The Spin Doctor

PowerPoint Trickery

I've already mentioned how much I enjoyed Nancy Duarte's book slide*ology. Here's an easy but impressive PowerPoint technique from her book that I have used to great effect: the Push Left transition. (Click here to view.)

This works particularly well on a series of slides with mostly images and minimal type. Let's say you have 3 slides in the series. On Slide 1, insert two images. The second image should overlap the right edge of the screen. Then take that image and cut it into 2 separate images using Photoshop or another image editor. The first image stays positioned on the right edge of Slide 1, the second image is positioned to the far left of Slide 2. 

Crisis dos and don’ts

In an earlier post, I looked at the kinds of crises an organization should prepare for, in particular a smouldering crisis such as Swine Flu.

Last year, I became involved with one of the dairy companies (not Sanlu Group) in mainland China accused of adding melamine to its milk products. When they first approached us, they were in a panic. In some countries, senior managers found guilty of similar charges face stiff penalties; in China, the penalties are even more severe.

Publish blog posts in MS Word

In the "I didn't know you could do that" department, I just discovered that MS Word 2007 allows you to publish blog posts directly to your blogging account (like this post).

Supported services include Windows Live Spaces, WordPress, Blogger and TypePad, the service I use. Other providers can also be configured, although the process is a bit more roundabout.

To create a blog post, you simply create a new file and select "New blog post" instead of "Blank document". You can then start typing away with all the MS Word features you're familiar with. Best thing, you don't have to fiddle with the HTML.

Previously, I would create a post in Word then copy and paste it into TypePad, but this invariably seemed to cause formatting problems.

How Asia beholds beauty

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty  was launched in 2004 and since then has been drawing both praise and criticism. Created by Ogilvy & Mather and Edelman Public Relations, the Real Beauty campaign is intended to promote self-esteem among women and help free themselves “from beauty stereotypes”.

CEOs and Social Media

There’s an interesting post over at engageorm.com on CEOs not using Social Media. According to a study by UberCEO, not one CEO on the Fortune 100 had a blog, only two had Twitter accounts and 81 percent did not have a personal Facebook page. (You can download the report here).

Simon Clarke over at Freelance Unbound believes one reason for this is that Facebook can be “an awful time-sink”, and I agree. Yet blogging can be...

The eyes have it: Communicating visually

In the current edition of IABC’s Communication World,  Paula Cassin of Cut Through Communications discusses how visuals make it easier and faster for readers to absorb information.

I’ve summarized her suggestions here ...

Essential reading: The Public Relations Writer's Handbook

Although I’ve been a professional writer for more than 25 years, I wouldn't be without this book on my bookshelf. Along with Webster’s Dictionary, Words into Type and The Elements of Style, it's an essential resource for any pr writer.

Nearly every conceivable writing assignment is covered (from press releases to speeches and video  scripts) and explained in a clear, concise step-by-step fashion. It’s also right up with the times. The book’s subtitle, The Digital Age, means that this version also includes sections on writing for the Internet, email, viral marketing and syndicated news feeds.

Swine Flu: Crisis, what crisis?

The debate rages on as to whether concern over the current Swine Flu epidemic is the product of a media fear-mongering campaign or a very real public health crisis. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, organizations in both the private and public sector were right to prepare for the worst when the epidemic first erupted.

I’m part of a team currently preparing a crisis management and communications plan for a NASDAQ-listed company based here in Hong Kong, and I have to admit we were caught off guard when stories on Swine Flu started coming in. Perhaps it was because we were still so focused on the actual process of preparing the plan.

PowerPoint 103: Top 10 Tools

When producing PowerPoint presentations for clients, these are the tools I’ve come to rely on:

1. A digital recorder. When I start work on a presentation, it’s usually for a client. I like  to interview the client first to establish what messages will be delivered (remember only 3 or 4 key points at most). Having a digital recorder let’s me probe the client and get the information I need without the distraction of writing it all down.

PowerPoint 102: Organizing your material

You have a topic, you know the points you need to make — 3 or 4  at most — now you need an overarching concept in which to package your presentation.

As Nancy Duarte says in her book slide:ology, much of what we communicate today is abstract. To make your points vivid and memorable, they need to be given concrete expression in the form of a metaphor or visual concept. I find mind-mapping to be a useful method for organizing information and developing concepts.