26 Jan 2013

PR Is Fifth Most Stressful Job: Cut Out the Stress Without Losing the Thrill

Is it a stretch to compare managing a PR crisis to landing a plane in a storm? Not necessarily. According to a new ranking of the most stressful jobs in the country, PR professionals are under almost as much pressure as airplane captains.

CareerCast.com ranked PR as No. 5 on the list after commercial airline pilots, firefighters, military generals and enlisted military personnel.

The 10 Most Stressful Jobs of 2013

“Public relations executives are masters of damage control, thus need to be able to think and act quickly under stress. The profession lives in the public eye,” said the editors at CareerCast.

As PR professionals, many of us are in this line of work because we thrive on the adrenaline of fielding media inquiries, pitching story angles, strategizing the right messages and generally being in the middle of the action.

But the human body isn’t meant to handle stress as a continuous way of life. It can wreak havoc on your health, and it’s the underlying cause of 60 percent of all illness and disease.

How Stress Affects the Body - Huffington Post (infographic)

Four Ways to Reduce PR-Induced Stressed
But just because your body can’t take the heat, it doesn’t mean you have to get out of the kitchen and find another profession. There are steps you can take to manage your stress and, in turn, become even more effective at your job.

  1. Start and end each day with at least five minutes of meditation. A daily practice of quieting your mind will help you stay centered and present throughout the day. It will allow you to more effectively handle anything that may come your way. A few minutes of focused deep breathing is all it takes. But if you’re interested in pursuing a more formal path, the 21-Day Meditation Challenge from Deepak Chopra is a great place to start. 
  2. Don’t let your thoughts run away with you. When your mind is going a mile a minute, it becomes harder to tap into the instinct and intuition that helps you make wise decisions on PR strategy or craft messages that ring true. I love this blog post from Lifehack.org that compares constant random thoughts to a computer with too many files running.  Eventually they’ll cause your brain to freeze up. The blog post also offers tips for “downloading” your thoughts to free up your brain for more important work.
  3. Stretch. With so much time spent hunched over laptops, it’s vital to stretch out your muscles everyday. I am a huge advocate for yoga. It has helped me personally deal with massive tension in my shoulders and other stress-related issues. Try home videos from these yoga greats: Baron BaptisteSean Corne and Tara Stiles.
  4. Stay inspired. Managing stress requires daily commitment and vigilance. There are lots of great spiritual writers who can keep you on track, from Marianne Williamson to Pema Chodron. But since we’re talking about PR, one fitting source of inspiration is publicist turned motivational speaker and writer Gabrielle Bernstein. She’s the queen of inspirational social media, and you can get inspired via her weekly vlog  or Facebook page.

As a former stress case myself, take it from me. PR doesn't have to be stressful to be thrilling. I encourage all of you be aware of the pressure you're under and find a release valve.

But if you've had enough and are ready for a change, check out this other ranking: the 10 LEAST stressful jobs of 2013. (Hint: my husband Alex Tizon's job is No. 1 on the list.) 

 

20 Jan 2013

A Zen Approach to Facing a PR Crisis

In every corporate communicator’s career, there is that moment when you find your company on the brink of a PR crisis. Maybe there was an accident or misconduct within the company that could embarrass or damage your brand – or worse, cause harm to individuals and/or the public at large.

It’s only a matter of time before you start getting calls from the media demanding answers. And your mind goes to images of your cell phone, email and Twitter blowing up with reporters who won’t let up. You imagine camera crews parked at your doorstep.

In this moment, especially if you don’t have all the facts yourself, it would be easy to crack under pressure. What you need more than anything is presence of mind and the ability to tune out the panic and completely tune in to your instincts.

But how do you do that when chaos is swirling?

First, identify the people in your organization who know the most about what happened and are in a position to implement a solution and response. Gather them in a room or on a conference call.

Then lead the group through this three-part discussion:

  1. What happened?
  2. What are we doing about it?
  3. How will we make sure it never happens again?

These three simple questions are like a mantra that can help you gain your bearing and get into “the zone” even while your head is still spinning.

As the group discussion unfolds, you’ll gain a better grasp of the situation. Your instincts will kick in, and you’ll soon have greater clarity on the best way to respond.

For me, this approach has been a trusted first step to managing a PR crisis that I learned from Seattle veteran communicators like David Marriott and Sally Wright. It hasn't failed me yet. It’s a sure fire way to mobilize your organization on a response and buy you the time you need to tap in to your inner PR expert. 

 

 

12 Jan 2013

What Corporate Communicators Can Learn from the Writers at Pixar

They say meaning is the new money.  Today’s employees are just as interested in working for a company they can believe in as they are in bringing home a paycheck.

