PR Straight Talk

Several years ago, as I was switching tv channels one day, I stumbled upon a young preacher by the name of Joel Osteen. It took no more than a few minutes to recognize that this man was a talented communicator. It struck me that his gift was the ability to present his ideas as story, with simple, compelling language, and with simple, compelling imagery. He delivered positive, uplifting, messages that could resonate with anyone – not only Christians.

He didn’t hit hard with theology, or ideology. Instead, he spoke to every man and every woman in ways that were meaningful because they were relevant – and he inspired hope.

His method was to take the lessons of the Bible and deliver them in ways that reached a contemporary audience, with anecdotes that had contemporary relevance. He was universal in message, delivery and reach.

As a communicator, I appreciated this man’s obvious gifts. I recognized, too, that the simplicity and positivity of his oration, and the hope he conveyed, filled a void on television – filled a hunger for inspiration.

One can find this hunger everywhere in our society today. There is too little in the news,or in film, or in our communities, where hope and encouragement thrive. One can sometimes get it on Oprah, or by watching Wayne Dyer on PBS. But it’s scarce.

I once had a friend who taught a workshop called “The Power of Acknowledgement.” His name was Michael Wyman. Michael passed away suddenly from an asthmatic attack, but he left an extraordinary legacy.
He taught that there is genuine, authentic power in acknowledging another human being; that there is greatness in every person – a light that shines within everyone – and when that greatness and light is acknowledged, transformation occurs. This transformation occurs for the giver and receiver both, for there is a great need in each of us to feel truly seen.

Authenticity is key in acknowledgement, for it is not about acknowledging the shallowness of the ego, but the authentic self – a person’s real gifts, and talents, and the true qualities of beingness.

In Michael’s workshop, as one acknowledged another, and received acknowledgement back from the receiver, the power of acknowledgement would spiral up – acknowledging life, acknowledging with gratitude all the gifts of love from others, and ultimately, acknowledging the Source of Life – acknowledging God.

Where is acknowledgement today? There is much too much disconnection, alienation and fragmentation. The word “communities” is sometimes a lie – for in these environments there is too often a lack of communication, and true communion. We see this absence too often amongst our children and among adolescents. We shouldn’t wonder about the proliferation of drugs and alcohol, of obesity, and sometimes violence. It’s so much about the hunger for acknowledgement, the need to feel seen, the need to express and that someone is listening.
There needs to be more inspiration, positivity and encouragement on television, on radio, in film and on the Internet. People will gravitate to wherever there is some sense of energy and aliveness, but too often they are manipulated to move towards programming of a lower order of consciousness – and this is the cruel choice of programmers who have not had the courage to rise above the dispiriting, and the shadow side of human nature.

“Positive thinking” is a choice. The reality of the way the mind works is that we can feed it negativity, allow it to be victimized by stray and rampant negative thoughts, or buy into others’ negativity by giving them that power – or we can choose to impress upon our minds positive, hopeful thoughts and ideas. The truth is that the Universe listens to what we put out – and gives back what we transmit. How often is that taught in our elementary and high schools or in our colleges?

We in communications, especially those of us who work with the media, whether in journalism, public relations, advertising, programming or production, need to take greater responsibility in influencing programming choices. We have choice in this, which includes the choice to do nothing.

It isn’t only, as McLuhan said, that the medium is the message, but that the medium and its messages are also powerful imprinters on the human psyche. In this context, the medium of television, or radio, not only transmits programming; they are also by their very nature in the business of programming minds. They are, therefore, decisive activators and determinants in the condition of human consciousness and human behavior.
The work, I think, is not to preclude other forms of programming of a more negative kind, but to push for what upholds, encourages and inspires life. Ultimately, the latter can neutralize the former.

This said, we must guard against censorship, or to create a phony positivism that controls our beliefs and imposes dogma or a particular view on others instead of a wide range of creative, uplifting content…content that encourages human development and enriching human communities.

There are great things happening in this country and throughout the world all the time.  There are people doing great things everywhere.  Yet many great happenings, and great people, so often get missed – by the media, and by PR.

