans Bold,
Rokkitt and Ubuntu.
13: Beware of the number
13. Bad things will happen
when you present. You can
count on it. Practice without
slides. Do an audio check
before you speak.
12: The Baker’s Dozen.
Always add a little something
extra. Take a cue from the late
Steve Jobs. He always had one
more thing.
11: In the hilarious movie
This is Spinal Tap guitarist
Nigel Tufnel describes a unique
feature of his amplifiers. “These
go to 11,” he says. Vary the
pitch and volume. Make sure
you elevate and lower your
voice for emphasis.
10: The human brain can
only concentrate for 10 min-
utes before shutting off. Plan
breaks into your presentation
by using video, role plays and
group exercises.
9: Dress to the nines.
Eighty-percent of our judg-
ments about people are made
in an instant, using two
criteria: warmth and com-
petence. Dress smartly to
leverage both.
8: Leverage the magic of
Hollywood. Use great storytelling
techniques like the eight steps of
the hero’s journey. These tech-
niques include: Call to Adventure;
Revelation; Transformation;
Atonement and Return.
7: When communicating
feeling, understand that only
7% communicated are the
words you use, while 55% is
body language and 38% is tone.
6: Use your sixth sense.
Be engaged with the audience.
Look for clues for what’s rele-
vant to them. It’s not about you.
5: Five fingers. Gestures are
key. Use your hands purpose-
fully to emphasize points. Don’t
be afraid to go big.
4: Learn from photogra-
phers to avoid the center. When
placing an image on a slide,
use the four power points of
emphasis. Imagine a tic-tac-toe
board on your slide. Draw the
eye of the audience to one of the
four points at the intersections.
3: People remember things
in threes. Use this powerful
memory heuristic to your
advantage when presenting.
2: Two sec-
onds of pause.
When you make a point of
emphasis, pause and let your
audience have a chance to let it
sink in.
1: S.T.O.P. - Single Thought,
One Person. Deliver a single
thought to one person. This
practice eliminates annoying
filler words (and, so, um) and
allows you time to breathe.
0: Zero. The number of
bullets you should use in your
entire presentation.
Perfect public speaking is a
myth. There is always room for
improvement and learning. Use
these tips and travel safe on the
never-ending journey.
To access the entire
Slideshare presentation, please
go to: http://www.slideshare.
net/9INCHMARKETING/21-
rules-to-help-you-rock-your-
next-presentation. PRN
CONTACT:
Stan Phelps is the founder
of 9 INCH Marketing and
author of the Amazon
Best-Seller, “What’s Your
Purple Goldfish? 12 Ways
to Win Customers and
Influence Word of Mouth.”
He can be reached at
stan@9inchmarketing.com.
▶Tip Sheet
Delivering a Killer Presentation, By the Numbers
Attend PR News’ Crisis Management Boot Camp on September 15 at the Yale Club in New York City to learn
and master the skills you’ll need to lead your organization’s communications strategy before, during and after a crisis.
Questions? Contact Rachel Scharmann at rscharmann@accessintel.com 24444
REGISTER TODAY: www.crisisbootcamp2014.com
By Stan Phelps
