Mr. Harper, my high school English teacher, beat this mantra into brain: “show, don’t tell.” Often, business communications takes the easy way out, depending on adjectives and adverbs to try to make their point. They “tell.” It’s the storytelling that allows us to “show.” One of my favorite go-to exercises for our storytelling workshop leans …more
And those were some of the more “gentle” recent headlines. Let’s set the stage. Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri saw an opportunity to rethink mobile computing, so they founded a company called Humane. They invented a lapel pin that would essentially become your AI-infused digital assistant. This vision and the founder’s Apple pedigree landed $100M …more
Ted Sarandos is co-CEO of Netflix. He’s the one greenlighting Stranger Things, The Queen’s Gambit and Bridgerton. He had better get the concepts of story construction. Does he? For the answer, we turn to his recent interview with the New York Times. Asked about how his interest in TV and movies came about, the 81-second …more
Most companies want to be known as innovative. To bastardize the Wallace Simpson line, “you can never be too rich, too thin or too innovative.” The problem is those same companies often depend on adjectives to tout their breakthroughs. The Wall Street Journal challenged the use of the “i” word over ten years ago: “Businesses …more
We’ve been evangelizing the wonders of storytelling for some time. For the most part, our profession has come a long way when it comes to creating content, though you can still find those “pithy” quotes in news releases “We are delighted to announce that …” What hasn’t changed is the challenge of getting those with …more
Public relations as an industry undervalues interviewing skills. You can find training session after training session on how to pitch a journalist and to not follow up with a “did you get my email?” Same goes for writing. Show, don’t tell. Stay away from chest-thumping adjectives like “revolutionary” and “breakthrough.” Yet, most mass communications curricula …more
By Mark Pinsent, Managing Director, Hoffman Europe It’s an interesting word, provocative. Many (most?) people would feel that it has negative connotations; that it’s about someone looking for an argument, spoiling for a fight. Indeed, if you look at many dictionary definitions, these do lean towards the adverse, for example, “causing an angry reaction, …more
Your title might be PR manager, keeper of the blog, content developer or the classic copywriter. It doesn’t matter. All of us need to get the visual storytelling religion. The increasing amount of information accessed on mobile means shortened attention spans. And people want an entertainment dimension to their information, even in the business sphere …more
Needless to say, COVID-19 has changed the way people live, work and play. The broadcast media industry is no exception with radio presenters and journalists now conducting live profile interviews over the phone. How can we as communications consultants help our clients adjust to this new normal and maximize interviews over the phone? These five …more