There was a time when Mother Teresa was helping the impoverished in the slums of Calcutta before anyone knew who she was.  There was a time when Jackson Pollock scraped for nickels and dimes to survive before his art was recognized as genius (Vincent Van Gogh wasn’t even recognized in his lifetime). 

Muhammad Yunus, a businessman from Bangladesh who thought the poor could be empowered and lifted out of poverty through tiny business loans called “microcredit” wasn’t recognized for his revolutionary strategy and activities for years.  Last year he received the Nobel Peace Prize.

These are people who ultimately became acknowledged, and famous.   Mother Teresa, whose vision to serve the poor was utterly pure, was also astute.  She was a great networker.   I once worked on an account called Americares.  It is a humanitarian organization that expedites the shipment of foods and medicines via jumbo jet to crisis spots in developing countries. 

Once, when I was in the office of its founder, a wonderful man by the name of  Bob McCauley, a successful Connecticut businessman, the phone rang.  “Yes Mother, I understand, no problem.  I’ll take care of it right away.”  It was Mother Teresa calling for a shipment of food and medicine.  Mother knew who to call, and how to get action.  That was one of her gifts, though perhaps not widely known.  And the impact of her deeds, combined with her networking and the eventual notice of the media catapulted her, but not overnight, into “stardom.”

Jackson Pollock wasn’t recognized until Life Magazine published a multi-page spread on his revolutionary-in-art drip paintings. 

Muhammad Yunus, aside from his gifts as an entrepreneur and a humanitarian, was also adept at making connections with the media.  In time, those connections helped achieve the recognition he deserved.

Yet there are thousands, perhaps millions, of remarkable, even great men and women in the world today who are less well known, or not known at all.

Great people, people with great ideas and visions, or people doing great things, are often not consumed about getting into the spotlight – or even necessarily becoming known as the great people they are at all.  Perhaps that is one of the earmarks of their greatness.

I currently represent a man who I am coming to sense is great.  His name is Anthony Abeson, the master acting coach who is regarded by some as the greatest living teacher of acting of his generation.  Anthony  is one of the few living master teachers of acting who studied with all the greats:  Lee Strasberg, Harold Clurman, Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook and Stella Adler.  Former students like Jennifer Aniston, who said about him, “…for any actor to just have a moment with Anthony or a class with him, or by luck, have his words to read and reread, one will be twice or three times the actor for it.”  Esai Morales said, “With Anthony Abeson, it’s not just about being good at what you do, but connecting with greatness.  He shepherds you to reach deep down and find things that might surprise and startle you.  For me?  Anthony Abeson is an endless well of inspiration.” 

Yet when I was first introduced to Anthony, I realized I had not heard of him.  Of course I had heard about those of his students who became famous – but not about Anthony.

I soon realized the reason for this anonymity:  Anthony cares more about the craft of acting, about cultivating talent when he finds it, about his students as “runways for the human spirit,” as he puts it – than his own reputation or notoriety.  His motivation is so pure that he will take on an economically disadvantaged student pro bono, if he can spot the talent.  Talent to Anthony is the precious jewel of his craft, truly something God-given, and he understands it can appear anywhere, through anyone of any circumstance. 

I hope to help Anthony become better known – first, because his greatness is innate and real; second because his values and beliefs are worth relaying to a wider audience.  People deserve to know and understand this humble yet incredibly inspirational and talented man. 

Too often, however, “PR” misses greatness.  Our profession is so often driven by dollars that we by-pass the truly great stories about great people or happenings. 

Too often, the media misses out too.  The “Catch 22” is that so often the media doesn’t take note of a story until it appears on the media radar screen.  And who would it be that can bring that story to that screen?  The PR practitioner.  Perhaps someone on the PR side with an eye for exceptionality. 

Thankfully, there are those on the media side who’ve been caught by exceptionality too - call it the “enlightenment bug” – people like Oprah or Bill Moyers.  But very often, it takes someone who acts as a conduit to the media to get the “bug” first. 

As for those who hire us to communicate their stories – about their products, services or ideas – hopefully we will refrain from taking on their stories unless we perceive there is genuine value to the public interest.  Too often, however, stories are manipulated to look good, but as one probes more deeply, they are simply vapid and lacking meaning. 

