Simple yet powerful tips for spokespersons in your organization

The word battle ready might sound ominous, but that is how spokesperson must be always.

There could be a call from anywhere in the globe on something which happened a few minutes ago, and which would have an impact on the company or its fortunes. It’s a viral world and not always does the spokesperson have the luxury of having information by the minute. 

But the ability to respond in an appropriate manner to any query from anywhere is one quality which is a must!

The spokesperson does not have a magic wand to all queries, and it is important to admit that – the best answer when confronted with an uncomfortable or ill-informed query is very simple – give me a while and we will come to you with the facts!

But most times, out of a quest to close the issue, and under pressure of the situation, the response is a bit casual. This is a perfect recipe for inviting negative media, and possibly messing up an already fluid situation.

In case the spokesperson needs any coaching in this front, the organization must provide it time and again.

Most organizations tend to have the belief that spokesperson must be suave and possess extra-ordinary skills in communication, particularly verbal. Yes, this is an added advantage. But that is certainly not a pre-requisite at all. In fact, track some PR crises and how suave spokesperson handled them – you will see that the over-confidence that comes out of being suave and flamboyant brings in a tinge of arrogance – a perfect recipe for many a media disasters!

Facts, put across in simple language with amazing clarity and miles ahead of a suave and ambiguous, arrogant and just too casual remark.

The term spokesperson, in the present scenario, is a misnomer in a way! The spokesperson or your media representative not just has to speak, but to respond in other media – mails, newsletters, and social networks… an endless list this can be. He must be competent in handling all this – yes with speed, but more than speed in a language that is appropriate and publishable to the world!

 Many PR careers have been shunted by usage of inappropriate language, unintended it may be – someone somewhere leaks it out when things go out of the hand! The mantra ought to be state the facts and only facts, in a language that can be scrutinized anytime later.

While speed of response is a paramount criterion, it never can be at the cost of language that reflects an unprofessional attitude!

Sometimes, it does happen that the chief executive himself is the spokesperson – this is mostly when there is a larger than life event, or a huge crisis etc. - whatever be the reason, the past shows that the top management, out of their familiarity with the media, take to a casual approach in handling queries – and this sparks of a full blown PR debacle!

It’s important for senior leadership to take to some caution in handling such situations, and to repeat, facts mist not be colored by style and the way it is delivered!

Hope these simple yet powerful tips help your spokesperson to handle PR situation better this New Year! And as an organization, make sure the needy training is imparted through PR professionals, if it will help!

Beware if your PR guy promises you the moon!

Does you PR advisor tell you this – come what may, we will make sure that we get 
your company covered in the media – in a nutshell, call it a “column cm guarantee”?

Nothing can be far from a blatant lie, and honestly, PR never works that way in any 
part of the globe.


As a matter fact, if you have a long term PR/communication strategy for your company in mind, 
you must quietly stay away from such ‘column space coverage’ guarantors!

Look at the media (and the journalist fraternity) as end consumers of your content. They have their their own creativity constraints – and its in a sense a battle between classy content, the most crucial advertisers (who walk away with a chunk of the col cms), and the editor who wields the wand as to what the reader must see and know! 

The same analogy can be drawn to all kinds of media – print, television, online and so on. Add to this, the clutter of competition in your own industry – which is only increasing by the day!  

In all this, if someone walks up to you and gives you as assurance of guaranteed coverage, it can be only if you are gullible enough to think that any of us in the PR business wield that influence.

The fact is, none of us, yes, NONE of us have that, and to some extent, it would be an insult to the independent thinking of the media if we imagine such a thing!

While we could be your company’s image advisors, we are just facilitators to friends in the media – sometimes involuntarily pushing information we perceive as useful, and at times offering a helping hand when sought. We are only catering to the content needs of the journalist fraternity, and this is in their own terms.

In all this, we also see how well we could position our client PR needs, and offer some expertise in creating media oriented content, which will be relevant and consumed!

Look at PR advisors as partners in your long term communication strategy execution plan. Not as someone who could just wave a magic wand and get you instant headlines in the next mornings newspapers! And by the way, such a magic wand never exists with any PR advisor! 

Crisis in Communication? The Koodankulam impasse - PRhq thoughts!

