CHAPTER 8

Creating Good Press: You Tell the World Who You Are by How You Speak

Whoever said any press is good press clearly never made a living as a professional speaker. Think of all the bloopers, misstatements, wardrobe malfunctions, and outright lies you’ve seen on the news or elsewhere. Do you want to be remembered for the right reasons or the wrong ones? As speakers, we have ample opportunities to get caught with our tongues in a knot. It happens, and more often than you think. Your public relations (PR) team should promote you for your messages and your wisdom as well as position you to earn more revenue, and not be used solely for damage control.

Plenty of PR firms and services specialize in representing speakers. They can handle getting you publicity and media exposure. Media coaches also exist to help you master your approach to the media so you can build solid relationships among media contacts and become a go-to source on your subject material. You do, however, want to make sure you are confident and well established in your speaking abilities—perhaps with several paid speaking engagements under your belt—before you pitch to the media or hire a company or coach to help you.

In this chapter, we’ll showcase two media strategists that have had proven results with our clients, but there are many credible publicists, public relations firms, and media strategists to pick from. We’ll show you what to look for so you can find the PR pro who’s a good match for you.

The Importance of Becoming a Credible Media Source

Media is a tough business. Everything is deadline driven and relies on the facts. The good news is this: Media needs you, an expert in your field, as much as you need it. You want to appear as a memorable and credible media resource to reporters. If you blow your first television or radio interview, you probably won’t get a second chance to fix the error of your ways. Print interviews are not any easier. Reporters remember who was a helpful and knowledgeable source on a story, and who wasn’t. They know who their go-to people are, who can supply up-to-date expertise on a subject, and who gave them the best sound bites or quotes.

Getting Credible Publicity Positions You to Earn More Revenue

Pitching your stories to the media may eventually land you an interview or a quote in a newspaper or TV feature. The importance of becoming a go-to media resource cannot be understated. Be a true expert, and think about the producer on the other side of that pitch phone call or email.

Being mentioned in mainstream media—newspapers or your local evening news, for instance—advertises you as a subject matter expert. It validates your expertise and credentials. Those interviews can lead to more interviews. And that kind of exposure can lead to bookings and more revenue! It’s a win-win for everyone.

Establishing Your Brand and Subject Matter Expertise Boosts Your Profile

People want to know that they can go to someone who is different from the rest—an original, not a copycat. You’ve got to make a bold impression as a professional speaker and trainer if you are going to create a memorable brand for yourself. Media will notice you more if your branding is strong.

Brands are not just for products like Coca Cola or Kleenex. They apply to people, too—especially speakers and trainers. Your brand is far more than just what you do. It is your signature style. It is what sets you apart from the pack.

The most successful paid speakers we know create their unique style, build a brand on it, and then unapologetically express themselves through that branding. For example, speaker Anne Grady built her brand on her firsthand experience of what it takes to be a resilient leader. She uses resiliency to parent her child with severe mental illness; it’s a natural crossover for her. She delivers her keynotes with humor and humility. Her brand is what makes her unique. In the end, that’s what will make you memorable, not just to the media, but to your clients, speakers’ bureaus, meeting planners, and the world.

Tips for Becoming Media-Friendly

What do you do when you get that call from a reporter? Or maybe you’re trying to pitch to a local TV station or newspaper. How do you get off on the right foot?

Creating Sound Bites to Make You Media Savvy

Remember, the first step to developing great PR and publicity starts with you. Anyone can get some press some of the time, but the key is becoming a go-to media source. You want to be recognized as the authority so reporters will interview you regularly. An element of your expertise will be your ability to briefly but articulately capture the essence of your message for the media—your sound bite.

A sound bite is a term for a statement that the media will likely use because it is hard-hitting, succinct, and clearly summarizes your message. When you see someone being interviewed on the evening news, that person may have one statement that is aired—that’s their sound bite. A sound bite is a tiny piece of a lengthier interview—the one or two statements that everyone wants to hear and that sets you apart from the rest of the interviews.

A sound bite is memorable. For example, let’s say a reporter is interviewing you about your book or speech on how you survived an airplane crash. You could say, “I knew we were going down; I threw open the emergency door on impact and started yelling for people to get out before the flames reached us!”

