TABLE OF CONTENTS I: QUICK CASE STUDIES. This section examines a number of case studies, positive and negative, where communication helped or hindered a company or organization in dealing with a crisis; why a set of events turned into a crisis. 1. "Mickey Loses Manassas" - The Disney Corporation thought it had a win- win situation with its theme park located on a site near the Civil War Battlefield. But, the press ended up being the real battlefield, and Disney surrendered. 2."Can Your Cellular Phone Really Cause Cancer?" - This stupid rumor, first heard on a talk show, cost the cellular phone companies a lot of time and money. But, the Cellular Phone Association had a long term strategy and buried the negative news with positive images. A cautionary word included for those who write manuals. 3. "When Your Accuser is Inside" - The Food Lion grocery chain got a raw deal from the media, but their own actions made it worse. 4. "What Response is 'In-Line'?" - When the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning about in-line skates the same week a child was killed in an accident, the Association's response was not "in line." 5. "A New Brand of Health Care" - Memphis-based Baptist Memorial Health Care System, Inc., the nation's largest private system, set about to capitalize on its stature as a premiere provider so that it can dominate the market in the future and deliver the best care. 6. "Is Anything Secret?" - A cautionary tale from insurers of how documents written for internal use look very different to other eyes. 7. "Romance" - A romantic job description turns out to characterize a traditional company. Personal research and replication of author's conclusion are a must. 8. "When Your Industry is Under Attack" -- The story of the image portrayed by the pharmaceutical companies and how it carried the day in public perception against President and Mrs. Clinton's charges of "greedy, profiteering" businesses. 9. "What's in a Name?" - Job description titles can mean a lot. 10. "Oil Companies Screw Up" -- The oil companies can make things worse for themselves. 11."Pepsi Tampering Scare" - A model of how to perform under stress. A company doesn't have to do a perfect job to do a good job. 12. "Sandoz Pharmaceutical; Shame on You" - Sandoz Pharmaceutical, makers of the popular and effective children's cough medicine, Triaminic, shoots itself in the foot in a CBS interview, but the "shame on you" really is on CBS. 13. "The Car Dealers Launch an Ethics Program" - Congratulations to the New Car Dealers for an innovative and much needed program. 14. "The Strife at Caterpillar" - Nyah. Nyah. Did too. Did not. Are these adults? 15. "Messed Up" - When software maker Intuit's popular TurboTax and MacinTax were discovered to have problems, and then the company waited to announce it, they were just about to suffer the same fate as Intel for the problems with the Pentium Chip. 16. "Lowering the (Perception of) Doctors' Salaries" - Will it work to decree that physicians don't make as much as you think they do? 17. "True to Form" - Example where protesting a less-than-favorable book confirms the writer's thesis. 18. "New Cheerios?" - Don't mess with my kid's favorite cereal. 19. "A Tower of Babel" - An unusually good example of how a company, Sky Chefs, forged a team environment with minimum wage employees who speak 38 languages and live in different countries. Ma'hlo. 20. More examples II: THE CEO AS LEADER. The CEO sets the tone, and others imitate his behavior. A few comments and examples. 21. "Superb Honesty" - Mike Walsh, CEO of Tenneco, demonstrated leadership in death as well as life. 22. "CEOs and Speeches" - How good are you at giving a speech? 23."Stupid, Stupid, Stupid" - So you make a fool of yourself. Don't worry. 24. "CEO Salaries" - Are CEO salaries out of line? How do you explain them to someone who makes, according to a 1991 business survey, 1/150th of what the CEO makes? 25. "Should a Company President Do His Own Ads?" - When can a tough man sell a tender chicken? 26. "The Embarrassment in Your Industry" - Should you ignore the ignorant, biased, insulting comments of someone from another company? (If you answer "yes," go to jail. Do not pass Go.) 27. "What does the Board Know?" - And who should tell them. Boards are demanding to know more these days and more from their CEO. 28. "Vision" - Do you need the "vision thing?" 29. "What We Learned from NAFTA" - We learned that companies need to take an interest in what employees know before the company needs to know they know it. III: COMMUNICATIONS AS PART OF OTHER THINGS Analysis of communication topics as one part of something else going on. 30. "Just What is Sexual Harassment?" - Sleep with me or else? A look? A glance? What does this say about the ability to communicate a standard? 