.: The Buzz  [October 2008]
Tips for Web Managers & PR Mavens 

SUMMARY

Social Media at the Office. Do real people have time for social media? We preview 10 essential tools that help your office make smart shifts from the analog way of life to the Web 2.0 solution. 
The 2008 Campaign Message Box. What are the closing arguments, positive and negative, for the Obama-McCain race? Consider whether a message box could sharpen your own communications.
Be an ACE at Your Next Presentation. Our training methods revealed - we put a premium on your authority, concern and enthusiasm, and have proven techniques to engage workshop participants.  

A range of typical office routines -- from keeping to-do lists, project management, water cooler buzz and running conference calls -- now have social media tools standing by to change the way you do business. Today's "wired worker" is shifting their behavior at work, adopting new tools that make them more efficient and productive.

Are you ready to bring Social Media to your workplace? Checkout our reasons why you should consider it. Then review of 10 areas of business life where you can make some changes and the tools to help you to move from the analog world to the new Web 2.0 office.   

As the closing arguments for the Obama McCain race are made and the U.S. Presidential election turns to its final days, the candidates and supporters alike strive to stay on message and be heard.

What’s a message? A brief value-based statement aimed at a targeted audience that captures a positive concept. A message box tries to crystallize how to stay on message -- play offense and put your opponents on defense -- when you communicate your ideas. Your mission is to play the campaign on your own turf. By using a campaign message box to steer the conversation, you get a script to bridge back to the positive part of the message box when attacked, and deliver an effective counter-attack when it is time to return a punch.

There are lessons to be learned from the political class about how to develop and deliver an effective message. Anyone can use a message box to toughen up their own communications campaign.

Read on to learn what I think are the most high impact positive and negative messages for Obama and McCain...

>> Continue Reading "My 2008 Campaign Message Box"

This past weekend I worked with a group of scholars at the National Committee on US-China Relations to help them ACE their presentation style. When you ACE your presentation, you speak with authority, concern and enthusiasm.

I've found that there are ways to run this workshop that make a difference between a dull and tedious media-training session, and an exciting and lively one. I've got an overview of the approach that works. It's a proven method that gets high marks. Interested in how it's done? Read on...

>> Continue Reading "How to ACE Your Next Presentation"