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© 2026 Copyright, Jennifer R. Farmer

The PR Whisperer

Author, Crisis Communications Expert, Strategic Communications Advisor

Category: Blog

Building a Brand from the Inside Out

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Building a Brand from the Inside Out

by Jennifer R. Farmer

Put your money where your mouth is. We’ve heard this phrase since early childhood. It usually implies the tried and true lesson of say what you mean and do what you say, or it can literally mean spending time or money on causes or issues you claim of personal importance. But it is also critical in internal business practices, both for protecting the workplace culture and also the organization’s reputation. As public relations professionals, we have the responsibility to advise colleagues, company leaders, as well as clients to adhere to the organization’s mission statement in both external and internal communications. Building a brand must start from the inside out.

Many of us have had professional experiences that did not match up with what was claimed on the website or sold in an interview. Being victim to bait and switch advertising in hiring has farther reaching consequences than unhappy employees. Once an organization develops a reputation for poor internal culture, the effectiveness and credibility of the business itself is at stake.

The tragic downfall of Thinx CEO Miki Agarwal is a prime example. The fiercely feminist company selling “underwear for people with periods” was known for its shocking NYC subway advertisements, which even seemed to overshadow the company’s cause; however, the campaign was so successful in awareness raising, it also brought to light the mismatching HR practices with the feminist ideas the company promoted. Accused of horrible benefits at best and worst sexual harassment at worst, Agarwal made a less than heroic exit, and the company’s reputation was ruined.

As progressive communicators working on social impact campaigns, implementing fair and equal practices in the workplace is critical to effectively communicating our message. To become a brand people trust, your people must trust their leadership and each other.

That means building a team of individuals that will not only work hard, but work well together. Many organizations go through standard team building exercises and personality tests, but nothing replaces a natural commitment to collaboration and inherent respect for one another and new ideas. Often attitudes are most affected by the internal environment and what is allowed to become “normal” or “standard”. Avoid an internal PR crisis by committing to a transparent, authentic, and morally sound work environment, just as you would advise your company or clients in external communications.

Inspirational speaker Alexander den Heijer has said, “When a flower doesn’t bloom, we change the environment in which it is growing, not the flower.” Whether building, reorganizing or adding to a team, implement the right organizational practices, attitudes and leadership that will allow a team, the company, and its message to thrive.

Jennifer R. Farmer is a strategic communicator and the author of “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget: A Strategy Guide.” Connect with her by following Facebook.com/Tips4ExtraordinaryPR.

Here’s How to Make Your Next Presentation Pop

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by Jennifer R. Farmer

 

Few things are as gut-wrenching and anxiety-inducing as public speaking. It doesn’t matter how much you prepare, there are almost always worries that, despite your best efforts, you’ll freeze up the moment the spotlight shines your way. Public speaking elicits a host of what ifs and worst-case scenarios – “what if no one shows up?” “What if the audience rejects or heckles me?” “What if I have a wardrobe malfunction?” – that left unchecked, could ruin your speech or presentation before it even begins. While there are few tried-and-true methods for easing the anxiety associated with speaking in public, there are a few things you can do to increase your likelihood of success.

  • Speak with the End Game or Desired Outcome in Mind. For a speech to be effective, you should be clear about your desired outcome. Your remarks should be driving toward a unifying purpose or goal. When you’re clear about your desired outcome, you are careful to reiterate key points to ensure your audience understands and retains your main message. When you’re clear about your desired outcome from a speech, it will have focus and direction, which is then easier for your audience to follow. I was working with a presentation coach, Meghan Dotter of Portico PR, and she really upended what I thought I knew about public speaking. Before I met Meghan, I believed my job when I spoke publicly was to wow my audience with how much I knew. I would ramble off fact after fact or case study after case study to underscore my breadth of knowledge. I shared so much information that I was actually undercutting my goal of inspiring people to purchase my book. With the cliff notes version I gave in my speech, I essentially shared everything that was in the book, prompting some to wonder, “Do I really need to purchase this after all?” After a presentation coaching session, I learned that I only needed to share enough information to inspire listeners to buy the book. I’ve since learned to get clear with myself on not only the topic for the speech or presentation but also the desired outcome: What do I want people to do as a result of sitting through my presentation or speech.
  • Make it Interactive. For many of us, it is extremely difficult to sit through a presentation that is longer than 15 minutes. It is also really easy to check out, especially with smartphones, computers and other devices that offer myriad things we can do to make time go fast. Unless your presentation is interactive, you will struggle to get and maintain your audience’s attention. Interactive presentations also lead to increased retention and learning. You can introduce interactions with your audience by including exercises, asking questions, soliciting volunteers and generally planning points of engagement.
  • Adapt to Your Audience. When you prep for a speech, you may envision how everything will flow. You may have a sense of when you’ll hit each point and how the audience will react. But as with most things in life, speeches don’t always go according to plan. I recently facilitated a communications training for a group of leaders who were honing their campaign manager skills. The attendees were lively, engaged and fired up. They were far more engaged than most audiences I typically train, and I had to adapt and match their energy. When I sensed the room was fired up, I decided in the moment that I needed to engage them and give them a role in my presentation. I quickly recruited an “Amen Corner,” a table of participants who could back me up at different points throughout the presentation. I then asked the audience of 50 people to help me select the table that would be the Amen Corner. This set the tone for the presentation and subtly suggested to the audience that I was looking for group I believe my willingness to adapt helped me to deliver one of the best presentations I’ve ever given. I left the room energized and excited, and judging from evaluations, I believe attendees did too.
  • Set the Atmosphere. When you present, you are contending with a host of factors. You are dealing with whatever happened to you the morning or the day before your presentation. You may be experiencing jitters, and you may be questioning whether you are adequately prepared. In the same way that you are contending with a lot, each person in your audience is contending with his or her own bag of blues or challenges. This could cause audience members to tune out. When you speak, it’s critically important to set the atmosphere. You could do this by creating ground rules such as “step up, step back,” where you encourage attendees to be mindful of how they and others engage, or “throw glitter, not shade,” where you encourage attendees to share affirmations versus harmful critique. You could even set the atmosphere by including music at breaks, having designated people to engage the crowd between breaks to keep them present and excited. The point is that excellent speeches rarely happen – you have to create the conditions that make them possible.

