From Kristen Senz, writing for the Harvard Business School: New research sheds light on implications of using politically correct and incorrect speech and identifies five techniques to increase persuasiveness and diffuse conflict. Insights from two recent studies in an emerging field—the psychology of conversation—are aimed at organizational leaders interested in improving their conversation styles to […]
From Seth Arenstein, writing for PR News: It’s shaping up to be a week of apologies. First, there was Ellen DeGeneres’ joke-infused apology for months of allegations that the “Be-Kind” lady’s show houses a toxic work environment. Moreover, talent and staff claim Ellen is unkind. In the opening monologue of her first show back from summer hiatus Monday […]
The managing partner of Hennes Communications, Thom Fladung, was recently interviewed on the subject of crisis communications for Ari Lewis and his Mastering the Attention Economy video podcast. Tune-in here for a short, 20-minute master class on crisis management: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7jTEG7cHaE
By Bruce Hennes & Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications A CEO, executive director, bar association president or other business executive has to apologize or speak about something very important. The stakes are high – and in this COVID-19 era, the apology is going to have to be done using Zoom or another virtual platform. Under any […]
From our good friends at PRCG | Haggerty, written by Thom Weidlich… Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 ranked men’s singles tennis player, threw a hissy at the U.S. Open on Sunday and bashed a ball that hit a line judge in the throat. Djokovic was ejected from the tournament, was fined and suffered a blow […]
By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications As protests rage across the country in the wake of police shootings, police departments are learning that shaping the public’s perception of any given event requires an increasingly sophisticated communications response. Gone are the days when a department’s public information officer would brief the media and then retreat from view […]
From Dan Levin, writing in The New York Times… On the first day of school in Camden County, Ga., local Facebook groups were already buzzing with rumors that a teacher had tested positive for the coronavirus. The next day, a warning went out to school administrators: Keep teachers quiet. “Staff who test positive are not […]
By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications As we have seen countless times during these COVID-stricken months, employees are working on a short fuse. Isolation, stress and a galvanized political landscape have combined to create an environment where casual comments on social media explode into wars of words, workplace rules spawn walkouts, and long-simmering resentments about past […]
By David E. Johnson, writing in CommPro: McDonalds stands out for handling its latest crisis with former CEO Steve Easterbrook right. The fast food giant let Easterbrook go last year after discovering that he had had a consensual relationship with an employee. When McDonalds terminated Easterbrook last year it said it had evidence of only of a non-physical, consensual […]
From Spencer Kornhaber, writing in The Atlantic: Famous people want the world to know that Ellen DeGeneres is nice to famous people. Addressing media reports alleging a culture of harassment and bullying at DeGeneres’s talk show, the singer Katy Perry tweeted Tuesday that she’s “only ever had positive takeaways from my time with Ellen.” Ashton Kutcher, Kevin […]