Communicating Through the Media

Successful chambers, in my opinion, have one thing in common, they have a strong and focused communication presence in their communites.

This blog post is dedicated to communicating through the media as an important way to reach a wide audience and share your message.

However, it can also be a challenge.

Here are some tips on how to communicate effectively through the media:

• Be clear and concise. When you're communicating through the media, your message needs to be clear and concise. People are busy and they don't have time to read or listen to long, rambling messages. Get to the point quickly and clearly.

• Be specific. Don't just say that you're doing good work. Be specific about what you're doing and how you're making a difference.

• Be interesting. People are more likely to pay attention to your message if it's interesting. Tell stories, use humor, and find other ways to make your message engaging.

• Be credible. People need to trust you if they're going to believe what you're saying. Be sure to back up your claims with evidence and be transparent about your sources.

• Be prepared. Before you communicate through the media, be sure to prepare. Know your message inside and out and be ready to answer questions.

• Be professional. When you're communicating through the media, it's important to be professional. Dress appropriately, speak clearly, and be respectful of the interviewer or reporter.

By following these tips, you can communicate effectively through the media and reach a wider audience with your message.

Here are some additional tips on communicating through the media:

• Do your research. Before you communicate with the media, be sure to research the outlet and the reporter or interviewer you'll be speaking with. This will help you to understand their audience and what they're looking for.

• Be aware of the media landscape. The media landscape is constantly changing, so it's important to be aware of the latest trends. This will help you to choose the right outlets and strategies for communicating your message.

• Use social media effectively. Social media can be a powerful tool for communicating through the media. Be sure to use it to share your message and connect with your audience.

• Be patient. It takes time to build relationships with the media and to get your message out there. Be patient and persistent, and you'll eventually reach your target audience.

Stay focused and on point with your chamber messaging.

Communicating With Confidence

Communicating with confidence is an essential skill for success in both personal and professional life.

When you communicate with confidence, you are more likely to be taken seriously, be persuasive, and build strong relationships.

Here are some tips for communicating with confidence:

• Be prepared. Before you communicate, take the time to gather your thoughts and make sure you know what you want to say. This will help you to feel more confident and in control.

• Speak clearly and concisely. When you speak, make sure your words are clear and easy to understand. Avoid using jargon or technical terms that your audience may not understand.

• Make eye contact. Eye contact is a powerful way to show confidence. When you make eye contact with the person you are speaking to, you are showing them that you are engaged and interested in what they have to say.

• Use body language to your advantage. Your body language can also communicate confidence. Stand up straight, keep your shoulders back, and make eye contact. Avoid fidgeting or looking away.

• Be positive and enthusiastic. When you communicate with confidence, you should also be positive and enthusiastic. This will help to create a positive impression on your audience.

• Practice makes perfect. The more you practice communicating with confidence, the easier it will become. So don't be afraid to put yourself out there and start practicing!

Here are some additional tips for communicating with confidence:

• Believe in yourself. The first step to communicating with confidence is believing in yourself. If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will. So start by taking some time to think about your strengths and accomplishments. What are you good at? What have you achieved? Once you start to believe in yourself, it will be easier to communicate with confidence.

• Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes and move on. So don't let the fear of making a mistake hold you back from communicating with confidence.

• Fake it until you make it. If you're not feeling confident, sometimes the best thing to do is to fake it until you make it. This means acting confident, even if you don't feel it. Over time, the more you act confident, the more confident you will become.

Communicating with confidence is a skill that takes time and practice to develop.

But by following these tips, you can start to communicate with more confidence and see the benefits in your personal and professional life.

The Art of Negotiation

At a recent seminar I attended on the art of negotiation, Steve Piacente and Carol Buckland with The Communication Center gave many tips on how to be an effective communicator.

They started with defining the five core concepts of communication.

• Be Clear
• Be Concise
• Be Compelling
• Be Candid
• Be Comfortable

In addition, when giving a presentation, know your audience, frame it so they hear you.  Storytelling is an effective way of communicating your message.

Persuasive communication is based on reason, emotions and beliefs/values.

As stated above, frame your message so your intended audience is interested in what you have to say.

The word “because” is powerful, it gives the reasons why they should hear your message.

In other words, remember the WIIFM theory.  "What’s in it for me."

They then referenced Dr. Robert Cialdini’s six principals of influence:

• Reciprocity
• Commitment and Consistency
• Social proof/consensus
• Liking
• Authority
• Scarcity

They also referenced a study by UCLA professor Dr. Albert Mehrabian that states the percentages word choice, voice tone and body language have when you are communicating in an in-person conversation.  These numbers are probably not what you expected.

• Word Choice - 7%
• Voice Tone - 38%
• Body Language - 55%

To sum it up, be intentional when selecting your words, use voice and the use of pauses effectively and don’t forget the most important, body language (posture, eye contact, smile).

They then went into the five different negotiating styles.

• Competitive - I win, you lose.
• Accommodating - I lose, you win.
• Compromising - we both win and lose some.
• Avoiding - I lose, you lose.
• Collaborating - I win, you win.

