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5 Tips for Better Public Speaking

Public speaking is a useful tool in public relations and a great way to communicate your key messages while connecting with your target audience.

You can participate in public speaking at conferences, events or any time that you intend to inform, influence or entertain an audience.

The main purpose of public speaking is to communicate your message to your target audience in an engaging way to encourage them to remember it. Public speaking can also help to build your profile as an expert in your industry and increase your target audience’s brand awareness.

Here are some tips to help you improve your public speaking skills.

1. Prepare and practice

Before a public speaking opportunity it is essential to do some research into the topic you want to discuss and the main points you will communicate. The more knowledge you have about your topic the more confident you will be.

You can then thoroughly prepare your speech and then practice, practice, practice. When you know what you are talking about there will be less room for error.

2. Develop a relationship with the audience

Connecting with the audience is a fundamental part of successfully communicating your message. Whether it’s through a captivating introduction, using humor or incorporating hand gestures, your message will be more impactful if the audience is receptive to what you are saying.

3. Relax and deliver

When speaking to an audience it’s important to relax and be yourself which can often be difficult if you are nervous. You can use relaxation techniques such as controlled breathing to calm your nerves, make sure you are prepared, practice plenty of times (see first tip) and be strong in your

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delivery. You are more likely to engage the audience if you speak clearly, stand tall and maintain good eye contact.

4. Know your audience

Before the public speaking opportunity you should find out information about your audience. This will help you to tailor your speech to their needs. For example, if the audience has no knowledge about your area of expertise then you need to use language they will understand, which means no jargon. You also need to think about the purpose of the speech and the main points you want the audience to take away. You can then structure your speech to make sure the audience will receive your messages.

5. Become a regular public speaker

The more you practice public speaking, the more successful you will be. With practice you can also learn how to control your nerves and become more confident.

Start by speaking at small events and then build up to bigger conferences. Accept any opportunity possible to practice your public speaking and believe in what you are saying. The more practice you receive the better your public speaking will become and you will be more successful in delivering your message.

Successful public speaking involves preparation, the ability to connect with the audience, a strong delivery, practice and tailoring your speech to your target audience.

These tips will ensure that your audience will be informed, your messages will be clear and the purpose of your speech will be achieved.

(https://publicrelationssydney.com.au/ 5-tips-for-better-public-speaking/)

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Get Schooled in Public Relations:

How to Talk PR like a Pro1

If you’re a killer public relations pro, you probably already throw around some confusing (to the outside world) PR terminology on the daily. But if you are just starting out in the industry or just hired a public relations firm, some of the terms you’ll hear used on a regular basis may go right over your head. Never fear: consider this your official PR vocab crash-course. Class is in session.

Media relations: The act of conversing with the media. Not all public relations is media relations, but all media relations is public relations. This includes pitching, scheduling briefings, following up with additional assets (press releases, images or fact/product sheets) and overseeing / following the story to publication. Media relations is more than simply pressing “send” on an email; it involves making and maintaining relationships with reporters and is the majority of the work we do.

Hard news: Current, relevant, serious news or events that have a timely tie-in. Hard news could include a product launch, data findings or something that ties into current events. For a hard news story, timeliness is especially important.

Soft news: These news stories tend to have less of a timely relevance and cover more general company or industry news (think 5 Ways to Save Money on Car Insurance). For soft news stories, your publicist may pitch you as an expert source or cite a relevant company initiative to get your name included in a story.

Press release: A document outlining new information from a company, usually about hard news and supplemented with a quote from a company spokesperson. These are either distributed via a wire service like Business Wire

1 Tips from BIGfish communications (PR agency).

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or PR Newswire or put on a company website and used in media outreach. Some common announcements worthy of a press release include a new product launch, appointing a new executive or releasing a new study.

“The wire”: An online press release distribution center. There are several wire services in the United States that offer press release distribution, including Business Wire, PR Newswire and PRWeb. You don’t always need to use a wire service to distribute your release since they can be somewhat pricey – but don’t worry, your PR team can help you figure out what the best strategy is for your announcement.

