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Tag: public relations

How I get it done – finding balance and managing time as a working mom

I recently returned to The Reis Group after maternity leave. As a mother of three kids under the age of five and a Managing Supervisor at TRG, I juggle many roles in my personal and professional life.

As I’ve transitioned back to work, I’ve been reflecting on how we get it all done, as PR professionals and human beings. Regardless of what stage you’re at in your career, or whether you have kids or other dependents at home, managing your time and energy effectively is essential to success and overall happiness. While it usually seems impossible to attain that perfect balance between work and home, there are simple things we can do to make our lives more organized, more intentional and more satisfying.

Here are some of the best pieces of advice I’ve received from some well-balanced friends and role models over the course of my career that I’ve been reminding myself as I transition back to being a working mom:

Make your bed in the morning.

I’m proud to be married to an active-duty service member. While his military training has taught him many things, including how to fly a plane, one of the most impactful things it has taught him is to make his bed in the morning – every morning, no matter what. There is something powerful about starting off your day in this small, intentional, disciplined way.  You set the tone for the rest of the day and no matter what happens, at least you’ve made your bed!

Learn the difference between what is urgent and what is important.

To successfully manage your workload, you need to understand the difference between an urgent task and an important one. Especially in the fast-paced world of PR, every incoming email can seem like a potential fire drill. We are inundated with client demands, a chaotic news cycle and near constant social media notifications, which means you need to get an ironclad grip on what’s important and what’s truly urgent so that you can prioritize your tasks and deliver on client goals. The same rule applies for your personal life and your relationships. Know what is really urgent and what is only important.

Here is a Harvard Business Review article, about the “Eisenhower Matrix,” a useful tool you can use to plot your tasks and help you visualize urgent vs. important.

Make a plan and work your plan.

My mom, who raised five kids while starting her own interior design business, reminds me of this whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed and stressed out – and it applies to every aspect of your life. From weekly meal planning to managing a complex client project – make your plan and then work that plan, one step at a time. At work, online project management tools can be helpful in breaking down bigger projects into manageable steps and visualizing the full scope of a project.

Take breaks!

No one is a robot. Breaks are important. We need fuel, fresh air and mental breathing room.  This recent Harvard Business Review article, points out a key distinction: we have only a finite amount of time each day, but our energy can constantly be renewed. If we can manage our physical and mental energy better, we can get more done within the confines of our time. Even though it can seem impossible with a busy workload, we must make time to take a short walk. Do some stretching. Build breaks into your day or risk burning out. Still don’t believe me? This Harvard Business Review article spells out the importance of work breaks and how to make them count.

Keep your pencils sharp.

My grandfather, who worked at a New York City advertising agency during the “Madmen” era, used to give this advice. While we may not use pencils very much anymore, the implication is still sound. Present yourself well. Be polished. Spellcheck. In the era of endless distractions, stay focused and know what your goals are – both personally and professionally. Attention to detail really matters in PR and in life – demonstrate that you understand that and success will follow.

Sharon Reis inducted into National Capital Public Relations Hall of Fame

On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, Sharon Reis was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Public Relations Society of America’s National Capital Chapter.

Sharon was honored for her dedication to health, health care and social issues, including her work on campaigns to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, raise awareness of colorectal cancer, fight COVID-19 and promote health equity. Beyond recognizing her commitment to her clients and their issues, Sharon was also honored for her role in mentoring and shaping the next generation of PR professionals.

PRSA

The National Capital Public Relations Hall of Fame inducts role models who have created an enduring impact on PR from 30 or more years of distinguished accomplishments. Click here for more information about the honor.

“I am honored to be inducted into the PRSA NCC Hall of Fame alongside some of the finest PR professionals in the country. This recognition signifies an important milestone in my health care PR journey, and I am grateful to continue to develop communications programs to help improve health and well-being for so many.”

– Sharon Reis

The Reis Group team.