That’s why, as corporate communicators, one of our main responsibilities is to help our workforce connect to a larger vision. Think about the janitor at NASA who, in sweeping floors, believes he’s doing his part to put a man on the moon.

At the end of the day, it comes down to telling the company’s story in a way that inspires and motivates. It comes down to storytelling.

As you prepare to write that next speech or memo for your chief executive, watch this Ted Talk, “Clues to a Great Story,” by Pixar’s Andrew Stanton.

“We all want affirmation that our lives have meaning. And nothing has a greater affirmation than when we connect through stories,” Stanton says.

Here’s how we can apply Stanton’s tips to corporate writing.

Know your punch line. While we’re not doing comedy, every piece of communication needs to have a purpose, a call to action or as they say in corporate jargon, a “key take away.” Be clear on what that is. Make a case for it. Create the context. And always tie it back to the mission and vision of the organization.

In Pixar screenwriting speak, “it’s knowing everything you say, from your first sentence to your last, is leading to a singular goal and ideally confirming some truth that deepens our understanding as human beings,” says Stanton.

Make me care.   With emails, instant messages and texts bombarding workers every day, corporate writers have to break through the clutter and get people interested. It starts with an engaging opening line or lead. If you’re writing a monthly message from the CEO, for instance, a compelling lead is like a promise to readers that it’s worth their time. It motivates them to continue reading.

“A well-told promise is like a pebble being pulled back in a sling shot that propels you through the story to the end,” says Stanton.

Invoke wonder. In other words, inspire. Help employees see the bigger picture. Highlight strategies, projects and teams that are examples of how the company is innovating or making a difference. Find those stories and tell them. 

Use what you know. Connecting with your audience is the secret to effective communication. And that starts with how you, as the writer, personally feel about the topic you're communicating about. When you sit down to write, ask yourself: What is it about this subject that’s interesting to me? How does it make me feel? When you’re in tune with your personal feelings about the topic, you can craft the communication in a way that’s more likely to connect with your audience.

Certainly corporate writing will never be the equivalent of a blockbuster screenplay.

But it doesn’t have to be dry and boring. And most of all, it shouldn’t be spin. If it’s genuine and done well, it can create a sense of meaning for employees who work hard and give of themselves every day. And in my mind, helping them understand how their work connects to something larger is a worthwhile endeavor.

Agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

4 Jan 2013

What Corporate Communicators Can Learn from the Fiscal Cliff Debate

While I’m not sure there were any clear winners in the recent fiscal cliff debate, I give the most points for message discipline to Team Obama.

Whatever your politics, I think any professional communicator would agree that -- at least on this issue -- the White House demonstrated the classic fundamentals of message strategy:

1.     Be relevant
2.     Appeal to reason
3.     Keep it simple
4.     Be consistent

They boiled down an otherwise complex tax plan to two simple ideas:

  • No tax hikes for the middle class
  • The wealthiest two percent of Americans would be asked to pay more

The message was relatable and reasonable for many middle class Americans. Case in point: Look how many people jumped on the band wagon of the White House’s social media #My2K Twitter campaign in which middle class Americans were asked what they would do with a $2,000 tax savings.

And in terms of consistency, the president hasn’t wavered from this position since he first hit the campaign trail in 2008.  

Breaking Through the Clutter Requires Discipline

With all the noise that competes for the public’s attention on any given day, it takes tremendous discipline to break through the clutter and deliver messages that are heard let alone resonate. By my scorecard, the Obama Administration did that more effectively than their Republican counterparts.

Those two simple messages weren’t knock out punches by any means. But the precision and consistency left their opponents wobbly.

As communicators, pushing the C-suite to distill an issue down to its simplest form is some times the hardest task and keeping everyone on message even harder.

That’s why seeing message discipline in action, like we did from the White House in recent weeks, can be a helpful lesson for communicators in the trenches.   

Obama Stumbles on Message As Often As He Succeeds

And by the way, Obama doesn’t win every round when it comes to message discipline. Look at the second debate of the presidential election this fall when he was anything but “on message” or the complete lack of message during the health-care reform debates in the summer 2010.

Professional communicators can learn from the president’s messaging missteps just as much as we can from his successes. 

Of course, the fiscal cliff debate isn't over yet. We'll see how he does in the next round over the debt ceiling. 

Melissa Tizon's Space

Corporate communicator. Healthcare. Nonprofits. Mom. Wife. News junkie. Closet foodie. Pronounced Tea-zahn. Seattle. "If you have something genuine to say, there is someone who genuinely wants to hear it." -Marianne Williamson