While many typically fear public speaking, these tips are gleaned from actual experience and may very well help you deliver an engaging and memorable presentation. Be sure to drop me a line in the comment section below to let me know any other tips you have to offer.

 

Jennifer R. Farmer is a strategic communicator and the author of “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget: A Strategy Guide.” Connect with her by following Facebook.com/Tips4ExtraordinaryPR.

Kerner at 50: A Lot Has Changed, and Much Remains the Same

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It’s been 50 years since the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders report.  Known as the Kerner Commission, the report declared “our nation is moving towards two societies, one Black, one white – separate and unequal.”

Named after Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner, Jr., the panel consisted of 11 elected officials, labor and civil rights leaders from across the country. Formed at the behest of President Lyndon B. Johnson, the group was charged with  determining the origins of the race riots of 1967, and issuing recommendations on how to prevent such upheavals in the future.

Findings Revealed

Just seven months after they began their investigation, the commission detailed their findings. Chief among the findings, the commission determined that the media was partly culpable for the riots. They found that “The press has too long basked in a white world looking out of it, if at all, with white men’s eyes and white perspective.”  They did this by maintaining predominantly white staffs, and greatly sensationalizing coverage of African Americans. To remedy the problem, the commission recommended racial diversity in the media.

Still a Work in Progress

Five decades since the explosive report, and newsrooms around the country have a long way to go to ensure racial diversity in hiring and promoting staff of color. In their 2017 annual survey of newsrooms, the American Society of Newsroom Editors “…found that 25.5 percent of the news organizations reported having at least one minority journalist among their top three editors, and 74.8 percent reported having at least one woman in a top-three position.” While this is progress, it is not the ideal.

It’s not that there hasn’t been improvement in the racial composition of media outlets. But journalists of color are too often locked out of high-profile political reporting assignments. Since the issuance of the Kerner report in 1968, reporters covering the White House as correspondents, are mostly white.

Who’s Behind the Camera?

Even when the ranks of journalists of color swelled, the increase didn’t necessarily correspond to an increase in power or decision-making authority. This has disastrous consequences for people of color. Without racial diversity, media coverage of people of color sometimes lacks context and humanizing information. And sometimes the words and phrases used to describe African Americans are belittling or less-than-flattering. In an article describing American Urban Radio Network White House Correspondent April Ryan being omitted from the White House Holiday Party, Newsweek labeled her “combative.” Black women already contend with the “angry” label, and the media doesn’t need to pile on.

Humanize or Villify

Separately, many media outlets and reporters tend to humanize white subjects, even when they are accused of heinous crimes. When Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock opened fire from his Mandalay Bay hotel room, killing 59 people and injuring at least 500 others, multiple media outlets, as Sarah Ruiz-Grossman pointed out, charitably labeled him a “lone wolf” and a “country music fan.” I can’t imagine an African American, Latino, or Native American man inflicting as much harm as Paddock without media outlets reporting on a pathology of crime and criminal mischief.

In articles highlighting police brutality, some reporters and media outlets highlight the victims’ mistakes as if to suggest they are undeserving of sympathy or to blame for their poor treatment. After McKinney, TX police officer Eric Casebolt aggressively manhandled 15-year-old Dejerria Becton — grabbing her by her braids, shoving her face-first into the ground, and then straddling her vulnerable body – several media hosts suggested she provoked the attack. NBC’s Megyn Kelley, who at the time worked for Fox News, quipped that the 15-year-old child “looked like a woman, not a 15-year-old girl” and that she “wasn’t a saint either.”

When Brock Turner stood trial for sexually assaulting a female student, some media outlets referred to him as the former “Stanford Swimmer,” rather than a sexual abuser. I’m not suggesting that people who make mistakes shouldn’t be afforded grace, but too often the grace is given based on race. I believe greater diversity in media newsrooms would correct for this, but everyone loses when media corporations hire one profile of people.