 

 

Sharon Reis and Patrick Reis.

 

Lauren Musiol, Senior Vice President, introducing Sharon Reis.

Matchmaking: A TRG Approach to Getting Media Coverage

When people ask me what I do, I sometimes say I’m a matchmaker — but not the romantic kind. I match our clients’ needs and narratives with the needs of journalists to bring attention to the organizations’ expertise, accomplishments and issues. In the jargon of public relations, I specialize in earned media.

To be an effective matchmaker — whether the desired result is a romance or a media splash — you need to be familiar with both parties to a potential union. In my media relations role, I pay close attention to client goals and priorities and take every opportunity to learn the nuances of their work. I’m constantly on the lookout for newsworthy nuggets and new resources that would appeal to journalists.

At the same time, I am immersed in the world of journalism, particularly in health care — the primary domain of most of our clients. This dual expertise allows me to orchestrate matches that work for both journalists and for our clients.

At The Reis Group, we’ve honed several techniques for matchmaking to secure impactful media coverage. Tactics include “newsjacking,” creating finely targeted pitches and packaging together multiple elements to make it easy for reporters with limited resources to create compelling stories.

“Newsjacking”

When a major political figure had a heart attack, we reached out to journalists who we thought might want to interview a medical expert to explain the situation, and we landed interviews with The Washington Post and Reuters with a cardiologist from a hospital client. We knew this story was ripe for this approach because it was big enough to be newsworthy for at least another day, and health reporters from major outlets would be eager to get in on the coverage with a sidebar or a piece of the main story.

Targeted Pitching

For a client that supports refugees relocating in the Washington D.C. area, we used a targeted pitching approach to generate media interest in their work. Working on another project with this group, we learned about their efforts to help newcomers who had advanced degrees from their home countries gain credentials that would allow them to use their professional skills in the U.S. Highly skilled immigrants, such as doctors, lawyers and economists, often must work in convenience stores or drive Ubers because their credentials don’t transfer. We knew highlighting this problem would make a compelling story for local journalists that would also bring attention to our clients’ important work. We landed interview opportunities with a local NPR reporter for our client and professionals they were helping.

Packaging

Understanding the challenges faced by smaller media outlets, we try to package multiple elements of a story so that overworked reporters can get the complete story with minimal effort. We were recently tasked with generating coverage for more than a dozen federally funded health care informatics training programs around the country, including Native American communities served by the University of Minnesota’s program. We wrote a short blurb about the effort that could easily be pasted into various newsletters and publications of the many tribes served by the program, and we paired it with a pitch for interviews with the Native American coordinator of the program. Some larger national outlets and tribal publications took us up on the interview, while many smaller local and tribal outlets published the complete article we provided.

From promoting health care informatics training programs to ensuring local coverage of COVID-19 vaccination clinics, this packaging approach involves creating concise, ready-to-use content, which can include brief ready-to-use news items, interviews and photos with captions that make it convenient for editors to run our stories, particularly in small, less resourced outlets.

By understanding how journalists operate and appreciating their distinct and pressing needs, we create successful strategies for getting our clients in the news. By knowing when to jump in on major stories, how to target compelling narratives and packaging stories for effortless pickup, we consistently get meaningful media coverage for our clients. In today’s complex world of media, it’s all about knowing when and how to make that special match.

From Journalism to Health Care PR: Transforming Lives Through Communications

If anyone had ever told me that after my 40-year career in journalism I would spend a 5th decade working in health care public relations, I would have been highly skeptical. For one thing, that would mean living into my 70s (!!) which was never certain. But even more unlikely was the idea that Peter Perl would ever go over to “the dark side.”

