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Being Heard in an Era of Noise
We live in an era of noise where news and information is abundant, coming to us 24/7 in an unceasing stream. At the same time, our attention span is shrinking. A study conducted last year by Microsoft shows that our ability to focus dropped from 12 seconds in 2000, to a new record low of eight seconds in 2015. Together, the din and our diminishing ability to pay attention make it more difficult to be heard. How can you stand out? What does it take to become a world class communicator? And perhaps the biggest question of all – how do you not only get someone’s attention, but keep it? Before you begin crafting material and take to the public stage, consider cultivating at least some of the skills that seasoned reporters rely on.
Five Questions with Gwen Moran, contributor to Entrepreneur & FastCompany.com
This week we continue our “Five Questions with…” series by speaking with Gwen Moran, award-winning small business expert and writer who contributes to Entrepreneur, FastCompany.com, LifeReimagined.org, and many others. She’s also the founder of Biziversity, which publishes insights about business, money, and life. In her writing, Gwen covers the topics of entrepreneurship, leadership, management, and […]
Five Questions with Anne Fisher, contributor to Fortune.com
Anne Fisher is a contributor to both Fortune.com and CNNMoney.com, where she covers workplace and small business topics, respectively. Our work with Annie centers on her Fortune.com work, where she has been writing her “Ask Annie” career column since 1996. In it, she helps readers navigate booms, recessions, changing industries, and changing ideas about what’s […]
Survey Says…Six Tips for turning research into media coverage
We make it a rule not to write about our own clients on this blog. We want to keep this space as a forum for sharing ideas about book publishing, business books, and publicity at large, and never let it morph into a self-promotional machine. But we are always learning new things through our work […]
Make your 90 words count
The ability to communicate effectively is prerequisite number one for a career in public relations. But immediately following is the ability to communicate efficiently. I read recently that in our overwhelmed, constantly-connected world, the ideal word count for a pitch is 90 words. Yes, 90 words. (Breathe, PR people.) In a time where journalists and […]
Why PR is more stressful than neurosurgery
According to a recent study, Public Relations Executive ranked as the seventh most stressful job in America – above Electrical Engineer (that’s for my husband), Neurosurgeon and Senior Corporate Executive. In its most basic form, the job of a PR professional – or publicist – is to promote his or her client (a person, brand […]
PR and Digital Media take Center Stage at Author Pow Wow
Day two at the Author Pow Wow in Austin brought our own Barbara Henricks and Rusty Shelton to the fore on the topic of getting books out into the world via publicity, traditional and digital. Authors’ ears were perked as they soaked up valuable up-to-the-moment know how on this new and rapidly shifting PR landscape. […]
Worth the Time and Effort
What tops your list of pet peeves? For me, it’s the improper use of you’re/your, their/there and it’s/its, followed closely by ending a sentence with a preposition. What can I say? I wish I were Grammar Girl. I would argue with near absolute certainty that, for members of the media, nothing is more irritating than […]
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