5 Steps To Better, Quicker Written Communications

1. Use an illustration or a photo.
2. Run your ‘PronounCheck’ and reduce or eliminate third-person pronouns.
3. Keep paragraphs brief – one sentence many times is a good length.
4. Consider deleting the first paragraph.
5. Separate “researching” from “writing” from “editing” and allow time between each of these building blocks.

Paric Completes $80 Million Restoration of St. Louis’ Peabody Opera House

After languishing for 20 years, one of the Midwest’s finest performance venues has re-opened and is receiving rave reviews because of the expert and careful restoration and renovation by St. Louis-based Paric.
The Peabody Opera House, known in its earlier life as St. Louis’ Kiel Auditorium, opened originally in 1934. Two generations later, public expectations of a great performance venue have changed; Paric has brought the beautiful, stately structure up to date.
The challenge was both to maintain amazing acoustics in an elegant auditorium seating 3,500, while also adding quiet air conditioning, modern fire protection, washroom facilities, kitchen and dining facilities and all the space and technical needs required by today’s touring Broadway productions.
Smaller, open auditoriums adjoining each side of the main room and seating up to 700 each required special touches and just as much care. Still additional large venues above and below the main auditorium were restored for special uses.
Paric began the complex, two-year construction project with months of research into the details of the structure and the original furnishings — detailed research that included sending samples of the original paint to a lab to determine the very specific, original colors.
Paric’s careful research was matched by management’s careful and deliberate approach to the empty, nearly forgotten building which had been modeled on the great opera houses of Europe. Detailed planning, regular face-to-face conferences with sub-contractors and consultants, plus a hands-on approach from management resulted in a successful project, delivered on-time and on-budget. Talented craftspeople from throughout the St. Louis region were recruited to lend their expertise and special finishing touches.
The Peabody Opera House is attracting new and different performances, once again adding top-flight experiences to the memory banks and to the quality of life for millions of Midwesterners.
Paric, one of the largest St. Louis-based companies, pairs design/build services with construction management and negotiated general construction to offer its “next level” experience. Organized in 1979, Paric specializes in historic renovations, senior living, industrial and institutional facilities, office interiors and the construction of healthcare facilities, commercial buildings and environmental systems. More information about Paric is available at www.paric.com.

3 Easy Steps For Better Communications In These Difficult Economic Times

Change changes everything. With the continuing strained economy and all the tough news for workers of fewer jobs and less spending by industry, knowing what to say and how to say it is more important than ever.

The one thing we can count on? With all change comes some level of fear.

For those in the business of managing or communicating — and let’s face it, to some degree each of us must communicate with others — understanding this over-riding sense of fear could make all the difference when we attempt to convince our audience to take the steps we ask.

Shifting Audiences

Fear is a catalyst of change in and of itself. In better times, our primary audience is likely customers or clients. In these tight times, however, our primary audience almost certainly has expanded exponentially to include employees and co-workers (worried about their livelihood), investors (worried about the bottom line) and vendors (worried about their bottom line).

A fearful audience is on the defensive – with a real willingness, even a need, to get information from as many sources as possible, including sources they know are often less-than-credible, but easily accessible. A fearful audience also is more eager than ever to find that “silver lining,” and they look to us to help find that good news.

Keeping an Eye on Social Media – The “Truth Squad”

Ask managers what fuels the current level of fear among workers, and many will tell you it’s social media. While many embrace social media as the brave new frontier for disseminating information quickly and efficiently, it’s also an undiscovered and equal-opportunity outlet, easily accessible even to those with faulty information.

Our audience’s job, as always, is to separate the kernels of truth from the chaff of rumor. But in times of fear, the kernels become more difficult to find and the chaff becomes thicker and tougher to blow away.

To help our audience succeed, managers and communicators must embrace the need to keep a vigilant watch 24-7.

Now more than ever, monitoring the buzz — in this case the seemingly endless cyberflow of information — for messages that are either misleading or downright untrue is crucial. Our “Truth Squad” must be alert and ready to act, for responsiveness is key. Managers and communicators must identify and counter information that is misleading or downright false.

So What Now?

To maximize the effectiveness of communication in a climate of fear we recommend three direct steps: 

1. Be Honest. In this time of economic change and broad social media influences, the message must be more targeted than ever. The most important – and perhaps obvious – element is what our mothers always told us – be honest, tell the truth. And speaking of truth, here’s one — if we don’t deliver the whole truth, someone else will.

2. Be Personal. Fear both drives the type of message required in a time of heightened fear and also impacts how that message is received. A personal delivery – we’re talking senior managers or decision makers, and particularly when we’re dealing with direct stakeholders – will go a long way in creating a more receptive audience.