Koodamkulam is now the epicentre of brewing trouble, with the protests by the local populace snowballing into a mass movement. While what and who is propelling and catalysing this people aggression is a complex question, its by now clear that the government as well as the plant authorities have completely bungled in foreseeing such a situation in the aftermath of Fukushima - which has probably brought in a change in perception.

We all did see some nuke experts and political observers ask "why now and why after 20000 Crores down the drain" (that includes me too), may be Fukushima and the way nuke energy is perceived by the common man post that is the answer. But that is besides the point in a scenario where a considerable population is up in the arms against the project.

For now, there is no easy way out as the use of force and such strategies will only boomerang on the establishment. The mess on the ground in the vicinity of Koodamkulam is clearly the fruit of a non-effective communication/public relations by all the stakeholders. 

The way forward could be a multi-pronged strategy which might take a few months, but that is much better than trying to by force start the operations and continue to earn the wrath of the population who have also contributed by giving away the land and to some extent livelihood for the sake of the plant.

1. Communications commitee - The PM has in his own style formed a high power committee which will study the safety aspects and submit a report. This is so flawed in the way its communicated - if all the experts and the plant authorities are already saying that this is one of the safest plants, then the common man will only get more scared as to why a commitee is being formed this late. Instead, the central government must form a communication committee that will go to the site and its vicinity and take on the job of assuaging the fears of the villagers, who percieve a danger in the plant becoming operational. 
2. Isolate the non-stake holders - There is news that the agitation is fuelled by some outsiders with some religious leanings. The central and state governments must use all their might in identifying these forces, and forcing them out of ground-zero. A classic example is the Anti-Sterlite plant movement in the very same place. For years, there were a series of agitations (almost round the year) for reasons that were more valid than the present one. Yet, those agitations, even when blessed and fuelled by the regional politicians, not for a day affected the operations of the Sterlite plant. If a private organisation can do that, it only is possible to isolate all the non-concerned actors at Koodamkulam. What is needed is the conviction to address the genuine concerns, and get all the fringe elements out of the game.
3. Form a villagers commitee - It might appear that its too late in the day for such an exercise. In reality, it may not be. The authorities should go ahead and use all kind of media to reach out to the villagers and tell them that the government/plant authorities are willing to address every single concern/fear that may be in the mind of every villager, who thinks he or she may be affected. This must be a sustained exercise, with no timelines, and the intent must be to understand what exactly are the percieved fears that loom large in the minds of the people in that area. Those which are well founded must be answered with facts, and those ill founded and planted by miscreants can be quashed to the dustbin.
4. Unleash a PR campaign - Other than some national english dailies in which we have seen people like Dr M R Srinivasan publishing their views on the heightened safety aspects, there is hardly any space for the pro-plant views in any media - be in in at the village and regional level, national, regional and local print, television, and any other media that might help in reaching people on the ground. Seminars and lectures in the national news channels where the nuke intelligentia rant there views will not make a shred of difference to the agitation/agitating people. It is precisely the absence of such a people targeted communication campaign that is enabling the fringe elements, be it religious or otherwise to fuel the agitation. If the fringe can manage a perception that there is a massive opposition to the plant, it is very surprising to see that the authorities cannot plan a turnaround in that perception.
5. Re-visit the proximity effect of the plant - This is a bit of technical stuff. The whole concern seems to be centred around 'what if there is a tsunami or a massive quake, and how does the radiation affect us?'. And the answer to this by experts seem to be that this region is not prone to a tsunami. This is a funny logic no one will buy, even if backed by tonnes of geological facts. The point is - no one said the S Indian coast will be battered by a tsumani which took away entire villages when it happened. Such arguments do not hold water to the common man. The way is to critically state facts, and in case some villages continue to have objections, the only option is to see if they can be re-settled, with means of livelihood in tact.

A combination of all these above will make sure that a space is created for a people centric dialog, which would lead to a solution to Koodamkulam. The above can be complemented by a flurry of social development initiatives that would lift the standards of living of these villagers.

In case such a sustained and planned campaign by the authorities is not put in place, the solution will not emerge. That will be to the advantage of the fringe elements who hold forte now, stalling the project that could solve the looming power crisis in the country.

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Strategic crisis communication - an live-wire case - thoughts by the PRhq team.