Lisa Nason – Ron Sachs Communications
August 12, 2011
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Florida League of Cities
Florida Association of Health Plans
Governor’s Adoption Initiative
Florida Association of Counties
Florida Association of Court Clerks
Florida Association of Health Plans
Florida Association of Insurance
Agents
Florida Association of the
American Institute of Architects
Florida Center for Performing Arts
and Education
The Byrd Alzheimer’s Center &
Research Institute
Florida Department of Health
The Florida Nurses Association
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Whole Child Leon
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW:
Media Training
Crisis Communications
WHY ENGAGE?
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In addition to education and advocacy, proactive
media relations is a critical component of the
overall public affairs effort to tell your story:
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Dispel myths or inaccuracies (economy, taxes)
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Drive the discussion
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Boost the effectiveness of your efforts by reaching
the audience that is critical to you and other
elected officials: the public and policy makers
IT’S A JOB!
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Reporters are not the enemy
Tremendous pressure from editors for
decent stories
Short deadlines, lean staff
Competition on multiple fronts:
◦ Social media
◦ Print vs. Electronic
REMEMBER to HARO!
Help A Reporter Out
Trust is the Coin of the Realm
1. Never
Lie. Ever. For Any Reason
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You will get caught
Your reputation as a source will be destroyed
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Be a resource - HARO
Respect deadlines
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Stick to the focus of the story
“Off the record” doesn’t exist, so don’t blab
2. Never
3. You
leave the media empty-handed
don’t have to tell everything you know
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Fact Sheet
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Q&A
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Bios, Maps, Graphics, Charts, Statistics
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Success Stories or Profiles – make the story come
alive with real people and real stories
◦ Comprehensive, but easy to understand
◦ Media and Audience Resource
◦ Remember: HARO! Make it easy for others to
understand
◦ Drive the message – ask questions you want to answer
◦ Good interview preparation tool (and media resource)
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Media List…
◦ Critically important to target properly – local
government reporters; Capitol Press Corps;
assignment editors
◦ Don’t forget online industry publications and
advocacy sites
◦ News Aggregators
◦ Talk Radio
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Public Access & Local Government TV
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Make Your Own News
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Truth Serum
Show the Human Impact
Have a Local Angle to connect to bigger stories
Be ready to act! Timing is everything
Develop News Hooks – Tie into current media cycle
Make It Memorable
◦ Announce something in a new and novel way
◦ Think in terms of visuals – photo and film
◦ Include Media worthy participants and props
Golden Fleece
(HARO!)
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Know your deadlines!
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Don’t call a reporter after 3:00pm unless you
have breaking news or an update
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Don’t have an event after 2:00pm if you want to
make a 5:00pm package
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To hold a news conference in the Capitol, you will
need a sponsor (Senator/Representative)
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Prepare for the media: multbox, risers, mic stand
Be Prepared!
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Identify three to five key messages (Fact Sheet)
Anticipate tough questions (Q&A)
Shape your message
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Be prepared for success
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◦ Be brief, and say what you mean
◦ Prepare sound bites, your most important points
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Speak simply
Be brief, but avoid yes/no answers.
Don’t use too many statistics
Don’t use professional jargon
Avoid acronyms
Camera Ready!
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Be brief
Act natural – Stand Up!
Don’t fidget…. Use gestures sparingly
Speak directly to the interviewer
Look at the reporter, not the camera
STOP TALKING WHEN YOU ARE DONE
Control Your Message
- Tell the story your way, regardless of the question.
- Don’t rush to respond - it is okay to pause.
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Make sure that every statement is a message and
that the statement is yours.
STOP TALKING WHEN YOU ARE DONE
Control your message with the bridge technique:
1. “What is more important is to take a look at…”
2. “Before we continue, let me emphasize that…”
3. “No, let me explain…”
4. “While I can’t answer that, it is essential that
I…”
5. “Here is the real issue…”
6. STOP TALKING WHEN YOU ARE DONE.
Think you’re done?
1. Assume the camera is still rolling, or that the
microphone is still on
2. Remember – there is no “Off the Record”
3. Assume that you will be taken out of context
– it will happen frequently
4. If you are actually misquoted or a factual
error occurs, immediately seek to have a
correction issued, and if appropriate, that
online editions are also corrected.
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW:
Media Training
Crisis Communications
What is a Crisis? (3 different types)
◦ Operational Crisis – Emergency (Reactive)
◦ Organizational Crisis – Issue Management (Proactive)
◦ Organizational Crisis – Reputation Repair (Reactive)
1. Case
1. Case
Study: RS&H (Emergency Event)
Study: HRMC (Issue Management)
2. Case
Study: FBC (Reputation Repair)
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Emergency: Self-evident. (natural disaster;
technology/equipment related; human error)
Issue Management: An unstable condition
involving the likelihood of an impending
abrupt or decisive change (i.e., critical report
or media coverage, imminent legal decision)
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Reputation Repair: Integrity or reputation of
an individual or organization is threatened
(brewing scandal)
RS&H
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National Engineering and Transportation
Consultants – 26 U.S. offices
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November 6, 2009 – Fatal Workplace
Violence
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In a 20 minute time period, RS&H went from
normal operations to “live” on CNN.