That’s what we called the PR industry back in the last century when I was a reporter and editor for The Providence (R.I.) Journal-Bulletin and then The Washington Post for 33 years, where I retired as Assistant Managing Editor in 2013. The truth is that many journalists regarded PR with disdain, believing that PR people were unsavory, if not outright dishonest. Over the years, I have had a handful of newspaper colleagues who left journalism to make huge amounts of money writing for major corporations, for Big Tobacco, and even for several foreign dictators who were seeking persuasive writers familiar with Washington politics to help influence Congress to continue sending foreign aid to deeply corrupt regimes.

But that skepticism was before I met Sharon Reis. A friend of mine who had left The Post to work in the realm of progressive PR suggested that Sharon and I meet each other. What began with a few freelance editing gigs eventually turned into an amazing 10-year second career as senior consultant, Chief Storyteller, and Honorary Grandpa of the youthful woman-owned health care PR firm now known as The Reis Group.

“We are committed to working with clients who are dedicated to improving the health and well-being of our nation. We are passionate about our clients’ issues and believe in the power of communications to transform lives.” That is TRG’s mission statement, and I have to confess that that journalistic skeptic in me raised a suspicious eyebrow when I first heard that claim.

Ten years later, I am still proudly here. At TRG, the team truly is passionate about health, health care, and social causes, and those values guide decisions we make about new clients we take on.

I have gotten to work with amazing colleagues and also with some of the nation’s leading medical and scientific experts in the fields of Alzheimer’s research, integrative medicine, epidemiology, vaccine promotion, interventional radiology and much more. TRG has helped organizations that are doing admirable work in promoting health equity, corporate social responsibility, domestic-violence prevention, racial justice, gender equality and children’s health.

So yes, I am still proudly here. Not exactly sure that I will be around long enough to last another 10 years at TRG. On the other hand, an unexpected benefit of this job is that I’ve learned enough new stuff about health and medicine so that I’ve developed some healthier habits and I’m planning to stick around with The Reis Group for a while longer.

Managing and Mentoring the Next Generation of Health Care Public Relations Professionals

COVID-19 has turned our workplaces upside-down, creating a remote/hybrid office environment that has changed when and where we come to work. At The Reis Group, we have also come to fully realize that we must also change how we work with each other. In our case, TRG has converted to a Tuesday-Wednesday in-office schedule, with everyone otherwise working from home, using Teams and Zoom to do our work and keep in touch as a team.

But in my role as a Senior Vice President and account lead, I’ve come to understand that this hybrid world creates entirely new challenges about how we manage and mentor the next generation of professionals in health care public relations. Lately, I’ve been pondering these questions a lot, particularly since I’ve been working remotely myself for many years and have experienced first-hand how this alters relationships in the workplace.

I’m asking myself how do we, as managers, create an atmosphere to allow our colleagues to thrive in this new remote/hybrid environment? How can we continue to mentor, lead and cultivate those crucial relationships and connections that create strong teams? How can we carve out opportunities to grow relationships with our team? How can we provide feedback and ensure it is delivered in an appropriate, effective way? How do we create an atmosphere of mutual trust, respect and direct communication so that we feel kept in the loop, but are not perceived as micromanaging?

So, I decided to interview my own colleagues, along with some of TRG’s clients, to get their ideas about how we can make sure that as we reinvent when and where we work, we never lose sight of the fact that the heart of our work is all about maintaining important relationships. In these conversations, three major themes emerged:

  1. Communication is more important than ever.
  2. Investing in relationship building is crucial.
  3. Setting intentional roles promotes engagement and growth.

Communication is key.

Becky Armendariz, Associate VP of Marketing & Public Relations at Banner Health in Phoenix, says she pays attention to this issue more closely than ever: “My team members know that they can call, text, IM, or email me any time they need to reach me. I will respond as quickly as possible — prioritizing them over other projects or requests in my queue — because I never want to be the reason that my team members can’t do their jobs. It’s extremely important to me that they have what they need to work autonomously and productively remotely to meet their deadlines.”

