Jim Parham, PR Chronicle

There’s nothing better than a good scandal to derail an international event. So, now we read that a bunch of Secret Service agents and special forces members got the lay of the local landscape, so to speak, in Colombia while advancing a presidential trip.
Advancing a presidential trip is not new. That’s been happening forever. However, in this case, those in charge of the president’s safety ran afoul of standard operating procedures and created a lot of bad news for the administration. Generally, that type of gaffe doesn’t happen, angry prostitutes or not.
I used to advance presidential trips, and I was wonderfully unaware this type of thing could happen. In fact, the people I worked with were so buttoned up and straight-laced that if you had a beer, or sat at the bar, you’d need to be mindful of your manners and protocol.
How does this type of outrageous breach of trust and safety occur? It wasn’t the president’s fault or problem. Well, at least until now. And, I am sure the top brass knew nothing of this foray into decadence.
A lot of people are at fault. But, it certainly had a lot more to do with the advance team’s leadership than the president or his immediate staff. This isn’t indicative of past Secret Service performance. These men and women have one of the toughest and demanding jobs in the security business, and they perform it precisely and near perfectly.
After all, let’s be real. This is an election year, and people are desperately searching for any scandal or salacious behavior on the part of any politician or staff member. Unfortunately, the Secret Service played perfectly into the hands of those seeking to unseat the current administration or those wanting better readership or viewership numbers.
For sure, there will be investigations, calls for firings and the meting out of severe discipline to the wayward crew. What’s more important to me is that the president and his entourage remained safe and sound in what we’d consider a fairly dangerous place.

Speech writing is a difficult PR assignment. Many politicians use dedicated speechwriters to help them. Many journalists become good speechwriters given their ability to assemble facts, tell a story and write clearly.
Here are some tips for producing good speeches.

1. Tell a story. People love stories, and that’s why you see so many effective speech givers (like President Obama) use real-world examples to liven up fairly boring factual information.
2. Be clear. Don’t fill up pages of paper with meandering prose. Get the facts, and give them in a straight, no-nonsense fashion.
3. Be empathetic. Use emotions, especially at the onset of the speech, to draw in the listener.
4. Liberally use facts. People believe facts, as they should. But don’t use half-baked facts or twist them into different meanings.
5. Tell them what you are going to tell them … tell them … and remind them of what you told them. Three times heard, and you are golden.
6. Use quotations sparingly. A great quote is great. An obscure or outdated quote is meaningless.
7. Repetition is a wonderful tool. Saying something in a repeated fashion almost becomes a mantra. Example: “I have a dream.”
8. Make sure you have a strong opening and conclusion. These are the times you have the most attention from your audience.
9. You must write like the presenter talks. The speech must have the sentence structure, the dialect and the cadence the presenter has in normal conversation (emulation writing).
10. Analyze the audience. Make sure you know who is in the audience. This will help avoid awkward or offensive statements, allow you to get their attention and be of relevance to them. (Remember when a presidential candidate referred to the Green Bay Packers’ hallowed playing field as “Lambert Field”?)
11. Give a “call to action.” Ask the audience to do something. “Vote for me this November.” “Get out and vote.” “Please give to this noble and worthy cause.”

Recently I was explaining to someone endlessly complaining that she, “doth protest too much.” I was greeted with a blank stare. Obviously, I was using the wrong line with someone that doesn’t really know Shakespeare, and thus, the meaning was totally lost on her. Not her fault. I should have said, “If you bitch enough, we’ll think you’re guilty.”

Today, our language is limited. It’s limited because we cannot use a lot of phrases, terms and history to make our point more salient. When I ask my college seniors how many have heard of Richard Nixon and the line, “I’m not a crook,” I get no reaction. Again, not their fault. They only know Tricky Dick from the minimal amount of history they get in high school.

Today, as writers, we need to use analogies and metaphors that mass audiences can understand. For example, using the term “flash in the pan,” is meaningless to many. After all, how many would know this phrase refers to the flash powder contained in a tray for photography, well before Kodak came onto the scene? It would be more suitable to say, “Here today, gone tomorrow.” But even that smacks of ancient history. Now, let’s invoke pop culture. So, how about bringing in some Hollywood, too? “Disappears faster than Joan River’s wrinkles.” Well, maybe not.

My point is that our writing must be relevant to the audience(s) we are trying to reach. To use big, obscure words and outdated sayings will not impact our readers. Upon stumbling across an unfamiliar word or phrase, I would hope that a reader would get up and scurry to the dictionary to find out the true meaning. Oh, wait, I mean Wikipedia. But that’s simply asking too much in this instant-gratification world.

