Todd Blecher’s Post

“…slowing down actually delivers results faster.” From Ann Handley’s newsletter #slowproductivity

"We’re not Communications Waitresses." I learned this brilliant phrase from Tara McDonagh and it goes to the heart of what it means to work in #communication. We don't take orders like restaurant servers (with all respect to those who do that job so well). So don't start by asking us to ship out a newsletter, make a video or (for the love of all things holy) to make a document 'pretty'. Instead, count on us to question, advise and connect the dots. We'll ask questions that get to the heart of the matter. Sometimes that means asking questions that seem blunt or feel uncomfortable. We're not doing it to be rude. We're trying to help. We'll think things through from the perspective of your audience, and if we think it's going to land badly or we see a missed angle, we'll tell you. We're also great at keeping track of the all the moving parts: who needs to be involved, when and in which capacity. When the goals are clear, we'll come up with dynamic and creative ways to get the message across. And let's be clear, there need to be goals because that's the whole reason we're here: to help the organisation successfully execute its strategy. Once things are rolling, we'll help you continually 'take the pulse' by listening to the audience: creating dialogue and interaction (so much more engaging!) and feeding back on what's going well and what needs improvement. So count on us! Call on us! Challenge us to make a difference. We're here for you and the business. And, yes, we might still send out that newsletter but you can bet it will be a newsletter with strategic purpose. Alt text: I'm serving snacks at a networking evening for communications professionals. This is the only kind of comms waitressing I enjoy!

The 3 Ps of PR and Public Affairs (so you can quickly explain to loved ones what we do) 😊: 1) Protect: Brand/ org / employer reputation, license to operate, competitive positioning, policy, crisis planning and management, community relations. 2) Promote: Products, services, employment value prop., thought leadership, earned, owned, and paid media, investor relations, events. 3) Persuade (last but not least): Prospective/current clients and customers, colleagues, media, elected officials, regulators, investors, employees, leaders, investors, conference organizers, business partners, philanthropic and civic groups, general public. - - - - - - - - - - - It’s a lot of stuff and sometimes it can be a lot, but it’s just more validation that we need to always be in the room.

I devised a PR gauntlet for ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Gemini. They had to write a press release, generate a pitch list, come up with story ideas and analyze some data to draw connections. Here's how they did.