Boilerplate: A brief company summary that appears at the bottom of a press release; it can also be used as a quick reference for journalists who inquire about your company. Your boilerplate includes information like when / where your company was founded, a concise description of what you do, what your mission is, etc.

Fact sheet: A one or two-page document containing quick facts about a company and / or its top executives and commonly used by media for highlevel fact checking. A fact sheet may be used to provide background information, mission statements, important biographies, fast facts, logo and more. You may also have (or want to create) fact sheets for specific products that include the most important information like product name, description, a photo, specifications and price.

Press kit / media kit: A bundle of information often found on your website or sent by your PR team to supplement a pitch. This may include a press release, company backgrounder, fact sheet, high-resolution product images and descriptions, headshots, etc. Your press kit provides additional information and assets journalists will likely want or need for their story in one easy-to-navigate place.

Media list: A list of journalists and their basic information created and used by PR professionals. A media list will be tailored to each individual pitch to ensure journalists are the appropriate contact for the story.

Pitch: A brief email sent by your PR team to journalist on a certain topic

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or story. Your PR team can pitch journalists either hard news or soft news, depending on what’s going on at your company. This is not a generic email blast, but a strategically crafted pitch that gets sent to a well-researched group of media targets (kept organized in that media list we just talked about).

Briefing: Television, radio, phone or in-person interviews with reporters that allow the spokesperson to go into greater detail about his / her company or a specific announcement (don’t worry, your publicist will probably media train you beforehand).

Media training: The process by which a PR professional prepares a company spokesperson for media interviews. During media training, the spokesperson will learn best practices for interviews; common interview mistakes; techniques for answering tough questions; feedback on personal interview style; sample interview questions; tips for broadcast and radio interviews, and additional strategies for acing press briefings.

Under Embargo: Pitching “classified” information to select journalists under the premise that nothing will be reported until a specified date and time. Using a good ol’ gentleman’s agreement, a PR professional may pitch journalists important information in advance “under embargo” so articles are lined up to publish in time with a big announcement or product launch.

Exclusive: Offering a large story to one specific journalist – and that journalist only. When you see “EXCLUSIVE” at the beginning of an article, you know that outlet was the only one given this information directly from the source.

Press hit / press mention: A mention of a story about your company (or company’s spokesperson) in a news outlet.

Unique views per month (UVM): The average number of visitors a website receives per month. Compete is a great resource for finding this. Similar to UVM, broadcast is reported in viewership numbers, print press hits in circulation and radio in listenership.

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Still with us? Congrats – you’ve passed the class. Go out there and speak PR with the best of them.

By Meghan Azralon (http://bigfishpr.com/get-schooled-in-public- relations-how-to-talk-pr-like-a-pro/)

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How to Spot Fake News like a Pro

For many decades, fake news has been an issue that readers had to combat, but it wasn’t until recently that fake news became so prominent and influential in our daily lives. According to a 2016 Gallup poll, only 32% of people said they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media, down 8% from the previous year – and the lowest it’s been in polling history. This is clearly a huge issue for companies and news organizations, and fake news sites are capitalizing on it.

From stories about false endorsements of presidential candidates, to an untrue firing of a news reporter, fake news outlets have written about everything, usually involving people of power and rank. Hundreds, if not thousands, of websites post and plagiarize articles lying to readers about current events – or create events they hope to make current. Social media amplifies the popularity of these articles by enabling readers to easily share these stories at the quick click of a button.

Legitimate news outlets are now fighting a tough battle trying to come

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out in front of fake news stories – and, with fake news abounding, people have a hard time determining what to believe and what sources to have confidence in.

Former President Barack Obama referred to fake news as a “dust cloud of nonsense.” That nonsense does have a way of clouding minds and judgments, but each and every person has the ability to maintain a true and informed outlook on news stories.