3. Be Responsive. Respond quickly to negative outside reports and just as quickly to both internal and external concerns. Business generally is embracing more of a “multilogue” than the monologue or dialogue of the past. People want answers, and they also want to be heard. Actively doing both will quell fears faster than any detailed “program” ever could accomplish.

In these complex and difficult economic times, managers and communicators often will achieve among their best results by following three simple steps – being honest; being personal; being responsive.

* * * * 

Ron O’Connor, APR, has managed a range of business communications teams in support of a variety of goals. These teams have been rewarded with 85 international and national awards for communications excellence, awards he believes recognized programs that were focused on telling the truth, on being personal and on being responsive.

The ‘New’ Toolkit: A Business’s New Best Friend In These Tight Times

Times are tough, which means it’s more important now than ever to rise above the crowded marketplace and actively communicate your strengths to your audiences.

Of course the irony is this — it’s precisely when times are tough that you simply may not have the means to engage the pros for long-term marketing or public relations planning and execution, no matter how much you might need it.

Enter:  The Communications Toolkit.

While toolkits have been around for eons in one form or another (and many haven’t been updated — we found one online recently that gave tips on how to properly store the VHS tapes on which you’ve recorded your TV spot), we’re seeing more and more evidence that a toolkit — the modern, digital and multi-media 2.1 version — can be a creative and affordable middle ground (between doing nothing and doing it BIG, natch).

What’s in a toolkit? Critical elements might include:

• Printable collateral such as posters, postal size cards, flyers and factsheets
• Sample news releases
• Sample media pitches
• Social media tools
• Newsletter and e-newsletter templates
• Standard advertisements for print and other media

 Toolkit 2.1 — The upside:

• Mix and match flexibility
• Consistent messaging
• Control of delivery

Toolkit 2.1 — The downside:

• For the toolkit to work, you must plan for time invested internally to utilize the tools.

Where do you get a toolkit developed specifically for your budget, your business and your goals?

That’s where a good communications firm comes in. We might just know of one.

St. Louis Region Leads Nation With Innovative Leadership Program For Production Supervisors

Fourteen St. Louis region employers are committing time and dollars to a new leadership development program for production line supervisors, believed to be among the first in the country for rank-and-file leaders.

Companies investing include Abengoa Bioenergy, CGB, Coyle Supply, Gateway Packaging, Gateway Regional Medical Center, icon Mechanical, Kraft Foods, Lewis and Clark Marine, Magnesium Elektron North America, Prairie Farms, Terminal Railroad, TheBANK of Edwardsville, Tri City Area Port District and U.S. Steel.

Training and exercises focus on personal communications, influencing and motivating others, visioning, team building, goal setting, problem solving, motivating others, conflict management and managerial courage.

The formal program was developed and managed by the Chamber of Commerce of Southwestern Madison County, with Scott Frick of Kraft chairing the committee.

Committee members include Robert Schwartz of TheBank; Jeff Smith of icon Mechanical; Nile Somerville of Kraft Foods; Paul Wellhausen of Lewis and Clark Marine; Tom Wobbe of Tri City Port, and Rosemarie Brown of the Chamber.

The committee has recruited mentors from Ameren of Illinois, Lewis and Clark Marine, Magnesium Elektron, Madison County Employment & Training, Selsius Corporate & Career Training and Southwestern Illinois College. We’re pleased that one of our own team is involved as facilitator for the nine sessions.

Twitter Jitters, Anyone? Rest Assured, You’re Not Alone … And There Is A Cure

Copyright 2011 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. World rights reserved.

If the prospect of using social media to market your business or organization is giving you anxiety attacks, take heart — there is a cure, and it’s called Social Media 101.

Call Angela at 314.772.0010 ext. 115, or email her at angela@oconnor-partners.com, to learn more.

Social Media Over Sandwiches: Angela Shultis & A Full House At Chamber Event

Brown bag lunches in hand, a packed room of business people shared one common interest — a desire to learn about using social media to advance their businesses.

Arguably the largest ever for this Lunch & Learn program sponsored by an area chamber of commerce, they represented a range of industries including healthcare, auto repair, construction, accounting & legal services, among others.

Representing O’Connor & Partners, Angela delivered two core messages:

A) Social Media offers a readily available and almost universally accessible marketing tool, at your fingertips, to support existing marketing.

B)  Social Media is neither a fad, nor should it be scary — once you understand the several platforms and ways to use each to your best advantage.

Want to know more?  Call Angela at 877.772.0010, ext. 115.