Let’s have less of that, and more stories of great evolutionary and revolutionary products and services; or of great people with great vision doing great things in the world. 

Al Gore won The Nobel Peace Prize today. The Nobel Committee’s decision was a powerful acknowledgement of the urgency of global warming, a crisis that evidences itself by severe glacial meltdowns in the polar ice caps, and with many scientists predicting irreversible rises in ocean levels that in 50 years or less could mean catastrophe for the world’s coastal cities.

The announcement, flashed around the world today, means something else – and perhaps something connoting a certain hopefulness. It reminds me of the sense of global coming together that occurred when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, and humanity palpably and viscerally experienced the words that came out of Mr. Armstrong’s mouth upon putting his foot upon the lunar soil: “That was one small step for a man – one giant leap for Mankind.”

An evolutionary next step for our species. Neil Armstrong, in that one act, represented every human being becoming extraterrestrial. Our species had lifted itself to another orb, to experience a view of the wondrous blue ONE planet – Mother Earth - that birthed it. Which was more miraculous – a sense of humankind reaching another level on its evolutionary trail – or the profound realization that our home is one world, without boundaries – proof beyond words that our separation is an illusion.

The announcement about Mr. Gore’s Nobel Prize brings to the fore, in a different yet similar way, the consciousness that we live on one planet, that we are one human family, and that the peril we face environmentally is OUR problem – not an American problem, or a European problem, or an Asian or African problem, or a Republican or Democratic problem - but our problem.

This awareness has the potential to bring humanity together, to work together, to help heal the planet, and to bring it back into balance. Technology, and communications through technology has already been creating a convergence on our planet. Humans’ ascent into outer space was one major starting point. The Internet as one powerful expression of this coming together is another. Television via satellite has created still another. A global warming crisis and a prestigious award to highlight the challenge for all of us takes it a step further. The potential exists for increased dialogue and understanding of our common problems, of our common humanity, and for a decrease in tensions that separate and divide us.

The potential exists. But there is a danger. Without a rise in an individual and universal spiritual experience of the human heart – without more kindness and cooperation – the evolution we experience technologically can take us into directions too terrible to contemplate.

We need to work together creatively and shed our competitive tribal instincts while honoring our cultural, religious, ethnic and gender diversities. We need to experience a growing reverence for all life, to work towards uplifting communication – including communications in public relations and advertising that honors and upholds a universal value system that reveres our planet as the precious home it is for all of us – and that the beauty of life, and the great positive potential for creative growth inherent in life – can be that which guides us and sustains us.

That, it seems to me, is one of the key signs of hopefulness in the Nobel Prize Committee’s announcement today.

When I was a student in at The University of Vienna, I took a course on the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein - who was of course one of the world’s greatest philosophers.

Wittgenstein used to say, “words are pictures, and pictures hold us captive.” There is much truth to that statement.

If I am a Liberal and I am told you are a Conservative, or if you are a Conservative and you are told I’m a Liberal - we already form pictures in our minds about who we think the other is. Isn’t that so? Can these pictures keep us from truly knowing one another as human beings?

Can they block our appreciation of one another as living, breathing, intelligent, creative, emotional and sometimes fearful, fumbling beings? Can pictures based on words block our experience of one another in all our glorious multi-dimensionality? Can they block our experience of each other’s commonality?

Can words, or labels, keep us from experiencing Life - from one another’s aliveness and the true presence of our sheer beingness - and ultimately, from recognizing our deeper connection as Americans - and beyond that as inhabitants who share the same space and breath the same air on this one planet?

I think it happens all the time. Hopefully, we can respect the differences in another’s point-of-view and allow our experience of each other to transcend these limitations - for there is so much more beyond the words and pictures. Actually, if you dig deeply enough, you may actually find…yourself.

Symbols are pictures too - and symbols can create limitations - if we let them. Last night, Lou Dobbs of CNN criticized those who are critical of those of us who wear the pin of our American flag on our lapels.