At TRG, our Account Directors hold weekly check-in meetings for each account they manage to ensure team members are apprised of what is going on with the client and what the short- and long-term priorities are. These meetings allow team members to ask questions, suggest ideas and provide an opportunity to carve out roles on the account.

Our founder and principal, Sharon Reis, is very purposeful about meeting regularly with Account Directors and the account team to allow a space for checking in on workloads, discussing office culture and industry trends, and brainstorming ways to better serve our clients.

“Our monthly check-ins with Sharon establish a productive atmosphere for important conversations about the firm, the team and the industry. These interactions provide a needed space for connection and collaboration, which ultimately help me do my job better,” says TRG’s Senior Vice President, Kathleen Petty.

Investing in relationship building is crucial.

More than ever, it’s clear that team members want to feel heard and valued. They want to know their colleagues are understanding and empathetic about what is going on both during and outside of working hours. They want to know the team is there to support them. But it’s important to remember that building these connections takes time, effort and sensitivity.

“Three years ago, I started a new job, in a new field, leading a new team in a fully remote environment. I knew I had to work fast to gain their trust, to learn my own job, and to provide leadership and supervision,” says Rachael Kagan, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Blue Shield of California Foundation. “Counterintuitively, that required a bit of slowing down. Since the personal moments were not going to happen organically, I had to build them into the agenda. Suddenly, ice breakers and check-ins became a huge part of every meeting. It wasn’t perfect, but over time it did start to make a difference and allow for connections to happen.”

At The Reis Group, we recently established a new mentoring program to pair new team members with a veteran team member known as their “Reis-source.” This program creates one-on-one engagement and allows team members to learn directly from someone who has recently walked in their shoes. We are also holding monthly “Ask Me Anything” sessions during lunch when we are in the office. The selected moderator for each session sets the agenda and develops questions to spark discussion around both work and personal topics.

Beth Casteel, Senior Counselor at TRG says, “When we first started working at home in the pandemic, I made it a point to try to recreate moments that happen organically in the office: A quick hello in the morning with a fellow early riser, randomly grabbing five minutes to chat with different team members over Teams – like you might start a hallway conversation in the office. Continuing this practice has helped me get to know new staff members and lets everyone know my virtual door is always open.”

Setting intentional roles promotes engagement and growth.

The virtual atmosphere can make natural conversation technically difficult. Delays and blips between unmuting and trying to speak results in folks missing each other’s points and unintentionally interrupting. Virtual communication requires more planning and intentionality.

Jessica Duncan, vice president of communications at the American Gastroenterological Association, says she’s gotten more purposeful about designing her team meetings to ensure that everyone contributes. “Each monthly team meeting has three sections – an ice breaker, a learning session, and a case study,” she says, “Responsibilities for each section rotate among the team members and everyone has a lot of latitude to develop the content for the discussions they lead. I’ve found that being purposeful about the time we spend together as a team and ensuring that everyone has a voice and a role helps to build bonds when we’re not physically in the same space daily.”

At TRG, we have overhauled our professional development program to do this as well. To allow for reverse mentoring and for junior team members to stretch their skills, we work with each team member to pick a topic that excites them to present to the team. Whether it’s the latest in health policy and its potential impact on our clients, SEO tips, or the latest in artificial intelligence, each team member prepares a session and shares their learnings with the group. This format allows the double benefit of practicing presentation skills and sharing new learnings to keep the team on the forefront of both health care and public relations.

“As a young PR professional, I’ve quickly learned that to be successful in the industry, you need to master two things: knowing how to engage your audience and presenting your message in a clear and confident way. Our professional development program has enabled me to hone those skills and has directly benefitted my interactions during client meetings,” says Tiana Ware, Senior Account Executive at TRG.

What does the next generation of health care public relations professionals want from its managers and mentors?

It’s vitally important that our senior leadership remains deeply engaged in how best to support the team, but it’s equally important to listen closely to what the next generation of health care public relations professionals want from their managers and mentors.