They gave two examples of presentation formulas and I was reminded of one I’ve used over the years.

I learned the UPPOPR method over 30 years ago from a manager who was Xerox’d trained.  For a copy of that template go HERE or for a blog post on the subject go HERE.

They spent a little time on story formulas, and go HERE for a past blog post on that subject.

They finished talking about language of leadership and separated that discussion into two areas - weak and power speak.

Weak speak - saying “I think” vs “I know” or “I feel” vs “I am convinced.”

Power speak - use straightforward language, without jargon, and keep your communications short and to the point.

Good luck in your next conversation!

Podcasting: Is it Right For Your Chamber?

Do your homework first.  Find out what technology will be needed that you currently don’t have.  The good news is that the price point barrier in the past has come way down.

What is your goal of the podcast - is it another communication from the CEO?

The content should be consistent with your other communication vehicles (i.e. newsletters, website, white papers, etc.).

Decide on a frequency (once a week, once a month) and stick with it! Just like your blogs you need to build an audience and the best way to do that is by a consistent schedule and don’t forget to archive your podcasts.

Once you’ve decided on a frequency let’s think about how long they should be.  They need to be digestible.  For a resource on deciding what might be right for your chamber go HERE.

Questions to answer:

• Frequency - once a week or once a month?
• What kind of content do you want to cover?
• Advocacy?
• A new regulation?
• Highlight a new member?
• Is this the new ribbon cutting so many chambers are involved in?
• Who’s responsible?
• Who’s the voice?
• Does it change?
• Lecture or is it an interview with a member?
• How do you select the member without upsetting those who are not picked?
• Should you set-up criteria for selection?

Now let's talk about selling sponsorships to fund the podcast and the vendor/partner gets a commercial at the front end - sponsored by “you name the company.”  I suggest you only sell quarterly sponsorships and make sure you have a full years worth before launching.

Remember, you want people standing in line to sign-up!

This could be a great new revenue stream while also delivering real-time content in a timely manner.

For examples of chambers who are podcasting go HERE, HERE or HERE.

And finally, for a great resource to podcast right from your iPhone go HERE.

Good luck!

Effective Messaging

I recently read an article in AssociationsNow magazine that quoted James Carville as stating:

"...for a message to be effective, it has to be simple, relevant, and repetitive. It has to fit all three elements."

So true!

I also recently attended a special training on executive communications.  While there are many keys to an effective presentation, the three themes I learned there were:

• Be yourself;
• Be energetic; and
• Start and finish with the same point/message.

As chamber executives it's important to keep these suggestions top of mind. You remember the KISS theory, right?  Keep it simple stupid.

I'm suggesting the same thing here!

Don't over complicate the message. Keep it in bite size portions so people can digest and understand what you're saying or what you’re asking them to do.

It's like the 30-second elevator speech we're all familiar with and I wrote about in a previous post HERE. All your staff should have that speech down pat when asked what your chamber is known for.

So, continue to educate yourself on becoming the best communicator you can be. Your chamber will be the beneficiary. You'll benefit too!

I'll end with another quote from James Carville from the article:

"...if you want people to know three things about you, have three parts to your message. If you want people to know nothing about you, then have nine."

Managing Volunteers

For most of us, each year we get a new chairman with their ideas and set of priorities that may or may not align with the current program of work of your organization.

I think we all can agree that if you have a challenging volunteer it can make for a long year.

We all (volunteers and staff) come to the table with different personalities, strengths and weaknesses.

Open communication is the key!  If you keep your lines of communication open and transparent, your organization will be better off for it.

There are resources available that may help with this volunteer/staff relationship.  I am especially fond of the work the Tecker International folks have accumulated on the subject matter through seminars and publications.

Don’t ignore it.  Address it with open communication.

For more information on the subject matter from Tecker International click HERE.

Social Media Redux

If you haven’t had a chance to read my previous post on social media Is it Just White Noise you should give it a quick read.

As stated before, it’s making noise.  We all need to continue to pay attention to what your members want and the channels they're using to communicate.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s the fact that tomorrow will bring a new gadget, app, social media trinket with shining stars for you to engage in and potentially use as your new shiny tool to attract members.

I find myself chasing the elusive “next best thing” from time to time.  At the end of the day, you could probably keep up with all the different social media tools out there (i.e., Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Ning/proprietary site, Wiki’s, blog, etc.), but you’d be exhausted and I’m not sure all your members are on all of these platforms.

My advice, pick the two or three that make the most sense for your chamber and focus on tying them together and communicate a succinct message while maintaining a consistent brand.

Communicate that brand using all communication vehicles you’re used to working with (i.e., website, newsletter, magazine) and add the two or three social media tools you’ve decided to focus your resources on to communicate with your members.

Social media is just one more avenue we can use to communicate effectively with our members.

Let’s not make it the only way we’re communicating with our members!

For additional resources on social media go HERE, HERE and HERE.