From “Check” to “Checkmate”
Today I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar for Ragan Communications, on smart communication strategy in the digital age.
This is a topic I speak on pretty often, and the more I do it, the more I’m convinced about something:
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
So now we have social media tools at our disposal. So what? The thinking behind good communication doesn’t – or shouldn’t – change.
If you have your fundamentals right (i.e. goals, measurable objectives, strategy, tactics), then all you really need to do is incorporate social into your overall communication strategy, keeping the focus the same.
And I don’t mean to belittle social by saying, “all you really need to do.” What I’m trying to stress is that you shouldn’t let your awe of the tools get in the way of something you know how to do… and do well.
On the other hand if, in times past, you weren’t focusing on how your communication plan was going to help your business/organization achieve its goals but were doing something because it was cool/your boss wanted you to/, then basically you were flying by the seat of your pants.
Which perhaps took you to climes fairly salubrious on occasion; but, I daresay, more often than not you landed with a thump and wondered WTF went wrong.
Anyway – that’s the point I try to drive home whenever I speak or teach on this topic, and that’s what you’ll find in this deck.
If you already know it – excellent! and you don’t have to bother going through it.
On the other hand, if you don’t, or are new to the communication field, it might help you. And you can always let me know what you think/ask more questions by leaving a comment below or tweeting/emailing me.
Heck, I’d love it if you left a comment below/emailed/tweeted me ANYWAY. What’s life without a little conversation?
The Ragan Experience
Last week I had the pleasure of presenting, for the first time ever, at Ragan Communications’ 2009 Corporate Communicators Conference in Chicago. As someone who’s wistfully devoured the CCC brochures every year, this was a big thrill for me.
My session on strategic communications planning took place a week ago today; unfortunately I wasn’t able to stay over and attend the “unconference,” so missed meeting many of the wonderful and smart people I’ve gotten to know on Twitter. I did get to meet Amy Mengel (whose Ragan recap is absolutely killer), Ann Marie van den Hurk, APR, and Lee Aase among others, catch up with the lovely Angie Jeffrey, APR, Katie “queen” Paine and the amazing Jim Ylisela, and have a fabulous lunch and walk with the effervescent and super-smart Kate Zimmer (see how happy we are?).
The Skinny on the Presentation
The presentation itself went well (I think); I must admit I was tickled by having to move from a breakout room to the main ballroom in order to accommodate all the attendees. I very much hope it was worth their while.
When I’m asked to make these presentations, I often wonder – as I’m sure all speakers and presenters do – what I can provide to the audience that will be of most value. Or am I going to say the same things everyone else does, but with a slightly different accent?
So Beth Harte’s recent post, “Social Media’s Dirty Little Secret” really resonated with me. If you haven’t read it yet, you should, as well as click through to Dan Keeney’s post to see the video she mentions and read all the comments.
See – I agree with Beth. Social media is nothing new. And I’m going to go one step further and say that 99% of the time, PR is nothing new. Strategic communications is nothing new.
A vast majority of the time, I find the tweets, blogs, LinkedIn questions, yadda yadda, that I follow and read/respond to… nothing new. And that includes the stuff I say.
Before your jaw quite reaches the floor, I think that’s OK.
We’re not – as the rest of the world loves to say about us “PR types,” rocket scientists, tech geniuses or wildly-brilliant theorists. Most of us will probably never rise to the level of a Les Potter or Jim Grunig.
But that’s OK.
Where we add value – I hope – is in reinforcing time-tested communications best practices with practical examples of how we’ve achieved success for our clients or organizations, and showing others how they might adapt those practices for their use. I have to believe that younger professionals in particular derive great value from this.
And perhaps we’re saying it in a new voice, or a new style, that people identify with, and which drives them to adopt the aforesaid practices.
That’s what I hope attendees got out of my presentation which, in a nutshell, tried to reinforce the importance of starting with your end in sight, putting measurable objectives in place, and figuring out your strategy accordingly. (Gosh, where have I heard that before? Here, and here, and here.)
So if you were expecting a flash of brilliance from my presentation, I’m going to apologize in advance for disappointing you.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, here it is.
A special word of thanks to everyone who contributed to the presentation, particularly Lauren Vargas for reviewing it beforehand, and Bryan Person and Jenna Woodul of LiveWorld for a fabulous case study.
Filed under Communication, Measurement, Public Relations
| Tags: amy mengel, angela jeffrey, ann marie van den hurk, beth harte, bryan person, ccc09, dan keeney, jenna woodul, jim grunig, jim ylisela, kate zimmer, katie paine, lauren vargas, lee aase, les potter, liveworld, Measurement, pr, Public Relations, ragan, strategic communications, strategic planning |
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