Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Stay Inside the Shark Cage



I have been in the PR profession for like 20-years. And I'm still learning something new - seems like every day. That's one of the reasons I started this blog.

But yesterday was a lesson I will never forget. We brought a media trainer in to help a client understand how to speak from a message box. Picture a box in the middle of a piece of paper that contains the central point of what ever story it is you want to tell. Than all around the box are themes that support your message.

We came up with an original idea at the center and terrific points to support our story. And as we started questioning our CEO - easy questions then hard -- a former big CEO who is on his board came into the room. He looked at our message box, listened to the client answer a couple of questions and then he said:

"You have just steped outside the shark cage with that answer. You're going to get your arm ripped off. If you keep stepping outside the box, you'll get ripped apart. Think of that message box as a shark cage. If you stay inside, you will be safe. If you go outside, the press will tear your head off."

Brilliant metaphor. Life lesson.




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