After Anne’s self-help book, Discover True North, was released, she was quoted in an interview as saying that “self-esteem is a person’s intelligence in action.” That sound bite was printed and run again and again. It caught editors’ and reporters’ attention because it implied that a person’s self-confidence and self-esteem were an off-shoot of their intelligence. That was not what it meant at all, but Anne knew it would grab the reporters’ attention and cause some controversy. This statement, or sound bite, was controversial enough to get the calls she wanted; then she was able to explain what the statement was all about on various TV and radio shows and in magazine and newspaper articles. The sound bite simply meant that we all make smarter choices in life when we feel good about who we are inside. It had nothing to do with a person’s IQ, as some assumed. The interviews brought a lot of attention to Anne’s book and to sales.

Both the risks and payoffs are great when using controversial sound bites. Although this strategy worked for Anne, she was mindful that it could have been taken out of context and she created a plan to manage any negative press. Beware that sound bites may take on a life of their own in outlets such as social media, and be prepared to address any resulting fallout.

In another interview for a business magazine on employee performance, Anne said, “It’s a myth that employees work better under pressure. In fact, statistics show that when there’s pressure, employees make more mistakes and have fewer new ideas.” Another time for a major newspaper article on employee retention, she said, “The average cost to replace an employee can range between $50,000 and $100,000, or more!” She landed on network television for that one. Sardék added some memorable bites to his website, including this pithy statement on making it in life: “To be a success, you have to possess a childlike imagination, a massive pile of mistakes, a shipload of sleepless nights, and a pinch of plum crazy.” His sound bites have been covered in international media outlets in Jamaica, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, as well as a few in the United States.

Great sound bites are all about saying something right the first time, and then being able to back it up with facts and a credible, energetic interview. And that takes practice and media coaching. Anne has been fortunate—as a former CBS producer and morning talk show host, she’s been able to learn the business from the inside out—but not many people have this opportunity. In lieu of learning by doing, you can get professional media coaching, which we discuss later in this chapter. It can pay off substantially, because publicity does get you more money when done right.

Five Ways to Capitalize on a Great Media Opportunity

Speakers sometimes throw out ideas to the media because they just gave a great speech and think they have set the world on fire. Maybe so, but if they pitch their great ideas the wrong way, they’re going to fall flat. Here are a few things you can do to capitalize on your potential media opportunities:

• Get the reporter’s name or producer’s name right. Nothing is more insulting to journalists than getting pitched an idea and the person spells their name incorrectly. That’s a simple fix, so take time to be sure you’ve got the person’s name right.

• Pitch ideas that are timely, topical, and newsworthy. Be relevant. Stay current.

• Offer an exclusive when it’s a big story. Don’t pitch one assignment editor and then give the same pitch to their competitor 10 minutes later.

• Send links, not unsolicited attachments. The risk of a virus or worse is always at stake.

• Follow the reporter’s social media. Try to understand what the person writes about and decide if you can be of help. If a writer just reported on a story that is exactly like yours, then don’t pitch it, unless you’ve just uncovered something truly phenomenal.

These are all pretty simple, commonsense things anyone can do. But when speakers get lazy or sloppy with their research, they can make big mistakes that follow them for years in media circles.

Writing a Press Release

A press release is a brief description of the event or message you are promoting to the media. There are three reasons for distributing a press release:

• Alert the media about your event or message so they will pass along your information.

• Inform the media about your business so reporters will see a feature story in your release and write an article about it. In this case it’s helpful to tie your business to a recent event or trend to make the release newsworthy.

• Promote your business on the Internet by getting websites, social media accounts, or blogs to link to your own sites and accounts.

You want to be precise when you send your press release; distribute it to the media outlet or person with the most connection to your subject matter. Do not send out a blast email to every media contact you’ve ever encountered. Press releases are always written in third person and include the following vital pieces of information in the same format:

1. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—placed in the top left corner and all letters are capitalized.

2. Headline—This should be compelling and tell the reader what this release is all about.

3. Dateline—City the release is issued from and the date the release is going out.

4. Introductory paragraph—This tells the reader who, what, when, where, and why. This paragraph must have a hook that gets the reader immediately involved.

5. Body and content—This is where your message unfolds. You can use an inverted pyramid approach and put the most important information first.

6. Your standard boilerplate—A short summary about you and your expertise.

7. How to contact you for an interview—Name, phone, email, website, social media contacts, and any downloads with graphs, illustrations, sidebars, or photos.

An online search will yield many examples and instructions on how to write your own press release. Even if you take great care to craft a newsworthy press release, know that they won’t all be picked up by the media. But keep persevering!

Distributing Your Press Release

Now that you’ve written your press release, how do you get it into the hands of the press? Enter a distribution service—also called a newswire or just a wire service. Many services exist to distribute your press releases, but we’ve had the best success with PR Newswire (www.prnewswire.com) over the years. They are networked in 170 countries and more than 40 languages, and their reach extends to more than 4,500 U.S. websites and social media outlets. They target media using keywords—similar to what a web browser uses—to connect your press release with the right media outlet.