If we want to build bridges that allow people from all races and walks of life to “see” and sympathize with one another, racial diversity in the media must be a higher priority.

Roughly 50 years after the Kerner report, a lot has changed and much remains the same.

 

Jennifer R. Farmer is the principal of Spotlight PR LLC.  Check out our blog posts and subscribe for updates. 

 

How to Relentlessly Advocate for What You Believe In

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There’s no escaping the fact that communications and public relations work involves an element of rejection. In PR, the rejection likely comes from reporters who may not be interested or available to cover a story idea you’ve pitched. Rejection also occurs when the strategy you’ve proposed to meet an organizational challenge is overlooked or summarily dismissed.

I’ve been a communicator for more than 15 years, and I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard “no” from organizational leaders and members of the media alike. Bo Bennett’s quote, “rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success” rings true.

For all the stories I’ve pitched and placed, countless others didn’t see the light of day. For all of the meetings I’ve requested with members of the media, many were flat out denied, and in some cases, I didn’t get a response at all.

Dealing with rejection is hard. But overcoming rejection and being resilient is critical to being an effective advocate. I focus on relentlessness in my new book, “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget: A Strategy Guide,” and here are five things I’ve learned that may help you relentlessly advocate for the organizations and causes you support:

  • Believe in Something qualitat prohormone mit versand Bigger Than Yourself. From my experience, the key to being relentless is believing in something bigger than yourself. When we believe in something bigger than ourselves, we are likely to stick with it. We’re passionate when we talk about it, and that passion is contagious. When we believe in something, we’ll go to the ends of the earth fighting for it. In my book, “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget,” I talk about being on a campaign with the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and how I believed so strongly in the campaign that I traveled to North Carolina almost weekly to support it. From my first encounter in with the campaign and the people supporting it, I determined I would do whatever was necessary to support the movement.

What I learned from this experience is that you cannot effectively promote something you do not actually embrace. If you believe in something, you’ll stick with it even when the going gets tough.

  • Know that There’s Always a Silver Lining. Sometimes “No!” comes with a silver lining. A “no” with an explanation may be viewed just as favorably as an immediate “yes, I’ll cover your story.” For instance, I asked a member of my team to pitchThe Washington Post on a guest column about the systemic oppression of Native Americans. The Washington Post declined to publish the piece. When we politely inquired as to the basis for the decision, we learned that the essay was submitted too close to the desired publication date. We had submitted the piece for consideration on the Tuesday before the Sunday we had hoped the column would run, which was also opening day of the 2014 professional football season. The feedback from the publication allowed us to better establish internal deadlines to place opinion pieces going forward.

Relentlessness is about patience and persistence. Had we not pressed for an answer, we may not have known The Post’s desired lead time for nonurgent opinion pieces. Had we stopped at the first, second or third “no” – we had pitched the piece to The National Journal, Politico and The Washington Post before MSNBC.com agreed to run it – our piece would never have been placed. Failing to place an opinion piece is losing an opportunity to share your message.

  • Remember, “No!” Isn’t Always Permanent. Just because a reporter or producer doesn’t bite on a story idea today doesn’t mean the idea is permanently doomed. He or she could be sidelined covering breaking news, on work or personal travel, or juggling multiple stories. There’s also a possibility the reporter didn’t see your pitch or press release if you sent it electronically and didn’t follow up with a call. The bottom line is that there are a lot of factors that could cause a reporter to decline your pitch, but that doesn’t mean he or she won’t be willing to consider your source, angle or material in the future.
  • Don’t Allow “No” to Ruin a Relationship. Journalists aren’t obligated to cover your issues. While getting reporters and producers to cover your work is key, it’s not worth losing a relationship over. So, don’t come unglued if you don’t receive the response you were hoping for. Practically speaking, journalists often move from beat to beat and from media outlet to media outlet. You’d feel bad to have ruined a relationship with a member of the media only to have to pitch to that person again if he or she moved to a different beat or media outlet.
  • Know When to Back Off. If a reporter hasn’t responded to multiple emails or a couple of phone calls, you can safely assume he or she is not interested in covering your story. After multiple attempts to reach a reporter by email and phone, don’t continue to press for a response. The reporter’s continued silence is all the response you need. Similarly, if you receive an unequivocal, “No, I am not interested in covering this story ever” response, move on.

Ultimately, relentlessness is about seeing denial as a temporary, rather than permanent, fixture. It’s about viewing denial as an opportunity to tweak and refine, especially if you are lucky enough to receive feedback. It’s not, however, about pestering reporters or others into submission. Used effectively, the principle can lead to impressive results. To learn more, pick up a copy of my new book “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget (Berrett-Koehler Publishers).”

 

Jennifer R. Farmer is managing director for communications for PICO National Network and the founder of Spotlight PR LLC, whose mission is to develop and distribute high-impact communications trainings and workshops. Follow her on Facebook at Facebook.com/Tips4ExtraordinaryPR and Twitter @Farmer8J.

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