Talk Like a Human

Ben Silverman is a blogger, turned reporter, turned public relations guy. I have been reading his e-newsletter for a couple of years now through e-releases.com.

On November 2, he wrote about an article in Forbes magazine that examines how blogs are able to carry out corporate character assassination and how corporations are fighting back.

Along with the Forbes article, which is a “must read,” Silverman had some tips for PR folk as they talk with bloggers (or anyone else for that matter) that I think bear repeating, over and over again:

“PR people must engage bloggers in a spin-free dialogue and, more importantly, use the resources at their disposal proactively to protect their company's or client's interest.

“I would downshift out of “flak mode” and address people in the same manner as if we were sitting at the dinner table. The biggest problem in PR today is that PR people still don't speak like humans, and consumers are too smart these days to fall for a well-crafted statement with little real meaning.