Fundamentals of PR Firms

PR firms offer many more services than just writing press releases and conducting damage control. When you want to build your reputation through the media, hiring a good PR service can be a smart investment. A good service will translate your messages into positive media stories. They’ll pitch stories directly to journalists, conduct market research, hold special events for media outreach, write for your blog or website, and manage your social media promotions.

It’s their job to promote you. Companies like Wasabi Publicity will become your partner in promotions. They will help you talk to the media and get your message into the press. A PR firm knows the heartbeat of the market and what conversations will go viral. PR differs from advertising in that they’re not paying for airtime or newspaper space.

When shopping for a PR firm, interview a few to see if they’re the right match for you and what you stand for. Just because they can claim success for other clients may not mean automatic success for you. You must build a relationship with them to make sure you have the right chemistry. It’s almost like buying jeans; you need to try on a few different pairs to see if they fit.

One caveat: We recommend waiting to hire someone until you’ve reached the level where you need help; you don’t need to worry about hiring PR when you’re just starting out. Doing it all yourself may work for you in the beginning, when you’re just starting out and don’t have the budget to hire outside help. But it’s a lot of work, especially when you are new to managing media campaigns. As you get settled into a successful career as a professional speaker, you’ll find you may not have enough time to develop media pitches, write press releases, and build relationships with the media, as well as create your speeches, refine your delivery, travel like crazy, and be your own publicist. And that’s when you know it’s time to hire a freelancer, a PR assistant, or a full-fledged publicity firm. Contractors in this field are plentiful and a good option until you can afford a company to represent you.

According to Inc. magazine (Iliff 2016), The Muse (Honeysett 2012), and Entrepreneur (Corbett 2016), here’s what to keep in mind when shopping for a PR firm:

• Know your goals. What are you trying to accomplish? What problem are you trying to solve? Who is your target audience? Make sure your messages are going to your specific audience. Think quality over quantity.

• Make sure you’re ready. Just because you’ve hit the speaker circuit doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ready to hire PR. Can you clearly define your target market? Can you explain how you’re different from your competition? Do you have enough financial resources to sustain and manage your PR for a length of time? Are you ready to speak to the media? If you can only answer one or two of these questions, now might not be the right time for you to hire a PR firm.

• Determine measures of success. How do you know your PR campaign is working? You may not see results immediately, but you do need to see how your PR is working to increase your revenue. What kind of analytics do they use and how do they share them with you? Measures of success should tie directly to your business goals. Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations of other clients’ successful campaigns and the numbers to back it up. Your firm should have a proven track record of measuring success.

• Consider firm size and team member capabilities. Larger firms may specialize in various industries and markets, have a longer reach into other geographic areas, and have a junior member be your point of contact. Smaller or boutique firms will probably wear many hats, be aware of local media trends, and may have you work directly with the owners. Find out who your point of contact will be. You’ll want at least one member of your team to have strong ties to your target audience.

• Define your budget. Identify what you can spend for the long-term. Hiring a PR team isn’t a one-and-done experience. You’ll want to develop an ongoing relationship. The ballpark budget is usually defined on what you spend on marketing; PR is a piece of that and is generally 3 to 5 percent of that budget.

• Know what you’re paying for. Most PR firms charge a monthly retainer for the number of hours they’ll work on your account. What are your hours being used for? The Muse recommends “understand[ing] how those hours will be used, how they will be tracked, and what the charges are for going over.”

• Consider your PR firm a member of your team. You should be open to the spirit of teamwork and partnership when hiring a PR firm. You or a person on your team should manage that relationship. Integrate them from the beginning of your relationship, giving them information about you and how you operate, bringing them into your inner circle, and allowing them to directly communicate with your key stakeholders.

• Build trust. It’s all about making and maintaining relationships in this business. Working with your PR firm is no different. Be honest about your goals and budget, and work with your team toward successfully achieving your goals. You don’t want to hire a bunch of “yes” people.

Fundamentals of Media Coaching

We have always found that getting coaching in any area of your life where you might need some fine-tuning is a worthwhile investment. We say investment because, in our experience, there is always a significant payoff for having invested in ourselves, especially when we’re being paid to speak for a living.

Investing in the services of a media coach is worthwhile for your career. Coaches are in the business of helping people craft their message so they can communicate with greater credibility and confidence. A Google search can yield many hits on “media coach,” but why should you hire one? Which one is right for you? What do you look for in a good media coach? What should they teach you?

