I’ve learned a lot about learning over the years.  Some people learn best by reading.  Others by listening.  Some people need to have a sensory experience in order for a new idea to lock into their brain. No one style is better than another, it’s just that we’re all different.

Many communicators, for instance (being the verbal maestros so many of us are!) learn best by talking.  Sometimes words just blurt out of our mouths (ideally not in the midst of eating a Sloppy Joe) and as we hear ourselves speaking out loud, a new thought begins to take shape.

Such a blurt occurred recently for me during our first-ever Preview of our new CEC Annual Executive Retreat series, “Influencing Stakeholders in a Networked Environment.”  In discussing the new reality of influence–the idea that people today are much more likely to listen to and believe ideas from “unofficial sources” (real people) as opposed to anything we say in our “corporate” communications–I blurted out the not-quite-fully-formed thought, “There is no such thing as social media.” Read More »

By Rebecca Canan

If you’re like me, you regularly get hit with social media newsletters, blog posts, and expert proclamations that all declare they’ve found the definitive new social media search engine or analytics tool (e.g., ”13 Essential Social-Media ‘Listening Tools!”).  However, when I begin playing around with these “essential” tools, I’m often disappointed either because (1) they miss too much or (2) they pick up too much.  This prompts me to ask, “Which free tools are actually worth the time???”  Based on conversations with (often frustrated) communicators and CEC’s research, I’ve assessed some of the popular search tools available and provided a quick review of what they can—or can’t—give you.

As context, here are the basic criteria I used when reviewing a monitoring tool:

• Is it actually free? (If the answer is “no”, it didn’t make my list.  This happened with a couple tools like Jodange and Filtrbox.)
• How relevant are the results?
• How timely are the results?
• How comprehensive are the results?
• Is the interface easy to use and interpret?

In addition to the popular tools that I reviewed in the table below, I came across these other fun tools: Read More »

By Mike Wellman

Goldman Sachs.  BP.  Toyota.  Domino’s.  Nestle.  GM.  United Airlines.  Procter & Gamble. Mattel.  In recent memory, some of the largest and most-respected brands in the world have faced public scrutiny, disapproval, and active opposition.  It’s fascinating to see that each time, a slew of critics will comment about how poorly the company in question is handling the crisis, often only to recant in retrospect when public anger isn’t as white-hot. Just as egregious, these critics of opportunity every time point to a favorite case study of Johnson & Johnson’s recall of Tylenol in 1982 as a point of comparison for handling crisis communications well.

Don’t get me wrong—I love that case study too. A speedy response, a clear sense of ownership, and making real change to rectify a situation instead of just changing your messaging are timeless principles that should be emulated. Recently, though, new technologies and stakeholder expectations have changed the parameters of how companies should react to crises.

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I hope it’s not obvious from the way I talk or act—but I grew up as a big NASCAR fan. That’s right, stock car racing. The high banks of Daytona, King Richard, The Great American Race—all threads in the fabric of my youth.  Please humor me and tell me it’s not obvious.

I do come by it honestly, though—my Dad spent his youth hanging around the local race tracks of Long Island as a driver/mechanic (one small offshoot of NASCAR’s roots extends from the Carolinas all the way up to suburban New York City…you don’t need to be a Southerner to be a redneck.)

This genetic anomaly may be somewhat embarrassing to admit to, but it does have at least some value, since there are lessons from NASCAR racing that have great applicability for us in corporate comms.

Lesson number one:  Never admit to being a NASCAR fan. (oops…too late)

But a more important lesson is the one they teach to rookie drivers about how to avoid The Big One. That’s the name given to the kind of catastrophic chain reaction wrecks that occur about every other time they race at the superspeedways like Daytona and Talledega.

SITUATION: You’re driving down the straightaway of a 2-and-a-half-mile track going 200 miles an hour, and you see a wreck developing a couple hundred yards ahead of you. What are you supposed to do?

Smacking on the brakes isn’t gonna save you—you’re going way too fast for that. And there’s no way to tell which direction the careening cars will go next.  Some wrecks push up the banking toward the outside wall.  Some collect down low toward the infield.  They’re all different. You’ve got about one second to determine whether you will narrowly avoid certain doom, or, become yet another victim of The Big One.  Soooooooo again, what are you supposed to do?

Here’s what:  Aim for the center of the wreck.