He referred to recent remarks by Katie Couric of CBS, and Bill Moyers of PBS. He referred to their inferences that the flag thus shown is often an earmark of those who are intolerant of those who are critical of the war, or who criticize the right of freedom of expression and the right to dissent.

My own view is that if the symbol of our country has become so narrow as to attach itself to that kind of point-of-view, then more people who stand up for the Bill of Rights should wear the flag on their lapels - so as to make the point that we must never hold this precious symbol captive to any singular ideology or attitude that is contrary to the larger truth of who we are as Americans by Constitutional right and the rights expressed in the Declaration.

Words are pictures and pictures hold us captive - and symbols can hold us captive if we allow them to.

The flag of our country stands for our freedom, our independence and our fundamental human right to express ourselves as individuals; and to be tolerant of one another for our different points-of-view and for all those who peacefully exercise this right. It is a symbol that stands for something that brave Americans have fought and given their lives for throughout the decades.

This symbol should hold no one captive to any point-of-view, or as an argument that demeans another’s right of freedom of expression. Any American, of any political party or point-of-view, should feel free and proud to wear and display it, if he or she so chooses, as a symbol of its deeper meaning and significance for us all.

(The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth/Part II)

by Mike Schwager

[excerpted from PR Week]

Recently, a young man was interviewed on CNN about what he and other young people would be looking for in the responses of presidential candidates on a YOU-TUBE debate. He responded, “One word – authenticity.”

People want authenticity. The truth. It’s the truth that is needed for a democratic electorate to make intelligent decisions. It’s the truth that is needed for a consuming public to understand the truth of the products and services that are arrayed before them in the marketplace. It’s the truth that is required for donors to make effective decisions about the charities that appeal to them for money.

The media has a solemn responsibility to do their best to report the truth – the truth of facts and events as they happen, and to uncover the underlying truth of policymakers’ intentions and motivations that propel facts and events into being.

Truth in journalism is a standard sometimes actualized; but not always. It can become a “version of the truth” by not always reporting accurately enough, or deeply enough, on what lies behind facts and events in terms of what motivates decisions. It can also be guised as journalism, yet in actuality foster propaganda – as we know from so many of the talk show radio hosts who have a clear agenda of their own – often a neo-conservative agenda presented as truth by exploiting, for example, people’s sense of patriotism.

Moving from journalism to PR, public relations had its roots in those who were masters of creativity, but also of manipulation. That’s the truth too.

I believe that creativity and honesty can be mutually compatible bedfellows in public relations. This is not to say that public relations professionals aren’t advocates. Of course we are. We represent clients who’ve hired us to communicate their services, products, books or issues to the public through the media. To the extent that we represent clients with legitimate products and services that minimally don’t hurt anyone, and optimally are useful, we can help contribute to the public good. Gaining goodwill for our clients is our purpose. When we represent a stance on issues or information that enrich public understanding, we contribute to the public interest.

If we practice our craft with the conscious intention to deceive, to manipulate public opinion with false or specious information, or unworthy products or services, we do not contribute to the public interest or welfare. Public relations then becomes something inauthentic, something not deserving of our respect.

When Edward Bernays, one of the fathers of public relations, wrote in his famous 1928 book Propaganda that the manipulation of public opinion was a necessary part of democracy, he was certainly arguing for an understanding of the truth of how social psychology worked, and the machinations of the human unconscious – but he was certainly NOT arguing the objective truth of “straight shooting” in communication based on facts. I also doubt if he was a big fan of the democratic process, which it seems to me must honor the inalienable rights of the individual as one who is entitled to make decisions based on a clear and centered understanding, either rationally or by intuition of the objective facts and of candidates’ and politicians’ stance on issues.

Bernays’ uncle was the great psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. From Freud he learned about the power of the unconscious – and formulated strategies designed to manipulate the unconscious.

I met Edward Bernays. It was in the late ‘80s when he was quite an elderly man, but still amazingly sharp, even brilliant. I hosted a show on WOR Radio in New York City called Mike Talk, which aired Sunday nights. It was clear to me that Mr. Bernays felt that manipulation was needed in society, to mold the irrational herd mentality that characterized it.

“If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it?”

