Kris Spears

MSR Communications celebrates its 25th anniversary with an infographic that looks back on what’s changed in the last four years—from the pandemic to shifting consumer behavior and a greater emphasis on authenticity and combatting misinformation; PR pros have much to navigate. Looking to the future, we must be agile and strategic, leveraging a mix of secured media coverage and integrated activities from all media types to tell compelling stories that connect with consumers and prospective buyers on a much deeper level.  Full infographic here https://bit.ly/3ZoQfPv #PR #PublicRelations

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This💡Ragan Communications and PR Daily article deserves to be shared. There are excellent insights here. 👏🏼This quote from Caitlin Hayden is particularly resonating with me this morning. “Your “brand” is not something that lives off to the side as a set of creative assets and colors. It’s everything about how you show up in the market, which means that comms needs to be a part of any activity or decision that could impact the way stakeholders perceive your company. How your employees talk about their experience = brand. Where you invest your CSR dollars = brand. How your facilities look, feel, and function = brand. How ethically you behave = brand. I could go on…”

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REMOTE

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As #PR pros, we often draw inspiration from unconventional places. Not only am I a 20-year PR vet, but I'm also a trained singer and a lifelong musical fangirl. So, with all the buzz surrounding the upcoming movie musical, it got me thinking—few stories capture the power of #storytelling, #authenticity and #reputation like "Wicked." Would love to hear your thoughts. What lessons do you think "Wicked" offers? Let's discuss! (h/t PRNEWS) #PRInsights #ThoughtLeadership #Wicked #WickedMovie Check it out👇

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CALIFORNIA

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Question for the communications pros out there: Do you think the job market is finally improving? The past 24 months have been 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭 for comms professionals, and now I’m hearing mixed signals about where things stand. Here’s the general vibe I’m getting: 🙂 More roles are popping up for specific comms roles, especially internal comms and analyst relations. 🫠 PR, social media, and content are still facing cuts across the board (and the open roles are few and far between). 🫠  Senior-level comms positions are seriously scarce or non-existent. Is this matching what you’re seeing out there?

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#communications pro survey: What prevents us from writing well more often? One thing I’ve recently relearned is allowing our writing to be overly influenced by what can get approved, rather than what will effectively communicate with the audience, is a misstep. To be sure, few of us can simply ignore our approval chains. But, as with many aspects of life, finding balance between often contradictory perspectives is what brings success. What do you think?

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Today kicks off National Hurricane Week and storm season. No matter where you live, the Generac Hurricane Preparedness Guide give you and your family thoughtful tips. #HurricaneSeason #HurricanePreparednessGuide #ThePowerOfGenerac

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PR Veteran Don Spetner Once Saw all of his coworkers' Salaries on a spreadsheet! This is my second time reposting thoughts from an article by industry PR veteran Don Spetner. 📚 This guy gets it. 💯 Don has amassed an incredible PR and Comms career, holding executive roles at some of the largest Communications, PR, and Consulting firms in the world. 🏢🌟 Despite his success, he maintains a grounded, humble view on what's truly important in life. His perspective on viewing one's own career through this lens is invaluable. 🧘‍♂️💼 While working at a big PR firm in NY, Spetner once stumbled across a spreadsheet containing his peers' salary information. He was shocked at the compensation disparities between coworkers he considered to be of equal or lesser value than himself, and this discovery deeply affected him. 📊😮 "I had found a way to make myself feel less-than, because everywhere I looked, I saw people who made more money than I did." 💸😔 "I was looking at my colleagues and thinking how better their lives must be because of their titles and salaries, and thus what a loser I must be. These struggles stayed with me. When I bought my first home, which was 1,600 square feet with bars on the window, I felt bad when visiting friends whose houses were bigger and nicer. Or when I'd read in the trades that someone I knew got hired for a top role at a big company, I'd wonder why I didn't get that job. This nagging inner voice was not helpful." 🏠💭 The writer Anne Lamott says: "Never compare your insides to everyone else's outsides." This sentiment resonates deeply with Spetner's experience. 🎭👀 He continues: "𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗹𝘆, 𝗶 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀, 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗮𝘆." 🤝❤️💪 Ultimately, Spetner's advice is simple and profound: "Stop worrying about how other people are doing and focus on your own progress." 🚀🔍 (https://lnkd.in/gDc_5fiw) #PR #PRWeek #PublicRelations