A good coach knows that what you’re telling the world could greatly affect your bottom line—negatively or positively. They can train you to go before audiences, cameras, reporters, students, and even hostile interviewers by preparing you to deliver your positive message with ease and grace. Your coach should teach you how to approach reporters who interrupt, paraphrase, or ask loaded questions; how to communicate difficult news; and how to anticipate a journalist’s questions. Much like a sports coach who uses game film to show athletes how to rework a play, a media coach should record your practice presentation and use the footage to offer a critique on how and what you can do better. This is so you can develop your presentation, refine your message delivery, and build your self-confidence.

Additionally, professional coaching can help you:

• Create a media policy for giving interviews and responding to crisis situations.

• Formulate powerful sound bites.

• Analyze your clothes, hair, accessories, and overall style.

• Review your media kit, press releases, media statements, and all PR materials.

• Develop your long-term strategies for positive PR and publicity.

• Establish timely email consultations on various media situations you may be faced with.

You can count on your coach to prep you for interviews. For instance, when Anne coaches clients, she speaks with the publicist and producers of the shows. She writes all the recommended questions for the program’s producers (which they may or may not use), she drills the client over and over again on every possible scenario, and then writes out lists of answers for them. Controversial issues, like gun control and healthcare, are the toughest.

Media coaching can be done in person or by telephone or videoconferencing. We recommend that you check out a variety of people in the business and see what benefits they can offer you to help you excel as a speaker and get the press you desire. The media coaching process is similar to the coaching process we described in chapter 7. Use some of the tips in that chapter to help you find the right coach.

One final thought: Although we caution you not to seek publicity and coaching until you’re ready for it, there may come a time when you find yourself suddenly in the spotlight. In that situation, you should solicit media coaching help to give you direction on how to steer your newfound fame or exposure. For example, some of Anne’s clients became well known practically overnight through reality television shows or unforeseen circumstances like tragic shootings or accidents. She’s helped them manage high-profile TV appearances on Ellen, Oprah, The View, and the Today Show, among others, and interviews with the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the London Times, and USA Today. Many just didn’t have the skill set to handle interview after interview on their own. Following the advice of an experienced coach was vital to navigating their newfound fame.

Coaching Can Cut Your Learning Curve

There’s no doubt about it. There’s a definite learning curve in this business. If you are a novice, you may want to consider hiring a speaker consulting firm to get you going. If you’re a pro, then you know we all can use fine-tuning when it comes to sharpening our presentation and performance skills. The best in the business continue to get coaching and professional critiquing on their newest programs, while always looking to improve their on-stage presence and style.

Anne’s best experience for this type of consulting and one-one-one coaching has been with Garrett Speakers International’s speaker consulting division. All coaching is conducted under the guidance of Betty Garrett, who has seen what happens to novice speakers who fumbled trying to get an agent or bureau to represent them, or who tried to enter the speaking circuit only to make costly media mistakes along the way. Betty knows what makes new speakers on the circuit be successful, so she created a division of her speakers’ bureau to do just that, while teaming up with the best-of-the-best coaches in the business.

Speaker Consulting Survival Toolkit

We often refer to speaker consulting and coaching as a survival toolkit for new speakers. Here are some of the tools and services you can expect when you hire a consultant:

• an initial consultation to determine your specific needs and learning opportunities as a beginning speaker or trainer

• up to six months or longer of ongoing consulting and scheduled sessions by phone or in person or online

• scheduled conference calls up to twice monthly and up to 90 minutes per call

• critical information and bureau-quality feedback through consultation, conference, or video calls, and review of your speaker materials, which can include print, web, audio, video, and social media presence

• names of selected suppliers to launch your career, including but not limited to speech coaches, website designers, writers, printers, photographers, and videographers

• coaching on how speakers’ bureaus and speaker management companies operate and how you can work with them

• a list of bureaus to contact once you establish your marketing materials

• a review of your correspondence piece before sending information to bureaus

• whatever it takes to cut the learning curve shorter and get into the speaking business faster.

Speaker coaches usually charge a retainer fee; extraneous costs include the development of your materials, videos, social media campaigns, and so forth.

Your media journey begins by building your credibility and branding yourself as a subject matter expert. With the help of a media coach, you can establish a reputation as a go-to media source, which will help get you media exposure and, in turn, further speaking engagements. Be confident and learn how to write your own press releases, and then use wire services to distribute your message. If and when the time is right, you can hire a PR firm to help you get your message out. You have one chance to make a first impression with reporters; use it to make a memorable one as a reliable media resource, and they’ll keep coming back to you.