Mr. Bernays wrote about this in his trailblazing books, Propaganda and Crystallizing Public Opinion, and in an essay entitled, “The Engineering of Consent.”

A favorite technique of his was to use third party experts to influence and establish credibility for his clients in indirect ways. To make the case for the promotion of bacon, he ran a survey of doctors who agreed that people needed to eat hearty breakfasts. He sent these results to five thousand doctors, along with information about bacon and eggs as a hearty breakfast.

Edward Bernays did not view his manipulativeness as unethical. Just the contrary. He said that a public relations counsel “must never accept a retainer or assume a position which puts his duty to (his clients) above his duty to society.”

He believed that the p.r. counsel must act for the common good of society. In Propaganda he wrote: “We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.”

Yet Bernays was depicted by some, like Marlen Pew, as the “Young Machiavelli of Our Time.” He was seen by others, however, as a genius in combining social science with psychology.

Interestingly, Mr. Bernays, who was Jewish, was horrified when he learned that the head of Nazi propaganda, Goebbels, had diligently absorbed and applied the content of books such as Propaganda and Crystallizing Public Opinion in Hitler’s campaign against the Jews.

I believe we’re in an age where a view of humanity as dark and “herd-like” should not govern public relations. While human nature has the capacity for both good and evil, and while humans can be persuaded by many forces, both conscious and unconscious, I believe we must take the high road by simply telling people the truth about the products, services and issues we represent. That presupposes that we are in good conscience representing nondeceptive, truthful clients.

This is not to exclude the use of creativity and creative techniques in communicating messages on behalf of our clients. But creativity should not be employed to manipulate through lies or deception. It should rather be used to energize and make more interesting the story we convey.

My own view is that manipulating the darker forces of human nature is inappropriate. Instead, as public relations professionals dedicated to truth in communications, we must and can take the higher road. What is that road? Here are my Ten Commandments of Sane Public Relations Values:

1. All human beings are intelligent. Create campaigns that honor this intelligence.

2. Tell the truth. You can be creative and tell the truth. The two are not mutually exclusive.

3. Appeal to people’s better instincts – to the “better angels” of our nature.

4. Understand that we are one human family on this planet – and that among our highest values, all humans cherish: the air we breath, wholesome food on the table, comfortable living habitats, a good job with good wages, their children and the health and well-being of their children, a good education, love, respect, the ability to fulfill one’s unique potential, a sense of caring community, the right to be free as long as we are also responsible.

5. Talk to people as you would want to be talked to yourself. Create messages and campaigns that help, support, inform and entertain people as you would wish to be helped, supported, informed and entertained yourself.

6. Represent companies, organizations, associations, governments, authors and celebrities who operate legitimately, in the best interests of the public interest.

7. Every human is entitled to basic human rights – the right to live without intolerance, persecution or control; the right to a decent living income; the right to be treated with respect; and the right to fulfill their dreams.

8. Encourage your clients to support in spirit and actuality causes that uplift humanity: that alleviate poverty, that affirms human rights for all, that advocate a clean environment, that espouse reverence for life, that help children, that promote healthier lifestyles, that fight disease, that unite us rather than divide us, that promote education and literacy, that encourage creativity and the fulfillment of human potential.

9. Represent life-affirming companies that make good and healthy products, that provide services in the public interest, that are ethical and honest.

10. Life is precious. Respect yourself, your neighbors, all other humans and the other life forms on our planet. Don’t hurt anybody. If you know a potential client is manufacturing an inferior product, or rendering a faulty service, or promulgating an issue that is de facto or potentially harmful to people, don’t represent them. Period.

To those in our profession – or outside our profession – who say this is too naïve a view about the values necessary to support our business or conduct ourselves – I say, “You’re outmoded. Time to embrace these values and make public relations the honorable profession it can and should be.”

The world is converging through the miracle of technology. Let’s not let the human heart, or the human right for the whole truth, run behind. Is journalism performing its highest calling when it does not probe more deeply for the truth behind events or challenge questionable policies? And what good is public relations if it promotes inauthenticity and a world that doesn’t work?

