Why PR pros need a YouTube account

By Chanda Temple

YouTube logo

I live in Birmingham, Ala., where tornadoes rumble across the region every spring. On a recent spring night, I huddled in my hallway closet, put on a bicycle helmet and rode out  severe weather until the storms passed. I used my BlackBerry to tweet about the experience. Luckily, there was no damage in my area.

A reporter from Mobile, Ala. saw my tweets and tweeted me the next day, saying he wanted to talk to me about how I wore my helmet during the storm. (It’s pretty common that people wear some type of helmet during a tornado as a precaution against possible head injuries.) He wanted to use my comments for a story.

Since Mobile is about four hours from Birmingham, I figured we’d do a telephone interview. He had something else in mind.

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Five more things to know about television interviews

By Chanda Temple

Be prepared before you do that TV interview. Image by Barend en Barend via Flickr/CreativeCommons

Be prepared before you do that TV interview.
Image by Barend en Barend via Flickr/CreativeCommons

 

Yesterday, I posted eight things you need to know about doing a live television interview. I received great feedback and decided to post a few more tips. Here they are:

  • Toss the gum 

This should go without saying, but it still needs to be mentioned. If you have gum in your mouth, get rid of it before you appear on television, radio, a podcast or a video. You can’t hide it.

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How to get ready for a television interview

Alabama 13's Ashley Roberts and I took a selfie in the NBC studio before my on-air interview. I decided to wear green because it popped for me. Ashley wore green, too, totally by accident. What a way to usher in spring!

Alabama 13’s Ashley Roberts and I took a selfie in the NBC studio before my on-air interview. I decided to wear green because it popped for me. Ashley wore green, too, totally by accident. What a way to usher in spring!

By Chanda Temple

You’ve booked a live, on-air interview for television. But are you truly ready for the lights, camera and action? Here are some tips to help prepare you:

  • Don’t say, “Um”  
  • Do you know what you sound like when you are talking? Do you have a tendency to say , “um?’’ If you don’t know, record yourself with a  smartphone, video recorder or tape recorder. If you say, “Um’’ more than twice, chances are that you say it a lot. One quick way to kill the “ums’’ is that when you feel it coming on, take a pause and then start talking again. When we say, ‘’um,’’ it’s because we are thinking about what to say next or we are looking for a transition. When we say it a lot, people focus more on our “ums,’’ rather than our message.

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What does your business card say about your brand?

 

Sherrod Shackleford, left, and LaVon Lewis founded their branding and marketing company, PDG, in a dorm room, 14 years ago. Today, they are handling accounts for major companies. They are based in Atlanta, Ga.

Sherrod Shackelford, left, and LaVon Lewis founded their branding and marketing company, PDG, in a dorm room at Alabama A&M University, 14 years ago. Today, they are handling accounts for major companies. They are based in Atlanta, Ga. (Photo by Chanda Temple)

By Chanda Temple

Before you hand your business card to Sherrod Shackelford or LaVon Lewis, make sure the card is truly what you want to say about your company.

If not, be ready for their feedback because the two founders of PDG, a branding and marketing firm based in Atlanta, Ga., are not shy about sizing you and your card up and  saying what they like and don’t like about it. 

“I don’t know what you are selling,” one of them told an entrepreneur during a recent branding workshop, where attendees provided their business cards for critiques.

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Five things that annoy photojournalists

Respect photojournalists. They know what they are doing.

Respect photojournalists. They know what they are doing.

By Chanda Temple

At a recent pr event, I caught myself doing something that I’ve seen annoy photographers to no end: I was TOO helpful.

Let me paint you a picture: I was handling public relations for a big community event and the TV cameras arrived. Once the television cameramen set up, I asked if they needed anything. They were good. But as the event progressed, I kept checking in with them to see if they needed this or that. They didn’t.

It finally occurred to  me that if they needed anything, they would ask me.

While public relations pros go the extra mile to help reporters, sometimes, we can be so helpful that it becomes hurtful.

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Get inspired with fitness guru Donna Richardson Joyner

Donna Richardson Joyner Image from President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition via Flickr/CreativeCommons.

Donna Richardson Joyner
Image from President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition via Flickr/CreativeCommons.

By Chanda Temple

A book I’m reading has been a good motivator to help keep me on track in my quest to work out.

It’s fitness expert Donna Richardson Joyner’s book “Witness to Fitness,’’ which has uplifting affirmations, scriptures, Sweet Tweets, daily meal plans, recipes and exercises for any fitness level.

She finds unique ways to blend faith and fitness to fight the fat.

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Six more tips on writing a good press release

By Chanda Temple

Image by Search Influence via Flickr/CreativeCommons

Image by Search Influence via Flickr/CreativeCommons

On March 26, 2014, I wrote about six ways to write a good press release. Here are six more tips.

  • Personalize your releases

If you are having an event with a lot of vendors, pick one or two to highlight their special skill, product, etc. If they are selling a product they developed because it helped make life easier for them and their family, push that personal story. Reporters like people stories.

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Six tips to writing a better press release

By Chanda Temple

Image by Jeffrey James Pacres via Flickr/CreativeCommons

Do you know how to capture a reporter’s attention with an engaging press release? Keep it simple. Image by Jeffrey James Pacres via Flickr/CreativeCommons

I worked as a reporter for 20 years before starting a career in public relations in 2012. And I can tell you that not all press releases are created equally.

When I was a reporter, some releases went on forever before I found the news. Others offered no news value at all and left me wondering, “Why did they send this to me?” Still others tried to be cute and funny but totally turned me off. I’m sure the sender thought they had just sent a masterpiece, when in reality, it was a master fail.

Writing press releases is hard. Here are some tips to help sharpen your skills.

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Motivation Monday: How to build a better you for your business and your brand

What does your brand say about you and your company? Image by Rupert Ganzer via Flickr/CreativeCommons.

What does your brand say about you and your company?
Image by Rupert Ganzer via Flickr/CreativeCommons.

By Chanda Temple

I love a good conversation,  especially when it’s packed with engaging or powerful tips to help make me better in my professional and personal life. Earlier this year, a friend suggested I check out her former college classmate’s weeklong teleseries on branding. I’m glad I did.

Ten minutes into the teleseries, Atlanta visual brand strategist and image coach Brandi Mitchell had me hooked on wanting to improve my branding game. Her information was bold and helpful, especially for setting goals for 2014. She left listeners feeling that whatever held them back in 2013, will no longer be a factor in 2014. 

To get wherever you are going, she says, will take preparation and determination. “Don’t wait to be given the green light,” Brandi says. “Go create your own reality. She who brands it, believes it, builds it and becomes it, wins.’’

Impressive, right? Well, here are some of her tips for building a better you:

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Motivation Monday: Fighting to be fit

Lifting weights makes me smile. So happy to have it in my fitness routine. Image by Barry Miller via Flickr/CreativeCommons.

Lifting weights makes me smile. So happy to have it in my fitness routine.
Image by Barry Miller via Flickr/CreativeCommons.

By Chanda Temple

Every time a new year rolls around, I make promises to lose weight and to exercise more. And every year, I fall back into bad habits.

I work late and eat even later. I’m always cheating with sweets. I seek out new exercise classes, but find it hard to fit them into my schedule.

Excuses. Excuses. Excuses.

After I cancelled another workout session for the umpteenth time earlier this year, my trainer told me: “You are consistent at being inconsistent when it comes to working out.’’

He’s right. I’m a backslider.

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