Sean Logan, a senior marketing and public relations specialist at Banner Health, says “I’m looking for someone who listens well and genuinely cares about how they can help me to grow and improve beyond the everyday work questions I may ask. My leader has done an exceptional job emulating these qualities, which has helped make working remotely an afterthought rather than something that is a cause for headaches.”

Krysten Massa, Senior Communications Associate at Blue Shield of California Foundation has worked with several managers throughout her time at the foundation with one of them starting during the pandemic when the office was entirely remote. “It is really important for me to have a personal connection with my manager. When we were remote, these connections did not happen organically,” she says. “My manager took the time to facilitate conversations that allowed us to not only discuss current work activities, but career growth and life in general. Her investment in making sure that we had a good relationship and in getting to know me as a person first and an employee second has really helped me thrive.”

When determining how to best manage and mentor the next generation of health care PR professionals, we are listening and learning together. In one recent Harvard Business Review article, someone likened remote managing to learning to drive on the wrong side of the road. You must get to the same destination, but you now have different signals, cues and controls. I think this is an important analogy. What worked five or more years ago won’t necessarily resonate today. It’s important that we all invest the time to adapt the way we engage with each other so that everyone feels supported and is set up for success.

5 Tips for Growing into Your New Role at Work

After graduating college and starting my first full-time salaried position last May, I was excited to learn the ins and outs of health care public relations. My managers and peers have truly taken me under their wing, and everyone has been an amazing mentor and resource. On top of that, we frequently hold office-wide professional development sessions to continue building our PR skillsets.

After a year and a promotion to Account Executive, I am still always learning new strategies and tactics, now focusing on account-management skills. Our managers are preparing the account team to better understand how to practice client relations and balance multiple timelines. Learning foundational public relations knowledge is key, and practicing management techniques is just as crucial to our personal development.

Here are five tips for growing into your new role at work:

Don’t be afraid to ask all your questions. You’ve probably received this advice before, but it’s worth repeating: this is the best way for you to determine exactly what your manager wants. So, it takes away any guesswork on your end. Instead of spending your time trying to decode their request, it’s much quicker and easier to ask for clarification.

This is not necessarily where your questions should end, though. If time allows, try asking about how this work fits into the larger plan for this client or project. Even if your tasks are smaller scale for now, you can create something that is more tailored and relevant to the bigger picture if you have more context.

Follow up on your work. If you haven’t received any feedback on a completed assignment, consider following up on it. Your manager may not have had time to send you feedback in the moment, but your follow up gives them the opportunity to let you know what you might need to improve next time.

Following up not only shows your interest in growing your skill set, but it also demonstrates that you’re on top of your work. It can also position you as the point person for this topic if and when this type of work continues.

Track your to-dos and update your team. Keep track of your to-dos in an organized manner so you aren’t relying on reminders from your team to know what assignments are coming due. At TRG, we use Breeze, an online task-management system that we can organize by client. I also find that keeping a daily to-do list helps me prioritize and use my time efficiently every day.

If a deadline is coming up and your task is taking longer than expected, send a quick message to your account manager or team members who are relying on that work. Whether it’s a hard or soft deadline, this keeps your team from wondering and allows them to plan accordingly.

Take on new tasks, but be up front about other deadlines. When you are given a new task that wasn’t in your original plan, try to fit it into your schedule. It’s important to be a team player, and this new project could be a great learning opportunity or could bring a new perspective to a project. But if it really doesn’t work with your other assignments, don’t be afraid to speak up. Ask how flexible the deadline is, or how long they expect it may take. Producing one on-time and top-notch assignment is better than two rushed projects.

Share new ideas without worrying if they are good enough. As a new team member, it can feel daunting to present new ideas to your team. But if you have one, let your account lead know. They want you to engage in your work and make it your own – that’s why you are a part of the team.

Try to have some additional logistical information on your new idea if possible, but sometimes just joining the brainstorm can spark the inspirations for an innovative new project.

