2. Read with Passion Read to your children, nephews, cousins, etc. While reading aloud, exaggerate your pitch, tone, and pauses. The children will enjoy it as you will become used to sound of your voice. Children are best barometers to let you know if you are doing it correctly. The children will have a look on their faces that show they are hanging on every word you are saying. Continue to experiment with different ways to read "The Cat in Hat" while recording yourself on audiotape. The more fun you have, more everyone involved will benefit from this exercise.

3. Apply It Right Away (That's Way!) Immediately apply your newly acquired vocal variety skills in any speaking situation whether it's in a meeting, with co-workers, speaking in front of a group, or one-on-one with another person. It may feel a little strange in beginning. However, remember more you use your new skills, more comfortable you will be.

Here, ask yourself which of above abberations is serious enough to become your corrective public relations goal? Clarify misconception? Spike that rumor? Correct false assumption? Fix those inaccuracies? Or yet another offensive perception that could lead to negative results?

Once you firmly set your public relations goal, you can assure you’ll achieve it by picking right strategy from three choices available to you. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. Especially important that your new strategy naturally compliments your new public relations goal.

How will your message deal with offending perception when you address your key stakeholder audience to help persuade them to your way of thinking?

Identify your best writing talent to prepare message because s/he must put together some very special, corrective language. Words that are not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to behaviors you have in mind.

Now it’s time for rapid fire communications tactics to carry your message to attention of your target audience. Making certain that tactics you select have a record of reaching folks like your audience members, you can pick from dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others.

Of course, how one communicates often affects credibility of message, so you may wish to deliver it in small getogethers like meetings and presentations rather than through a higher-profile media announcement.

It will soon be time to show signs of progress. And that will call for a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Employing many of same questions used in first benchmark session, you will now be watching carefully for signs that offending perception is being altered in your direction. Of course you can always accelerate program by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

At day’s end, managers to whom this is addressed, also know this essential truth: they need an aggressive blueprint such as this one that will deliver behavior change among their most important outside audiences leading directly to achieving their managerial objectives.

end

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com