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Are you extra? I'm good with that. For even more insights on the Communications field (PR, Internal, Executive, PA, etc.) sign up for the emails I send out to the select group of Comms. pros who who want to level up as Communications professionals and leaders. If you're a fit for these exclusive insights, you probably already follow me on LinkedIn and might listen to my podcast. You most certainly love this crazy, deeply frustrating, and highly rewarding field we're in. You want to stay in the field and continue to grow your career . . . without losing your sanity or burning out in the meantime. So if this is you . . . you're "extra" and getting the Level Up: Be Extra emails might be perfect for you. We're starting with extra content on topics that we address first in the Communications Business Advisor podcast - often with additional context around it and thoughts from others in the field. Tomorrow, we're addressing Strategic Communications Planning. Sign up today if you want free access to these insights. Timeliness matters (like everything else in comms.). Level Up: Be Extra https://lnkd.in/dpAxfT3S

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Trust and transparency are built through consistency, not perfection. That has to start internally & your comms team has to live this core value. Why? ⤵️ PR often helps lead the charge in mobilizing the internal and external distribution of your message, so it’s helpful for communications pros to be honest with themselves on where they themselves might be the issues. Been there. We can all improve. Recognizing when you’ve skewed towards the “bad” examples from sports PR below -- and then working to quickly shift back to the fix -- is how you grow, sustain or rebuild trust. Small shifts in approach can dramatically improve team effectiveness.

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Does your PR team know how to explain the work we do? In too many instances, asking different members of your team how to explain public relations may bring many different answers. The obvious problem with that is that it creates confusion. As we all already know, too many people already don't get what we do. It is less about saying the exact words but more about general cohesion of the story. If your agency hasn't gone through this exercise with your team, it is something to think about.

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I work with journalism and editing (my passions). I used to work more with/in communication (I'm good at it). It looks like the same, but they are definitely NOT the same thing, however, it's not a big jump for a journalist to become an editor (and an editor is a journalist, but not necessarily the other way around) and some adaptation is required for a journalist to work in comms for an NGO, company, etc - the other way around is a bit more difficult, but obviously not impossible. You also have the copywriter and copy editor who have also different set of skills - they focus on content creation for marketing and refining text by correcting grammar, punctuation, and style issues; ensuring factual accuracy respectively. "Oh, but editor and copy editor are the same?" No. The editor supervises the process of creation and refines the draft. His task is to turn a draft into an engaging article so then the copy editor can proofread, check style, etc. But i digress... These jobs are already complicated in themselves, with their own demands, expertise and skills needed, but I just love (please note the irony here) when I see job ads requiring most of if not ALL skills advertised as "communication [officer, expert, add any fancy name here]." Sometimes there's a "communication and [insert here something else that usually makes no sense]" to make it less preposterous, but it doesn't change anything. You have to write, edit, do copy, research... and also you have to master both social media AND image editing! Why hire 5 people to properly do the job (or jobs, they are all different) if you can hire someone to be underpaid to half-ass do it? Sorry, but no one is good at everything and no one should be, because it makes no sense. No one can do all the work or should do all the work of 5 other people, but unfortunately that's not how things work in the EU bubble. Oh, I forgot, employers also expect you to organise meetings, events, and you guessed it right: another completely different set of skills. Sure, there can be overlapping, it's good that they exist and you're capable of doing a bit more - you can write and edit (like I do and I have no complaints there), you can work with comms and also do some social media, etc... But demanding that everyone has all the skills is not just ridiculous, it's offensive. Particularly when the paycheck comes and you see that you're working for 5, but getting paid for LESS than one. I like looking at job ads to see how bad things are and are becoming and I'm never too surprised to see that, well, they are indeed getting worse. Also, not surprising that the same places that love to say they are helping changing the world are the ones changing the lives of their employees - for the worse. Giving them anxiety, stress, impossible workloads and expecting them to be happy while being underpaid. #Job #Work #EUBubble #Journalism #Comms #communication #Editing #Skills #Employment #copywriter #copyeditor #Exploitation