Growing into a new role at work can be challenging, especially if you’re accustomed to turning in your assignments and moving on to the next task. Developing your account-management and client-relations skills early on in your career will set you and your team up for success.

Calm in the Storm: Five Tips to Stay Cool in Crisis Communications

Calm in the Storm: Five Tips to Stay Cool in Crisis Communications

By the nature of our jobs, health care public relations agencies are often called on to provide communications counsel and identify how to act during a crisis. We’re also expected to remain calm under pressure. But that isn’t easy – especially when a client may be panicking and reporters on deadline are calling to demand comment, and your job is to calmly navigate all the internal and external responses to an emergency.

So, when the heat turns up, it’s vital that we’ve got our own strategies for staying cool under the collar. Here are my tips for building credibility and elevating reputations during a time of crisis:

  1. Plan, plan, plan. While most communications professionals know that issues management plans, including scenario planning and rapid response systems, are important to staying ahead of the curve, this part of the work can often fall by the wayside. When approaching your work, you need to make time to stop and think about scenarios: what is likely to happen and what could happen, and how will we respond. Sometimes that requires a formal issues management document, or it could be a quick check-in before an event or press announcement goes out.

Having a strategy is one of the absolute best ways to keep even-tempered, so that when others are pressuring you or creating a fuss, you can simply point to the procedures in place to address the problem. Besides, it helps to remind yourself that you’ve already thought this through. Going back to your plan lets you stop spinning and start leading.

  1. Take action. Nothing cures anxiety like putting one foot in front of the other. Ideally, amidst the crisis, you’ve already got a plan and you are acting on it. But perhaps that first draft of a media statement needs to be written, and your chest is just a little bit too tight to start hitting those keys. The reality is that making the first move, even if you later scrap it, is crucial. Simply taking that next step—rather than worrying about every possible outcome or second guessing—helps get you unstuck and moving forward.

But it isn’t always clear what that next move should be. In those cases, you could “phone a friend.” Perhaps you know someone in your office who always has great advice for any situation. Or you could reach out to colleagues in the industry to ask how they might handle this predicament. And never forget, you’ve got a team at your back—call a meeting, explain the challenge at hand, and brainstorm. Even as the PR expert, you aren’t going to have all the answers. But you don’t need to, as long as you can figure out how to get unstuck. Sometimes the simple act of picking up the phone or sending that email will get the ball rolling.

  1. Practice self-care. When things start heating up and stress makes you lose focus, simply getting up and out of your chair can allow you to refocus with the right attitude. I’m not talking about retail therapy or bubble baths; just a quick mind-body reset that can happen in as little as 5-10 minutes.

My recently discovered activities include standing yoga, a short meditation, and the tried-and-true walk around the block. A quick journaling session or deep breathing could work too. My personal favorite is to close the door, shut the blinds, turn up a favorite song, and pretend it’s karaoke time. I’ll wager that after three minutes of singing your heart out, things will feel different. Those few minutes taking a mental break will reap a serious reward. In fact, my guess is that if you need a reset and you don’t take the time, then you’ll just waste those same minutes in a tailspin.

  1. Rely on what you know. It’s easy to let the stress get the best of you but remember that you’ve gotten to this point in your career for a reason. You’ve been put in this job because you are a trusted member of the team—and your experiences and expertise are valuable. Don’t let the pressure make you forget that.

But if that’s not enough and it all feels overwhelming, revisit a previous time you’ve tackled something unknown and remind yourself how you felt when you accomplished a frightening task that had seemed insurmountable. Consider, too, what lesson or action you can implement from situations you’ve handled in the past. Recall those successes to build your future. You’ve done hard things before—things you weren’t sure you could do—and come out on the other side. Now go into this crisis with those experiences at your back.

