Developing Successful Storytellers
This is a story about stories and storytelling. Its purpose is to inspire you to, first, give a copy of your favourite children’s book to a kid and, second, support A Good Book Drive if you live in Vancouver. Why? Because stories are the most powerful communications tool that we, as humans, have at our disposal.
Communicating to Different Media
There are many stories out there. Some are so important that every media outlet in your area, region or country will want to cover them. Other stories are of more limited interest to particular media groups. Identifying which stories will be attractive to which media will save you a great deal of time when it comes to communicating your idea. It can also significantly aid you in the development of your story pitch and allow you to be much more convincing when you are on the phone speaking with a journalist or producer. Here are some simple things to consider when you are deciding what, and for whom, is newsworthy.
Pluck and Persistence Will Drive Your Story into the News
Every company and organization has an interesting story to tell. Finding news and honing it into a finely crafted pitch is the first challenge. You want to make sure you’re “selling” the best “product” that you can. Here are a few factors to consider when it comes to what makes news, well, ‘news’. Once you’ve got your story down, the next step is to convince a reporter or editor that it has a place on a newspaper page as opposed to remaining lonely and forgotten on your organization’s blog.There are many ways to do this.
The Elements of an Effective News Story
Ever wonder why a spate of deadly car crashes makes the front page (or leads-off the news hour) while announcements about a new social enterprise that employs people with mental illness tend to get buried? It’s all connected to how “newsworthy” a story is considered by the editorial/production staff. Each day, thousands of producers and editors around the country are forced to rank what’s worth paying attention to and what they can safely ignore.
How to Understand and Engage Introverts
Full disclosure, I’m an extrovert. My lovely, talented and tolerant wife, Michelle, claims that she’s an “amnivert” but is probably an introvert (we’re all a bit of both, right?) – in fact, Michelle absolutely has a suitcase full of books.
How to Give a Memorable Speech
Says* Jerry Seinfeld: “You know, I just read this survey that said the number one fear of Americans is public speaking. The number two fear is death. [INSERT SUBTLE LAUGHTER FROM AUDIENCE]. So, let me get this straight. This means…
The Interview: Opening Doors to a Workplace Community
Getting into a challenging, dynamic, rewarding, organized, and fun workplace community is a tricky business. For a myriad of reasons, competition is as intense as it’s ever been, and job seekers around the world are in tough competition when it…
Professional Communities – LinkedIn and Twitter
Editor’s Note: my controversial compassionate conservative of a co-editor, Kurt Heinrich, is not sold on opening a LinkedIn account to manage his professional connections, nor is he eager to use Twitter to build a professionally-minded “micro-brand” (©Copyright John Horn 2009) that will help promote, among other things, this blog. The following 300 words showcase my modest proposal for Kurt, and the rest of you, to embrace these mediums to raise your professional profile as well as grow your network of contacts. Enjoy!