Rather, we must put sentences and stories in the reader’s terms. Whether we like it or not, the word-choice playing field has gotten a lot smaller.

“As reported by the Bangor Daily News, Associated Press and a handful of other Maine media outlets, South Paris (Me.) Oxford Hills Comprehensive High football coach Paul Withee tendered his resignation as both a football coach and math and science teacher in the Oxford Hills School District on Monday, days after he inadvertently sparked a major scandal by accidentally posting a completely nude photo of himself on his publicly viewable Facebook page.”– By Cameron Smith | Prep Rally

Social media has changed the way we communicate. Sometimes for the better, and for Mr. Withee, sometimes for the worst.

In my classes at Indiana University, I suggest that posting raucous scenes and raunchy words and pictures on Facebook® during a job hunt may prove hurtful. Yes, that’s right, some employers, particularly those looking for people to fill sensitive positions, might migrate to an individual’s social media posts to capture a glimpse of what the person is really like.

Well, some students listen, and some don’t.

But, when it comes to full-on adults posting graphic material and pornographic missives to the masses, I am dumbstruck by the lack of awareness these individuals have of the pervasiveness of the Web. It’s instantaneous infamy.

Let’s take a look at Weiner-gate. Besides being a bad liar, Congressman Weiner had the bravado to snap images in the Hill’s locker rooms. Did he ever consider that digital images are as easy to spread as measles? Or did he believe he was inoculated against a viral campaign?

While people love digital mediums for communicating and gaining knowledge, it’s pretty clear that pushing the “send” button can have grave consequences for those naïve enough to believe someone out there won’t take the next step and post it to the Web.

Again, as I tell my students, think before you push. It might save your career, or at a minimum a bunch of embarrassment.

I’m a month behind in suggesting words to eliminate in 2012. Several stories surfaced in the waning days of 2011 about words that have grown tired and overused. I think the one that really hit home was “awesome” – a great word to eliminate. Suggesting that some awesome footage of a car wreck appeared on YouTube doesn’t make much sense.

I would like to add my own suggestions. Certainly, there are many more, but here are some that may be best reserved for baby babble with your toddler.

1. Gravitas. “This presidential candidate sure has the ‘gravitas’ to win the election.” Here, the speaker means “gravity,” or enough weight to make it happen. Sadly, the word also means sobriety.

2. Critical Mass. “The project has gained enough ‘critical mass’ to move forward.” Really? While I’m not an expert in physics, I do know enough to suggest this term is best left to the reactor boys.

3. Low-hanging fruit. “We’d better buy that stock now; it’s ‘low-hanging fruit.’” It’s time to eliminate this term. Adam and Eve probably control the intellectual property rights to it anyway.

4. Like. Sorry, but I teach at Indiana University, and we know how students like this word. “Like” is like an infectious disease, spreading like wildfire and, like, it’s really annoying, too.

5. Super. It’s not a bad word when you connect it with something. “Superman,” “Super Bowl.” But by itself, it’s best left out of conversation. However, for nostalgic reasons, I still like “Super Duper.”

6. Equilibrium. Unfortunately, I really like this word. It’s almost as good as “osmosis.” It’s really impressive to throw around scientific terms that have been ascribed new meanings at the water cooler. But alas, “equilibrium” must go.

So, this is just a start. I am sure you can add literally hundreds of words to this “must-avoid” list. But I first would want to ensure we have enough critical mass to add words that have the gravitas to be on the list. Sure, there’s some low-hanging fruit out there, and, like, it’s super fun to do this, but we do need to establish some equilibrium within our listings. Awesome!

Annually, I prognosticate public relations and related happenings that have a high degree of certainty of occurring in the upcoming year. Call it wimpy if you’d like, but I like a sure thing. And, unlike the 2011 end-of-world predictions and those for 2012, I’d rather not be the laughing stock of my loyal readers.
So, here we go…

1. The NBA shortened season will be as boring as a regular, full-length season; only this season will be noted with an asterisk that says, “Team won championship, but it’s not that valid because it was an abbreviated season.”
2. There will be claims in the Presidential campaign that the opponent is twisting and distorting the facts in his/her advertising.
3. There may be a claim that Herman Cain fathered several pizza delivery men (or women).
4. There will be a [pick one] illegal drug, illicit sex or gun charges against a player in the NFL.
5. There will be a blinding snow storm on the East Coast that gets a silly name like Snowzilla and some city will claim it was overwhelmed and unprepared.
6. The Weather Channel will brand a “named hurricane” with its own tagline like, “The Big One.”
7. Someone on a reality TV show will check into the Betty Ford Clinic.
8. There will be a “massive recall of [pick one] cars, trucks, SUVs, ground beef, ground turkey or cribs.
9. Someone will make a fashion faux pas on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards.
10. And some politician will claim, “If elected, I will go to Washington, D.C. and change the way it does business.” Right.

