I shared half of my top posts for the first half of 2017 last week.
Here’s the second half, starting with the star of today’s reality TV shows, President Trump.
.
.
6. Trump’s Job Description for Press Secretary: Make Communications Great Again
Given how many times President Trump has thrown Sean Spicer under the bus, it’s only a matter of time before he hires a new press secretary. Tapping my vast network of contacts in D.C., I managed to piece together President Trump’s first draft of a job description.
.
7. Microsite Makes a Case for Storytelling Techniques in Business Communications
The communications industry has embraced “storytelling” with the fervor of a carnival barker selling a tonic for weight loss. Yet, when it comes to business communications, storytelling by its classic definition — a narrative with a start, an end and something going horribly awry in between — often doesn’t work.
This interactive microsite offers guidance for improving communications through storytelling techniques.
.
8. A Case for Uber’s No. 2 Executive Coming from the PR Ranks
When I first published this post in March, it triggered several “Give me a break, that’s not going to happen” comments.
Fast forwarding to today, Uber’s brand continues to crumble like an overcooked cookie in the hands of an 8-year-old — more Uber executives have quit or been fired, and Travis himself has taken a leave of absence.
I stand by what I said in March. Recruiters should at least be exploring the PR ranks for candidates.
.
9. Avoiding the Unkindly Cut in Business Writing
The road to persuasive writing is fraught with peril.
This post takes a look at seven principles that guide our storytelling workshops as well as our own writing for clients.
.
10. Fake News Is Not a Threat to Democracy
The onslaught of media stories and talk about fake news taking down our democracy misses the obvious.
What threatens democracy is laziness. When people don’t take the time to figure out the source behind the information and answer the question, “Is that source trustworthy?” the end result is hyperventilation or confirmation bias or both.
.
.
That’s a wrap.
I’m sure we’ll see more communication gaffes from the White House in the coming months (years?). Again, ever conscious of TMT (too much Trump), I’ll pick my spots.
One point that is abundantly clear —
Applying parody to the White House is increasingly difficult as reality takes on the characteristics of parody.