  1. Be flexible. Even the best-laid plans aren’t going to work every time. Sometimes the reporter is going to move up the deadline on you, or the business decisions change, or something impossible is added to your plate amidst all the craziness. You already know you’re going to have to pivot in a communications role, so it’s best to practice being flexible in small ways each and every day. Recognize where you’ve done it well in the past and lean on the understanding that you can move quickly and make good decisions in the moment.

If you’re like me, you might struggle when things don’t go “as they should.” But my favorite trick is to bake flexibility into every project. Remind yourself that flexibility is a core element of any PR strategy. Things are going to shift on you, and you’re going to have to adjust. So, when things don’t go as expected, I get the joy of reminding myself that, actually things are going exactly as planned and now is the chance to implement the part of the plan where things change.

When a PR crisis hits, it’s easy to allow ourselves to get caught up in the storm. Stressful situations can always get the best of us. But we also need to be forward-thinking and anticipate staying calm under pressure. With a little conscious effort, we can be our best professional selves and do the best work for our clients and teams.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE…

The Reis Group marks its sixth anniversary this month and there is a lot to celebrate. We were named a finalist for the Top Boutique Agencies for 2022 by PRWeek and we also made the list of best agencies for PR Daily. In addition, our energetic and skilled team is growing. Our health care clients are working hard on pressing issues and our hybrid work schedule is striking the right balance.

Teams and Zoom are the norm and fill my days. Several people are often dressed in athleisure wear, which now appears to be the new “business casual.” Others are back to their more formal attire, but wearing sneakers, which I personally have fully converted to doing. Our new litmus test for any type of meeting is whether we should make the effort to travel to another place, or just do it virtually?

My backpack has become my desk. Actually, it really is now my portable office. It’s heavier and fuller than before but has everything I need to work from anywhere for an extended period of time. It even includes snacks and several days of vitamins. This is coming from a person who believes in traveling really light.

While I am not sure what our workspace will look like moving forward, I am quite certain about our client work, which has been constant, challenging, and rewarding since we were established in 2016. Our core capabilities remain firmly grounded in thought leadership, reputation, earned media, science promotion, social media, environmental scans, and more. And health care remains arguably the most urgent issue facing our nation, as the field is widening its focus on well-being, health equity, and health justice, and more.

More specifically, I am particularly excited about our new annual performance “reflection,” which has replaced a conventional review. Two years ago, we revamped the process to focus on the “Wheel of Work” along with concepts from Harvard Business Review articles on employee engagement. We make a concerted effort to provide constructive feedback on an ongoing basis with every assignment and every project. It has become our way of life to ensure that we are seeing, hearing, and valuing each other’s strengths. This year’s Annual Reflection offers an opportunity for each of us to think about big issues and life issues such as purpose and connection.

I am writing this anniversary blog as I ride the Acela from Washington, D.C. to New York for an in-person meeting. It is my second one in several months and it feels so different. The train is full. Some people are wearing their masks. Many are not. Others are busy typing away on their laptops. A few are talking loudly on conference calls. Everyone is looking a little stressed. Wait a minute, except for the masking, not that much has changed after all!

The Three Ps for a Successful Presentation

In the world of health care public relations agencies, presentations take on many forms – sharing findings from environmental scans and landscape analyses, presenting patient education and awareness programs, and providing updates on thought leadership efforts to name a few. This can be a daunting task for those of us who aren’t natural public speakers, but it’s an essential skillset you can build and improve.

No matter what the presentation is – big or small, internal or external – proper preparation is the key to ensuring your ideas are conveyed in an effective and confident manner and that the presentation is ultimately a success.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

Outlined below are the three Ps for ensuring a successful presentation.

Preparation

First and foremost, always know precisely what is expected of you going into any presentation.

From a content perspective, will you be responsible for providing an update or two? Are you owning specific PowerPoint slides as part of a larger presentation? Are you leading the entire presentation?