Mike Schwager is a writer and veteran public relations/public affairs counselor, practitioner and media trainer based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Websites: www.mediamavens.com, and www.TVtraining.tv. E-mail: moschwager@aol.com

Welcome to my blog - PR StraightTalk. I’ve been a public relations professional for over 20 years, and in that time, have dedicated my energies to creating and implementing campaigns that increase the level of awareness, support and appreciation for my clients – for their services and products, and the issues and positions they take in the world.

My own personal opinions have necessarily taken a step back, with the exception of the professional opinions I express to clients regarding how to best present them to their various publics. That’s still the case: I represent clients - and my highest priority as a professional is their self-interest, and to communicate them in ways that accurately and creatively project their strengths and points-of-view to their most important audiences.

Now this blog affords me the opportunity to reveal more about what I personally think about this craft, about media relations and public relations campaigns that work - and those which in my view don’t work; about my opinion on anything appearing in the media - print or cable tv or broadcast tv or radio…or electronic on various websites. All of it will be fair game for this blog.

Yet to share my own views about public relations, or communications and the content of communications in general, I need to share something about the values I adhere to that frame my views, and my orientation in representing clients. These values have evolved over the years, but there has always been one overriding value that has remained the same: to tell the truth and to treat people - including my clients’ publics - with the intelligence and respect they deserve.

This is not to say that “creativity” and the use of creative techniques in communication haven’t been applicable. Of course they’ve been. I have never considered honesty and creativity as incompatible bedfellows. But “creativity” in my own mind is the exercise of the imagination applied to communications campaigns that energize and enhance the client’s message - it is not the use of manipulative techniques that make the client something it is not, that distort the truth about its services or products, or that invent positions on issues that are insincere, expedient, shallow or vapid.

Honesty in public relations, or communications in general, is always possible, but not always what’s so. Sometimes – and too often – it gets deferred by the greed factor: the big bucks. Of course money can be the driving force in many disciplines – in advertising, in the media, in entertainment: it too often motivates a level of communication that caters to the lowest common denominator. Instead of inspiring people, encouraging the best in people to live their dreams and fulfill their highest potential, or touch their deepest and finest feelings, imaginations, sensibilities and goodness, or to heighten the sense of the preciousness of life and the adventure that life can be, it can instead reinforce the fears, or anger, or sense of victimization, or mediocrity…or…the list can be long…of those aspects of human nature that people also experience and can identify with - that cater to their darker sides.

As to my own values, I basically see that in the essence of each human being is goodness and the desire for fulfillment, and that the creative force in the Universe is good. That life is precious, and that each person is precious, along with the non-human life forms on our planet. I basically see life as a gift, and that there is true greatness and intelligence inherent in every human being. I see this intelligence inherent in all life forms – in a dog or cat, in an elephant or dolphin, in the tree that shades your house or a bird that gives song to your ears each morning. I see it in a leaf or blade of grass. I see the gifts of nature – the environment and air we breath, the beauty of a sunset or sunrise, the miracle of a baby – as miraculous. I see the world as one world, one organic system, immense yet fragile. I recognize cultures as diverse and worth preserving. I see our responsibility as tied first to ourselves and the fulfillment and following of our bliss (as Joseph Campbell once said) and then to our communities and cultures, and then to the nurturance of the planet we live in. It’s all connected and of one piece anyhow. Regarding the planet, it’s less what we do and more what we don’t do: we don’t pollute, we don’t contaminate, we don’t disrespect the extraordinary ecosystem we live in, we do everything possible to avoid wars. For me, the four greatest values are freedom, love, reverence for life, and the opportunity to fulfill our individual unique dreams. Three of the most noble causes to participate in are ending poverty, eradicating disease, and upholding human rights. And I recognize that sometimes we need to fight for our freedom and our rights – but we should be very careful that it is freedom and our rights we are fighting for, and not control or domination.

So those are the values that enter into my participation in the arena of life as a person, first, and as a public relations/communications professional second. The two obviously intertwine.

The views I express in this blog are entirely my own, though there have been, and continue to be, teachers and mentors. Wherever I can acknowledge them, I will certainly do so.

Sincerely,
Mike Schwager