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I watch a lot of football, which means I watch a lot of sideline reporters. We writers/researchers can learn a lot from them. At halftime, sideline reporters have to interview coaches who (a) are frustrated, (b) are hangry, (c) need to pee real bad, or (d) are some combination of the above. Good sideline reporters know that if they want a chance at a decent answer, they must ask Very. Simple. Questions. Apply that to our work: We talk with people who likely have better things to do with their time than chat with us. We must ask Very. Simple. Questions. But too often we don't. Our subjects' answers, and ultimately our work, suffers for it. After writing out my interview plans, I simplify them by checking for the following: > If there's an "and" in any question, I break it into two questions. > If there are two question marks in any question, I break it into two questions. > If there is more than one short sentence of context preceding my actual question, I break it into two (or more) questions. "'Tis better to ask many short questions than one complicated one." - some sideline reporter in history, I'm sure.

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PR Pros...We have a chance to do 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄, and it’s up to you to make it happen. During a national crisis, like an assassination attempt on a former U.S. president and current candidate, the moment that demands more than just a standard response. As someone who has crafted plenty of statements and advised on what to say and when to say it, I look at this moment and think, there’s a chance to 𝐒𝐀𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄. Condemning violence is a must and well wishes are important, but there’s a chance to say more if you’re a CEO. Think about where your company stands in the larger societal landscape. Consider your brand's history and values. Reflect on your past engagements in the political realm. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. What does "saying more" look like? It’s about thoughtful, empathetic, and action-oriented communication. It’s about recognizing the unique position you hold and using it to guide public discourse. CEOs and leaders have the power to influence, to lead, and to make a difference. Let’s not let this moment pass by with mere platitudes. Let’s embrace our roles and speak out, clearly and boldly, in support of unity, empathy, and action. There is a profound chance to say more, and we can do more - we can represent our brands AND contribute to healing a divided country. I talk about this and more in my latest article...check it out.

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🤔 I have found a common struggle in corporate communications is managing consistent messaging across multiple channels during times of organizational change. 🙃 If your organization is going through a merger, acquisition, restructuring, or leadership change, the internal and external communication must be aligned to avoid confusion and misinformation. I have seen internal teams fail to ensure employees, stakeholders, and the public are all receiving the same key messages. ✅ It's always a good idea to BEGIN your project with a unified communication plan to ensure consistent messaging for all stakeholders: inside the company and those in the public. This is where I can help! 💡Train your team on ways to adapt messaging for different audiences (employees vs. external stakeholders). 💡Create a crisis management framework to handle potential negative reactions or confusion. 💡Ensure updates and feedback loops are maintained throughout the transition. 👓 Working with me allows you to focus on the change itself while leaving the complexity of communication in expert hands. ----- Hi, I’m 📢𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻. I help leaders navigate change using 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. When you have a transformational project happening, I can plan an 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 to excite your team so they can 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲. Don’t let fear of the unknown take your team in the wrong direction – let’s chat, 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽!

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Demo'ing your technology can be an important part of your PR campaign. However, based on the current media landscape, they are very hard to secure if you are not Microsoft (for example). If you do land one with a journalist, the stakes are high to get it right. Based on my experience being involved with demos that have gone awry, here are two things you need to know before going into it.

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