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I’m sitting outside Costa Coffee on an overcast April day struggling to balance a fashionably large porcelain mug with the finger gestures that direct the New York Times iPhone app.  As my Americano finally begins to wake me up, I admire a streetscape of eclectic boutiques, trendy bistros, and a colorfully decorated elementary school—all in a vaguely Parisian architectural style.  The comforts of yuppiedom feel extremely familiar.

Finally, a text from a friend interrupts my digestion of the latest Goldman Sachs news and directs me to our lunch destination.  I turn the corner and am suddenly confronted by a much less familiar scene: dozens of merchants selling fruit, scarves, and DVDs in chaotic street side markets; a breeze of fast moving bikes, cars, scooters, and people; and an undecipherable buzz of voices conducting business on cell phones, negotiating with shopkeepers, and asking me for money (I think).

Such are the contrasts of Shanghai’s French Concession where I spent most of my vacation last month.  These streets are still less a microcosm of modern China than ground zero for a rapidly evolving economic and cultural landscape, but I came to believe over my stay that there may not be a bigger or more challenging economic imperative for business communicators in the coming years than navigating the landscape of this complicated environment.

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It’s May, and you know what that means—graduation season! Congrats, new grad! Now, what are you going to do with your life? If you’re thinking of a career in communications, be forewarned: your social-media savvy and ability to condense complex thoughts into 140 characters won’t be enough to stand out.

Yep, even toddlers are tweeting now. You, college grad, need to bring something else to the table to shine through in this ultra-competitive environment. But what?

Two critical things you need to be able to excel at as a communicator are:

1. Project management skills &
2. Listening skills.

You may be a master of these skills now, but some of you may need to work on them. Here’s a quick litmus test based on your college years: Read More »

I’m supposed to be flying to Copenhagen today to visit some of our Danish CEC members.  But in fact as I write this I’m still sitting in my home in Ashburn, Virginia.  Ironic. I’m one of the kajillion travelers whose itineraries have been totally ash-burned by the megacloud from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull.

(Fun Fact: If you spell-check that name, a black cloud actually spews out of your laptop.)

While waiting patiently for “the worst travel crisis in history” to come to an end, I’ve been spending my idle hours thinking about volcanoes—and crisis planning.

In my opinion, BOTH can burn you very badly. Read More »

By Mike Wellman

How great would it be to have the title of Chief Communications Officer and a 200+ team of able communicators to help you create an impact at your organization?  How about a fleet of Ferraris while we’re at it?  It sounds nice, but sadly many of the Communications professionals we work with continue to feel under-resourced and underappreciated.  That doesn’t mean that we need to always sing Rodney Dangerfield’s tune, though!  (Am I the only one who loves this video?)

The good news is that the communication demands of today are accelerating positive changes in the structure and skill set of many Communications teams, and job titles are evolving to reflect the nature of the important work we do. Smart communicators are asking CEC for help in making the case for more resources now, in a time of great change, when they know their organizations are more likely to listen.  Here are three useful tips on making an effective case for more people, money, or, access: Read More »

Before the namesake of ObamaCare was in the U.S. Senate, I completed an undergraduate certificate program in Health Policy, primarily to stay on the family payroll for an extra semester.  Last week, those extra credits foolishly prompted me to volunteer this entry on what communicators should know and do about the reform bill.  Fortunately, our sister program serving benefits executives has produced a tidy 6-page summary of key provisions, but it may be more fortunate that they have us, as their recent online survey revealed communications about the bill as their most immediate concern.

Here are the most important things for corporate communicators to know right now about the health care reform bill:

Read More »

By Rebecca Canan

Springtime means new energy, new chances, and a fresh outlook.  I’m a sucker for spring cleaning—and pretty much any opportunity for a new start.  (Case-in-point: I was the Catholic school kid who actually looked forward to going to confession.)  Spring in DC especially brings out this tendency in me—the cherry blossoms are in full bloom and the sun is finally shining after a very snowy and cold winter!

I think spring is also a great time for Communications to do a bit of cleaning and starting-over. To inspire your spring cleaning spree, I wanted to give you a few tips and ideas:

Spring Cleaning Checklist

• Clean out your list of projects. If you’re like many communicators, you have a habit of piling on activities and to-do’s without asking yourself, “Is this just clutter?  What’s the value of doing this?”  To strip out the inessentials, just copy this easy idea from PepsiCo.  Each year PepsiCo‘s Head of Communications challenges staff to fill out a worksheet with activities that they believe no longer merit Communications’ support.  This simple exercise has “turned off” ~15% of work volume for their function.  CEC members can access that worksheet here (page 15). Read More »