What's in store for this edition:

• Biases

• Flying Sky High 🛩️

• COOL or CRINGE: 👶 Baby Ambassador for Four Seasons

• Attention Seeker of the Week

Biases

We know our audience.
We’ve crafted our message.
Yet it’s falling flat.
Why?

We may need to consider factors that may create biases in our audience, thus hindering the resonance of our message, and falling flat. 

This is called ‘receiver bias’ and it refers to a person’s reaction to the sender's message. Everyone has biases, including ourselves. Bias comes in the form of stereotypes, symbols, peer groups, semantics, and media.

Stereotypes:

Stereotypes are how individuals group people based on their opinions and perceptions. They are constantly around us, and in many cases have been woven into the fabric of society. 

Common examples of stereotypes include: men, women, ethnicities, politicians, blonds, hipsters, artists, generational labels, police, firefighters, and the list goes on and on. 

Stereotypes can affect our communication efforts in different ways. 

Let’s illustrate. If you use the word “mailman” in your communications efforts, you have just made everyone who is, has, or knows a female letter carrier feel a little bit uncomfortable, even if it is subconscious. 

The way we present ourselves can hinder or help the communication process.

For example, if you were in a hospital and 2 people were talking to you about your illness, one was wearing scrubs, the other jeans and a t-shirt. Who are you going to believe more? Of course the one in scrubs, our brain associates the uniform with the job and knows that person has the authority. Our brain automatically has a stereotype that doctors wear scrubs, not jeans. Keep this in mind when making presentations to various groups.

Symbols:
Imagery can leave a lasting impression and evoke different emotions, good or bad. Choosing the wrong imagery puts you in danger of leaving a distinct negative impression. 

For example, the folded hand emoji 🙏 in America means pleading or praying. In Japan, it means gratitude - please or thank you. A raised fist emoji ✊ can be a fist pump, it can mean zero items, or it can mean resistance or defiance.

Peer Groups:
Individuals tend to be influenced by their peers, which can impact how they receive and act upon your message.

💫 Pro Tip: Tailoring your approach to individuals allows them to form their own ideas and take independent action.

Media:

It’s well established that media has an agenda, and because of the agenda comes bias or slant. Keep this in mind when you pitch your product or service to certain news outlets.

For example, an app that is designed for conservatives will more likely get press from FOX News than CNN News.

Semantics:

Certain words are used within the communication process that could confuse the receiver. Don’t use buzzwords or acronyms. Be clear and you’ll have happy readers.

Do this now: Examine your communications for biases that may have crept into your messages and list the areas to improve.

• stereotypes ___

• symbols ___

• peer groups ___

• semantics ___

• media bias ___

Going forward, write your messages to make them easier for everyone to read and accept.

Next episode: We explore the why we are doing all of this work and how to make a PR Plan to achieve the goals you have for your business.

Get PR techniques from recent news.

Newsworthy

Flying Sky High 🛩️

An artist and a pilot conquered fears to create St. Pete's famous flying mural

It’s called an anomaly for a reason. An artist who wasn’t an artist teamed up with a pilot who feared flying to make this world-famous plane.

What can we learn from this?

This is an interesting, multi-faceted story with 2 different people, an artist and a pilot. It has great visuals and it can cover many different areas of interest, human interest, local, industry-specific, art or aviation so that means more outlets could cover your story.

In my research I noticed they started off with an industry-specific (aviation) story, then the local news started to pick up the story. Now its getting the attention of larger, national publications, like this Axios story.

Reporters are always looking for new and unique stories.

✍️ Key PR Takeaway: Start off local and more will follow. 

• Have a reasonable starting point. Your local news will cover it WAY before GMA does.

• Pitch to the right reporter.

• Start local and/or industry-specific.

• Get creative and make it visually interesting, unique, fun.

• Have a social media presence.

💫 Pro Tip: If you attend an event that media might be at, be on the lookout for someone with either a press pass or a camera crew. Politely either talk to the reporter or the producer. Have your polished elevator pitch ready and that smile on. Be sure to have fun sharing your story.

Learn from others.

100% Cool : 0% Cringe

Baby Ambassador and The Four Seasons👼🏩

@fourseasons

Fully conscious and utterly fabulous at Four Seasons Orlando. 👑 #LoveFourSeasons #LuxuryTravel #FamilyTravel #FourSeasonsOrlando #FullyConsciousBaby

Turning a viral moment into a noteworthy brand story - that’s what the pros do, and so can you.

The 1-year-old “ME!” response to who wanted to go to the Four Seasons Orlando went viral on TikTok, with over 79 million views.

So what do you do when you are part of a story that is going viral? Be fast to act. Within 24 hours Four Seasons Orlando already had a plan in motion to capitalize on the attention, because like a real virus, viral moments don’t last for long.

“While the initial video from the Wise family brought increased awareness to the Four Seasons Orlando, the company’s response to the video led to increased engagement and follower growth across channels.” — PR Daily

✍️ Key PR Takeaway: Be ready. Be creative. Be on the lookout. Be fast and agile. Be thoughtful.

Attention Seeker of the Week

Larry the cat, Chief Mouser of the UK Cabinet office, has official duties that include greeting guests, inspecting security defenses, and testing furniture for napping quality. He is a resilient and diligent Attention Seeker. Larry, you have the UK’s attention, and now you have ours!

Airplanes, babies and kitties are a good way to show my biases. Hope you had fun this week, looking forward to next time.

Until next week, keep your shades on and stay cool, its really hot out there.

Your fellow Seeker,
Keren

🕶️