Fact is stranger than fiction: Penn State has proven that repeatedly over the past month. The school has gone beyond critical mass and the meltdown has played out in front of tens of millions of sports fans and hundreds of millions of sickened citizens.

The Penn State debacle has all the ingredients of a PR witches brew that has boiled over into other programs, nationwide. The horrific claims alone make this a reputation management nightmare. But then there’s the lack of follow-up and possible cover-up that ensued. In total, there’s enough bad PR to cover the globe in a foot-thick gob of slime.

And, speaking of slime, how can anybody in his right mind agree to an interview with Bob Costas and spew forth incredibly damning sound bites? Where’s the limited access, carefully controlled messaging that goes along with crisis management?

There are no winners in this disaster. Victims are stacking up like cordwood and the University has taken a severe beating on all fronts. Some people have lost their jobs and surely there will be more to come.

Penn State has tried really hard to stay ahead of the crisis from a PR perspective. But, alas, with so many moving parts and an ever-changing landscape, it’s been a very difficult task. Unfortunately, the PR people at Penn State don’t control key players in the crisis or external messaging, and that has proven to be a most challenging part of the PR puzzle.

It is interesting to note that Monday morning quarterbacking occurs not only after football games, but certainly after a crisis.

Our local business journal did an extensive story on how crisis planning would have greatly helped immediately after the recent stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair. Several local public relations gurus weighed in on the subject, and there was a clear sense that crisis planning is almost always needed, but never done.

Well, that’s pretty much accurate. Most companies, nonprofits and government are wildly absent good crisis planning. Most people don’t want to pay for it. But, I think there’s something more to it. In my experience, it appears that many people don’t want to face the facts. In other words, something really bad could happen to you, your business or customer, but you choose to ignore it.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that a bona-fide crisis can run the gamut. But rocket scientists do understand that now, but after terrible tragedies in the space shuttle program. NASA learned after Challenger that some things are just inconceivable, but very real. They were caught totally unprepared for the deluge after the disaster.

To prepare for the unimaginable, the unthinkable, the unforeseeable, it takes a hard look internally. Many times, the company or institution is the very last one to be objective and look at possible trouble from a 30,000-foot view. That’s where a detached, PR professional can be of help. I bastardize a term to describe the process of running the ridiculous to the sublime scenarios of a potential crisis: Visioning.

You must step back, explore all the possibilities and not leave a stone unturned. I do always remind clients in the throes of a crisis of this: Fact is stranger than fiction.

Recently a good friend and able competitor closed his public relations operation after many, many successful years. However, things turned south in the past few years and his business waned. Our “Paper of Record” reported on the shift in the PR marketplace, suggesting, “the times they are a changing.”

Well, yes they are.

The article interviewed a lot of pundits who suggested that large agencies are dinosaurs and the new, nimble two-person shop or independent contractor is the new “us.”

Wait a minute. Just because some shops have closed their doors due to a bad economy, misplaced priorities or experiments gone awry, doesn’t mean the larger agency is dead.

Let’s look at some of the realities. Larger shops have the ability to target a lot of resources to an immediate issue or project. If a one-person shop has a migraine…oops! A diverse agency can bring a variety of expertise to the table. The large agency doesn’t have to depend on subcontractors or hard-to-find or hard-to-manage freelancers.

But, wait a minute. What about rates? Actually, while a sole operator has greatly reduced overhead, they have to pay for health insurance, data sets and production by freelancers or specialty shops. The agency on the other hand can churn out product better than butter. The agency has the databases and the internal mechanisms to create and implement campaigns fast.

But something is changing. No longer are clients satisfied with the, “We’ll write up a news release and send it to the newspaper.” Nope. Today, it’s all about the 24-hour news cycle, the blogosphere, the demise of the newspaper and the rise of viral everything. Today, attacks on a client’s reputation come from everywhere and nowhere. It’s clear that agencies have to develop keen skills in all media types, especially social media.

So, to write off the agency as dead is a bit difficult for me. Largeness has a place. Maybe not for the lone entrepreneur needing a quick news release or Op-Ed, but sure-footed and accessible PR resources from a larger entity can handle the really tough stuff.