Photo by Alan Dooley, ProImaging of MidAmerica

How Knute Rockne Changed The Game, And How You Can Too

True or False: Football coach Knute Rockne moved to using the forward pass based on research conducted by O’Connor & Partners.

Answer: Don’t we wish — BUT it wasn’t a fluke that the famed Notre Dame coach put the game-changing play in his team’s repertoire.  Great coaching doesn’t happen by accident — and neither do great ideas nor great branding.

Knute relied on experts analyzing other teams and identifying the strengths of his players — and it was good intelligence, no doubt, that led to his strategy adjustments and, ultimately, great success:  Knute won 88 percent of his games in his 13 years as head coach at Notre Dame.

Take a lesson from Knute Rockne’s playbook, put research expertise on your team. Call us at 877-772-0010 ext. 115.

Image courtesy of ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=4378984

Update Your Playbook: 4 Rules For Building Your Brand in 2011

New Year’s Resolutions may be just slightly out of fashion, but truly there’s no more logical time to regroup, re-energize and reconsider your game plan going into another year with your brand. We’ve certainly been thinking about it – and these are the things we’re putting at the center of our branding, marketing and communications programs:

1. Listen With Intent. And we mean really listen. Actively, deliberately, strategically. In tough times, research can seem pricey and an easy step to skip (we all love to get to to the action, after all). But consider this — what results would you expect from your football team of choice on the gridiron if they skipped the film, the strategy sessions and the practice, and went straight to the kickoff? Remember the old saying – knowledge is power.
2. Authenticity Is King. More authentic and relatable brand identity and messages will increase your chances of finding yourself in the end zone, fiscally speaking. Consumers and stakeholders are too savvy for the slick or sugar-coated – thanks to real-time and globally accessible social media and citizen journalists. Show your audience you understand this, and respect them enough to be real.
3. The Rule of Engagement. While traditionally both B2B and B2C brands have centered branding and marketing strategies on outreach, in this era of social media and digital communications – and this still-worried business climate – engagement is critical. The good news is that engagement is a natural evolution of outreach, building on current good efforts to reach the next level of give and take. These are the basics — a good coach, for example, carefully considers and deliberately creates value in the roles of every member of his team. Remember, particularly in this economy, an engaged audience is an invested audience.
4. Collaboration Is Not A Four-Letter Word. In this increasingly competitive world, the value of working together and creating collaboratively (rather than in a vacuum) is undeniable.  Your brand, in most cases, can only benefit by finding your niche and blending your talents with good partners and strong supporters. Remember that football team we mentioned? Star QBs without a strong offensive line usually end up spending more time flat on their backs than moving the ball down the field.

And, if you’ll indulge us as we take our football analogy to its logical conclusion, the key to the success of any branding game you’re playing?  To score, you must execute with precision.

image:  http://musketfire.com/2010/10/12/xs-and-os-pat-chungs-punt-block/

AdAge: Whatever Your Problem, Fix It First, THEN Promote

In AdAge, brand consultant and author Patrick Hanlon set forth his thoughts on an issue that’s been at the top of our minds lately — the critical role of research and opportunity identification. An excerpt:

“We spend so much time and money and meetings micromanaging execution, but inversely not nearly enough time focusing on what we will call Problem ID — identifying the true problem or opportunity.

Examples abound. Gap’s recent new logo debacle was hardly solving for their real problem of being relevant in a world of similar choices. (The logo refresh may have been the introduction of a Brand New Gap with better organization, design and merchandising, but now we’ll never know.)

Then there’s the story of the beer company that tried to get into the Chicago market. They launched their big ad campaign and had major first trial, but zero repeat business. Turns out the refrigerator cars on the Chicago-bound train went out and skunked the beer. Skunk happens.

There are (at least) two reasons for this. The first is that product and marketing managers rotate between brand groups at an alarming rate. Hitting the ground running, new managers are often unable to put in the upfront time and resources to identify the right problem to execute against. Instead, they get a new agency. They get a new campaign. They invest in social media. They tweet.

The second is that everyone everywhere is overtasked. We have at least three meetings we could be at during any day part. And forget about lunch.

Where to focus?

The answer is in problem ID. Drill down to identify the real problem or opportunity you are working to solve.”

Good advice.  And it seems like an obvious truth — but the fact is, in this climate of tight budgets and immediate results, it’s easy (and more and more common) to put the cart before the horse.  When considering your marketing budget, remember that investing in quality “Problem ID” will surely pay for itself — with a truly targeted and strategic solution or campaign — in the long run.

Read the rest of the piece here:  AdAge.com