From a logistical perspective, for an in-person meeting, do you need to ensure a specific document is up on the screen in the meeting room or materials are printed and laid out? If the meeting is virtual, does your backdrop showcase professionalism and do you have the necessary documents open, with any distractions minimized?

Regardless of your role, arriving or logging on a few minutes early for any presentation is always important. Make sure you have your notes ready and get yourself a glass of water. This may seem obvious but taking those extra few minutes will allow you time to collect yourself and prepare mentally before the presentation begins. It will also provide a cushion should any technical difficulties arise.

Planning

Outlining your presentation and associated talking points is another way to ensure your success. The purpose of this exercise is not to provide a finished document to read from. Writing out your talking points will help you gather and organize your thoughts, as well as help you highlight important points you want to hit home. It’s OK to glance at your notes periodically and use them to jog your memory and keep you on track during your presentation, but don’t use them as a crutch. Your audience can tell when you are reading, and it takes away your credibility as a presenter.

Practice

Don’t underestimate the importance of practicing your presentation ahead of time – both on your own and with a colleague. Even if you are completely confident on the topic and have developed your notes to guide you, actually speaking your thoughts out loud is a different ballgame. Practicing your presentation will help you identify any sections that are causing you to stumble and will ultimately help you convey confidence on the day of your presentation.

It’s also important to rehearse with any technology, such as advancing slides or playing video clips, that you plan to use during the real presentation. This will help you avoid any unexpected mishaps and will be one less thing for you to worry about during the presentation.

Remember, building your presentation skills takes time and won’t happen overnight. Ask your colleagues for feedback after each presentation so you can use each opportunity as a chance to learn and grow. And keep these three Ps – preparation, planning, and practice – top of mind to ensure your success!

A Spiritual Awakening of Sorts

The eerie, high-pitched singing of billions of cicadas is once again permeating the Washington, D.C. area, and for me, their amazing return is a fitting symbol of rebirth─after the lifting of the COVID-19 shutdown, the blooming of new spring flowers, and the exhilarating feeling of finally being able to hug our friends and families again. The last time the cicadas emerged from their sleep, it was 2004. My mother had just passed away after a long battle with breast cancer, my family moved into the new home where we still live today, and our beloved Boston Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years. Fast forward to June 2021, and it is another year full of major milestones. My youngest daughter is going off to college, my husband and I will become empty nesters, and the health care PR firm I founded is already turning five. Inspired by the song of the cicadas, here are five things I am happy to sing about.

  1. I am thrilled (and humbled) as The Reis Group marks its five-year anniversary of charting a new course. The energy of the team, our clients, their issues, our partners, and their support have made the past five years incredibly successful, and the momentum is growing.
  2. Summer hours have begun! Rotating in two teams, we take every other Friday off. This summer is particularly special because our entire team is vaccinated, and we are bursting at the seams to take long-delayed vacations!
  3. Health and health care continue to be among the most pressing problems facing our nation. Health and well-being, equity, and mental health are key parts of our public health conversation, and these issues also fuel our personal passions and inspire the work of our small, woman-owned business.
  4. Our entire team is coming back to the office in September! A third of us are already back a couple days a week, but our team finally will be fully back together─and not soon enough. We will implement a hybrid schedule, working from home on Mondays and Fridays and being together in the office the rest of the week.
  5. The pandemic presented an opportunity for self-awareness and self-care. One of the few bright spots for me was an opportunity to reflect and meditate more: To take stock of what is important to me and to my family, and how I want to show up in this world. To savor the gift of time, many free weekends at home, and an opportunity for some personal growth and personal transformation.

When we opened our doors five years ago, I said something that still holds true and that I keep near my heart. “To give it my best—to really make it shine—I need to work with the best people; people who share my values and my commitment to excellence. I have to work in a culture of support, in which our team members see that a major part of our work is to build each other up and help each other succeed.” I’m very grateful to know that The Reis Group’s voice is enduring, just like the cicadas, and will continue….