 One thing we talk about a lot in just the area of communication in general is the importance of having a lot of tools in your tool belt, a lot of communication tools, communication skills that you can pull out and the ability to use the right tool for the right job. And we use that analogy quite a bit just in describing one of the important aspects of communication competence. And certainly that is true in public relations and media relations as it is anywhere else. So today I want to talk a little bit about the different kinds of tools you might need in media relations and more specifically than just the specific tools, just the different factors to consider in identifying and selecting the right tools. So there are a lot of different communication tools. And we think about our media relations toolkit or toolbox. There could be things in there including ANRs, op-eds, media kits, satellite media tours, boilerplates, online newsrooms, social media, just all of these things, blogs and just lots of different tools that we can utilize and that we can incorporate into our media relations toolkit. And you can certainly find a lot of those tools and should find and develop a lot of those tools so that you have them in your tool belt. The more tools you have in your tool belt, the better off you will be. Of course you need to know how to use them properly though and when to use them. And to pull out this tool or that tool and to have the best desired effect. So I'd like to focus a few minutes then on some of those key considerations rather than the specific tools which you can find in lots and those are constantly changing anyway. The different specific tools are constantly changing. The tools that we use regularly today are very different than those we used 10 years ago, 20 years ago and certainly beyond that. So what are some of the key considerations behind which tools to use and how to use them? One of the primary ones is first of all, you should always have in mind your purpose and your goal. Where is it that you want to end up here? And what's the final outcome look like for you? And that's not just true for your specific media relations effort, but public relations in general should always have the purpose and goal of the organization in mind as we've discussed previously. We've got to have a firm grasp on what are the mission and vision and values of this organization that we're representing with the public. So we need to have those in mind and then funnel those into, okay, for this specific media relations effort, this specific public relations effort, what is my particular purpose and goal that's going to lead us toward those overall organizational goals? But so there's a famous saying I think that is attributed anyway to Yogi Barra that if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there, right? And it comes really from Alice in Wonderland. But we ought to have that purpose, that goal in mind and know where we're going with this specific effort before we ever set out on anything. So before we can identify the right tool, we have to know what it is we're trying to accomplish and then select the right tool that will lead us to that. We also need to keep in mind, is this a proactive situation and a proactive organization or reactive situation and organization? Proactive organizations and situations think ahead. They're trying to be proactive in their relationship with the media to put stories out there to guide an audience and the media and the media toward a specific goal and purpose. And those are things that are thought of. You have a new product launch, for example, or a new initiative that your organization knows that you're going to be putting out there. Then you can be proactive in identifying those types of things. But if it's a reactive situation in terms of something that came up unexpectedly, there's a crisis situation or damage control type situation you're trying to respond to or your CEO said something totally off the wall and it's getting a lot of negative media feedback and public feedback, then those are reactive situations and they may require different tools and the use of different tools and different opportunities. And so we have to be prepared for both. It sounds a little bit like an oxymoron to be prepared for an unexpected situation, but you can do that. You have these tools that you develop in advance that you then shape toward that specific situation. But those are different than a proactive outlook. And so we need to be identifying, okay, is this a proactive situation or is this a reactive situation? And in general, are we a proactive organization? Are we an organization that's seeking this media attention and that? Or are we more reclusive? We only come out when we have to and more reactive in that regard. As an organization as a whole, our general philosophy regarding public relations, are we trying to stay out of the spotlight? Or are we trying to be in the spotlight? So we identify different tools and media relations, philosophies and tools in that toolkit toolbox, whatever you want to call it, that we can work with either proactively and or reactively depending on in the purpose, the goal and needs, the values of our organization and of that particular situation. But we need tools that will allow us to be proactive or reactive as the situation calls for and identify, which may be more valuable for our organization in each situation. We also need to keep our audience in mind. This is something that ought to be on our mind in all aspects and in all levels of public relations and media relations. Who is it that we're trying to reach? This works closely with our purpose and our goal. Our goal and our purpose should identify a specific audience, but there's an old saying that if you speak to everyone, then you speak to no one. If you're trying to reach every person in the world, that could be problematic because your message is going to be so vague and so watered down that it won't really connect with anybody. So we need to identify who are the publics for our organization? Who are the publics for this particular message? If those are different and who is it that we're trying to reach? And then we can identify, again, what tool is going to be best to reach that particular audience? So if you're trying to reach super liberals, then you wouldn't go on Fox News or vice versa. If you're trying to reach a really more conservative audience, you probably aren't going to go on MSNBC and focus your efforts there and your attention there. You're going to go where your audience is, hopefully. So we need to identify what tool is it that's going to allow us to best reach this particular audience. And then we need to think about our voice. What is our voice in terms of media relations, social media, different things like that? A voice is something we've talked about before. But what kind of a voice do we have regarding these things? Are we super buttoned up and conservative? Or are we more loosey-goosey, sarcastic in the way that we try and relate to people? Again, this comes back to who's your audience, what's your purpose, your goal, what's your organizational values, all those types of things. But we need to identify, okay, based on our voice, which of these tools is going to be the best avenue for us to express ourselves as an organization using that voice? So we need to consider, okay, again, thinking about our purpose and our goal and our mission and vision and values as an organization plus who's our audience plus what's the situation, all those factors then go into identifying what's the appropriate voice for us in this moment that matches what we've done historically and who we are as an organization and that the voice is going to get us the most positive energy from this, right? And the most positive result from this particular effort that we can. So those are some of the key considerations we need to think about and have in mind, again, there are tons and tons of media relations tools that are constantly developing, constantly evolving, and they all hold the potential to be great or to be terrible. But we need to think about these types of things and then be able to select the appropriate tool from our media relations toolkit. So now you have a better idea of those things. Again, we need to think about and this should be a thought-provoking exercise for any public relations organization to identify what's our purpose and our goal, who's our audience and then what's our voice, those types of things and so what's going to best serve our organization in this situation. It shouldn't be something that's made on this part of the moment, a decision that's made on this part of the moment. It's something that you should have thought about in advance and should continue to think about as these opportunities arise. If you have questions about the different media relations tools or the different considerations that should go into selecting that tool, please feel free to email me. I'd love to hear from you there and discuss it further in that way. And in the meantime, I hope that you will give some thought, not only to the different tools that are available, but am I using the right one? Am I using a hammer to try and put in a screw or vice versa? Am I using a wrench to try and pound in a nail? Those are not the right tools for that job. And as public relations professionals, it's our job to really work hard and put some thought into selecting the right tool for any media relations job.