Company was in a REACTIVE MODE
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CEO was traveling. Genuine confusion about
details
No crisis communication plan existed
Scramble to deal with media
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Local affiliates scrambling for information and
interviews – AGGRESSIVE PRESS CORPS – GET THE
INTERVIEW!
National media interest. GET THE INTERVIEW!
RS&H sought crisis communication help within 24
hours
Local media relations
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Live Press Conference with C-level execs, law
enforcement, Mayor, Clergy
Provided CONTROLLED access to small pool of
employees, access to family of injured
Daily news releases; milestone press conferences
National media relations
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Debunking myths (Lou Dobbs)
Correcting the record (by-the-book termination)
Reinforce the corporate brand: commitment to
improvement. Review by safety expert.
1. Stopped rumor mill among media, employees
1. Stopped aggressive pursuit of RS&H
employees by engaging in exhaustive media
relations
2. Retained a strong, loyal workforce
3. Corporate Brand INTACT! Reinforced the
corporate brand & commitment to continuous
improvement, review of operations, facilities
by industrial design and safety experts
Independent Public Hospital
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Event: Lawsuit-Mediation Announcement
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Company was in PROACTIVE MODE
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Development of Integrated Issue
Management Plan
Crisis Communications Plan
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Approved: March 9, 2010
Executed: March, April, May, June 2010
Plan Evaluation – Effectiveness Review: July 13, 2010
GOAL: Insure the continued reputation of hospital as the
premier provider of healthcare and trauma services in the
county.
STRATEGY: Combat negative perceptions about hospital that
may have arisen as a result of legal proceedings through a
media campaign to highlight the accomplishments of the
Trauma Program, physicians, and special capabilities.
PLAN: Execute integrated positive publicity, paid
placement and proactive media relations campaign
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Meet with Editorial Board
Meet with feature writer
Organize CEO or leadership blogs
Solicit Letters to the Editor
Develop creative campaign for paid placement
Create one page flyer for internal posting
Draft and distribute PSA’s
Create earned media photo-op event
Create Feature News Release
Secure Op-Ed Placement
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Two featured opinion columns were placed
One strongly favorable earned editorial (Op-Ed) was
achieved
Two favorable Business Editor commentary columns
were achieved
Three positive feature articles were achieved
Accuracy and intent of article headlines improved
dramatically
100% of potentially negative news packages were
squashed
Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE) of earned media:
$163,000
FBC – Florida’s Blood Centers
1. Year
long slow-burn in Orlando Sentinel
over perceptions of lavish spending and
inappropriate relationships (financial)
between agency and board members.
2. Sentinel
focus resulted in Senate hearings
3. Negative
attention is leading to steady
string of board resignations
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Brewing controversy over gift cards
Outrage over CEO salary ($600+K)
Senate Hearings – pledge of change
Undisclosed CEO performance bonus
Employee layoffs
Orlando Sentinel calls for resignation
Note: EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MANAGE
REPUTATION REPAIR IF LEADERSHIP DOES
NOT ACKNOWLEDGE PROBLEM!
1. Arrogance toward Media
◦ Stonewall attitude (“It’s just one newspaper!”)
◦ Policy of “No Comment” by Board
◦ Policy of not providing records (“We’re not in the
sunshine.”)
◦ Policy of no interviews by media relations staff
◦ Policy of no editorial board contact (“They are the
enemy!”)
2. No proactive reputation management
◦ Others (media, public) were allowed to define the
story
◦ Community advocates were taken for granted
◦ Employees were ignored
HEADLINE
February 19, 2010
“Resign… In taking a pay hike and dragging her
feet on reform, the CEO has shown she's not fit to
lead blood bank.”
FIRST CALL TO PR FIRM:
February 20, 2010
Crisis Communication Principles:
• Never try to lie, deny or hide involvement.
•When the news is bad, tell the truth and tell is fast!
• If you ignore the situation it will only get worse.
• Don't let the lawyers make the decisions!! While they are well
intentioned it may cause the crisis to escalate
•The public and media decides what they are interested in – not us!
•Protecting a reputation is far easier than repairing. Public relations
professionals must serve as voices of caution and counsel!
•Evaluate who wins: Court of Law versus the Court of Public Opinion?
Development of Crisis Communications Plan
Do It NOW!
Meet with Senior Executives NOW! (tell it to sell it)
1. Plan
elements
a. Guiding Principles
b. Crisis Team – include contact grid; Update every 30 days
c. Assign Key Roles (Contact Grid; Spokesperson)
2. Media
prep –media list, fact sheets,
3. Primary Contact Points – Front Desk Phones
4. Message Development – Develop Scenarios
5. Media Training for Company Executives
6. Protocols for Interested Media (Non-adversarial)