Here are some tips to keep in mind so you don’t get trapped believing fake news:

Consult a fact checking website like Snopes, FactCheck.org or PolitiFact if you are the least bit hesitant about an article’s factuality.

Double check the source. Some fake news websites try to look like (and have similar names as) legitimate sources. For example: ABCNews.go.com (real) vs. ABCNews.com.co (fake).

Read the whole article before determining if it is really true or not – and especially before sharing on social media.

Research the author to see if there is any credible information about him or her.

Check to see if the article credits any sources, and, if so, are they legitimate?

Gauge your emotions. If the article made you drastically upset or mad, it could very well be fake. Fake news often tries to target your emotions to get you to share stories before you have the chance to determine legitimacy.

Take note of improper grammar. Trustworthy news sites very rarely publish mistakes, multiple exclamation points, etc.

By Jacqui Harig (http://bigfishpr.com/how-to-spot-fake-news-like-a-pro/)

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TEXT 3

The Science of Interest:

What Makes Us Care

As PR professionals, we work tirelessly to craft stories reporters care about, attending to both the reporter’s personal interests, as well as the collective interests of their audience. But what is it that makes one reporter bite on a pitch while another decides to pass it up? What makes one reader rave about an article while another dismisses it as underwhelming? Let’s explore the science of interest to figure out exactly what it is that makes us care.

The Perception of Prestige:

In 2007, a world renowned violinists laid out his case in a Washington D.C. metro station and played to the throngs of commuters. Hardly anyone stopped to listen, and in the 45 minutes he played, the critically acclaimed Joshua Bell collected only $32 (a few days earlier he had performed to a huge audience at Boston Symphony Hall).

Bell played with the same artistry and finesse as when he performs in front of paying audiences, so why didn’t people care about this impromptu show?

The reason is that there was no perception of prestige. He was playing in a subway station, dressed in simple clothes; people weren’t prompted to interpret his performance as an exceptional display of talent. Instead, they wrote him off as just another subway performer.

As PR professionals, this phenomenon is crucial to keep in mind. To prevent your pitches from going as unnoticed as Josh Bell in the subway, you should try to convey an element of prestige. No matter what your content is, this will make it resonate more intensely with your reader. (Check out this example about wine tasters who preferred the wine they were told was more expensive – whether it really was or not).

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The Extent of Familiarity:

Tom Vanderbilt, author of You May Also Like, points out that “we always lean toward familiarity.” The more exposure we’ve had to something in the past, the more likely we are to find related ideas interesting in the future. For example, if you don’t know much about wine, you probably won’t find talk of tannins and legs all that thought-provoking. But if you’re a real connoisseur, those kinds of conversations become much more intriguing to you.

Interest correlates with our ability to unpack and digest information, which itself is contingent on our prior knowledge and familiarity with a particular concept. Typically, we are drawn to the familiar because it is more efficient; we are able to quickly understand and process information we’re already acquainted with, thus enhancing our own intellectual capacity. Vanderbilt points out that the more you understand something, the more pleasurable and interesting it is.

The question then becomes, how can PR professionals make their content relatable while still emphasizing its newsworthiness and novelty?

One approach might be to explain an idea in the context of something your reader is likely already familiar with. You might consider establishing a point of commonality and then drawing their attention to the ways in which your product or idea differs from the familiar. That way, you’re putting your message in a relatable context, allowing your reader to more efficiently engage with it, while still maintaining its novelty.

The Acknowledgment of Authority:

People have a strong desire to better themselves; we buy books (even if we don’t end up reading them) and subscribe to podcasts (even if we don’t end up listening to them). That intention is important to note, though, as it reveals our commitment to and interest in improvement.

It is this commitment that makes us respond so positively to people who are experts or leaders in their fields. We want insight into what the experts know and are impressed by their extensive knowledge. It can even make people more likely to heed your advice; studies have shown that physiotherapists are

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