Mack the Flack

Mack’s colleague, who just signed up for Twitter and has two followers, faces a common Twitter dilemma – now what to tweet about? Mack’s advice? Just babble.

That, according to Twitter Facts and Figures Report, is what most of the more than 200 million people using Twitter do. Less than 40% of users send conversational tweets and only 9% of all worldwide tweets are passed along.

Five years after the introduction of Twitter we know that of all Twitter users:

• Almost half are between 18 and 34
• More than half don’t have kids
• They occupy all income levels
• About 4% tweet about news
• About 6% use tweets for self-promotion

So, what’s all this pointless, one-sided, 140-character, babble worth? Twitter has a current estimated market value of between $8 -10 billion.

Learn all about Twitter and other social media techniques in the SFU PR Certificate Program.

Kai Nagata, a 24-year-old TV News reporter, has discovered TV News is a superficial world inhabited by Ken and Barbie lookalike news readers and reporters.

Furthermore, these TV pretty boys and girls often ignore important news in favour of saturation coverage of such trivial events as Kate and Will’s visit to Canada.

Shocking!

Nagata wrote a scathing 3,000 word blog entitled “Why I quit my job” in which the former CBC and CTV TV reporter describes his disillusionment with TV news. Seems he wasn’t ready for an industry that “so casually sexualizes its workforce.”

“Every hiring decision is scrutinized using a skewed, unspoken ratio of talent to attractiveness, where attractiveness often compensates for a glaring lack of other qualifications.”

Now, as an ex-PR and former print reporter who was never hired for his looks, Mack knows it isn’t exactly a news flash that TV News is more about big hair and white teeth than in-depth coverage of world events.

Kai Nagata might consider a career in print journalism; become a commentator, or even a media spokesperson for a deserving organization. He should also recognize TV News as it is – usually pretty people telling often petty stories with pictures.

Learn how the media, including TV News, works in the SFU PR Certificate program. wppcert@sfu.ca

Every day lousy, pointless and lifeless quotations doom news releases, newsletters, websites, publications and blogs postings. “Mundane, meandering quotations spoil PR writing fast,” says Mack the Flack.

Here are three ways to avoid bad quotes:

1. Be Active – every quote should be in the active voice. A recognized person should do something concrete. “The VP Finance detailed the restructuring plan to shareholders this morning.”
2. Be Understandable – keep your quotes short, concise and interesting. Avoid jargon, buzzwords and unnecessary acronyms.
3. Be Informative – tell your reader something, add information. Avoid clichés, stating the obvious, verbose and meaningless quotes.

Learn about PR and perfecting the perfect quote in the SFU PR Certificate program. 778.782.5093 or pr-staff@sfu.ca

Pitching a story idea to the news media on behalf of a client or organization is the “worst dental visit ever” sort of task of PR. Few practitioners enjoy it and even fewer are good at it. Mack the Flack knows a thick a skin is a must for such pitches. He’s also learned a few tricks over the, uh, decades.

1. Be specific – tell the media/blog the information – who, what, when, where, why and how – they need. Making the reporter/blogger’s job easier will make the task easier for you.
2. Be targeted – tailor your information to suit the interest or expertise of the reporter/blogger.
3. Be quick – get your information (see above) to the reporter/blogger as quickly as possible.
4. Be visual – give the reporter/blogger compelling visuals. It helps to sell the story.
5. Be sure you have a spokesperson – someone who knows the details, can sell the story and is available.
6. Be social media aware – don’t clog the reporter’s/blogger’s email with attachments they will never open.
7. Be persistent – follow up your pitch with the reporter/blogger.

Learn about PR and pitching to the news media in the SFU PR Certificate program. 778.782.5093 or pr-staff@sfu.ca

Lake Superior State University’s (LSSU) annual “List of Words to be Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness” (www.lssu.edu/banished) include some of Mack the Flack’s most hated:

1. Viral – anything popular, even for a microsecond, is “viral”. We’re sick of it.

2. Fail – LSSU flunks the word that describes anything and everything.

3. BFF – a friendship that lasts 10 minutes.

4. Wow Factor – leaves us unimpressed.

5. Man Up – verbing a noun doesn’t make you stronger.

6. Refudiate – time to repudiate Sarah Palin’s phoney word.

Learn useful, powerful and real words in Fundamentals of Public Relations.  www.sfu.ca/cstudies/pr or call 778-782-5093 or email pr-staff@sfu.ca

Samuel Goldwyn

Movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn (the “G” in MGM Studios) was famous for mangled and memorable quotes. When told a script was full of old clichés he replied: “Let’s have some new clichés.”

Unfortunately lazy PR writing often produces news releases and social news releases full of clichés and buzzwords.

Adam Sherk’s search of PRWeb, a major US news release distribution site, shows the top five overused clichés and buzzwords are:

1. leader
2. leading
3. best
4. top
5. unique

Some of the other classic clichés include 24. cutting edge, 28.next generation, 54. mission critical and (my personal favourite) 77. hit the ground running.

The SFU Public Relations program’s Public Speaking course will teach you how to avoid lazy words and phrases that get in the way of clear and concise communications.

More details: www.sfu.ca/cstudies/pr or call 778-782-5093 or email pr-staff@sfu.ca.