31. "New Casual Clothes" - Loosening up dress codes can loosen up creativity. 32. "Should a Company Publicize Good Deeds?" - When it's appropriate and when it's not. 33. "What Manners Tell Us" - Good manners say a lot. Bad manners -- slurp, slurp -- also say a lot. 34. "Creating a Culture of Good Manners" - People imitate others' good manners. 35. "Use Humor" - Are you funny....enough? 36. "Empowerment" - How you get it and keep it. 37. "False and Deceptive" - Publishing trend misleads, says a lot about publishing today. 38. "Direct Marketing" - Technology evens the playing field. 39. "General Motors" - Virtually every problem has a communications component. 40. "Does Business Want Good News?" - Not every reporter is Sam Donaldson, but some companies behave as if they are. 41. "The Re-engineering Rhythm" - He says "restructuring", you say???? 42. "Somebody's Listening" - Analysts love layoffs. Employees hear something different. 43. "The Case of the Bleeding Messages" - One group loves the message but another audience is panicked. 44. "Business Messages" - More on how what we say sounds different to certain listeners. 45. "Being Included" - What's missing from this picture? Who notices and what does it say? 46. "Diversity Training" - Too diverse. 47. "School Days" - Your second grader is joining Toastmasters. 48. "Customer Satisfaction" - Examples. What encourages 'above and beyond' performance and what discourages it. 49. "Acquisition" - Routinely mouthed words during take-overs can compromise credibility. IV: COMMUNICATION TOPICS EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS - Writing, video taping, newsletters -- these are topics everyone understands involve communications. 50. "Communications and Strategy" - Where the proverbial ounce of preventive thinking would have made a difference. 51. "Where to Place the Communications Person" - For maximum effectiveness, to whom should the communications person in a corporation report? 52. "Corporate Video" - A great tool, frequently misused. 53. "Do Women Communicate Differently from Men?" - This has spawned several best sellers. The answer is both yes and no. Relevant to Human Resources Department struggling with gender issues. 54. "E-Mail" - This communications tool has great potential. 55. "Newsletters I: Old Hat" - This communications tool which had great potential has lost most of it. 56. "Newsletters II: Old Hat but a Vital Tool" - And how to get the zing back. 57. "Quarterly Reports" - What's happened to some quarterly reports is a great example of what Hammer and Champy meant by the famous definition of "re- engineering" -- start all over again. 58. "Resume Writing to Sell" - With so many people looking for a job, one would think resumes would be better written. 59. "Model Memos" - Although schools no longer teach writing, can a book really give us a set of "models" to follow which will make everything work? 60. "Communications Training: I" - Another hot word, "training," has some pluses. 61. "Communications Training: II:" - But do it right or it's money not well spent. 62. "I Am Not a Crook" - Why what we say sometimes has the opposite effect of what we mean. 63. "A Company's Untapped Resources: I" - Are people really your most important asset? 64. "Untapped Resources: II" - Again, are people really your most important asset? 65. "Dealing with the Difficult Employee" - Can communications help deal with the difficult colleague? 66. "The Difficult Boss" - What about with the impossible boss? V: TIPS FOR THE OUTSTANDING SPEAKER Ideas and benchmarks for those who want to differentiate themselves. 67. "The Introduction" -- The introduction should be just what the chapter title says; learn how to do this right. 68. "Tell an Anecdote" -- Facts have their place, but we live in the age of anecdotes. 69. "But I Can't Talk Without Overheads" - The executive says, "Of course I'm ready for my presentation, I have 100 overheads." Is he ready? 70. "The Perfect Speech" - Not a perfect speaker, but a model of how to prepare and be effective. 71. "You Don't Have to be Perfect" - In fact, we don't want you to be perfect today. 72. "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella" - 73. "Interaction; Today's Speaker's Tool" - The most exciting, demanding tool for speakers. 74. "How Numbers Lie" - Don't think you're being persuasive because you're armed with statistics. 75. "More on How Numbers Lie" - More traps with numbers. 76. "The Panel" -- How to make the most of being on a panel. VI: WHEN YOU HAVE TO SAY IT YOURSELF In our experience, the three toughest things when you have to say them yourself. 77. "I'm Sorry" - It's important. 78. "I was Fired" - More options than traditionally thought. 79. "I Quit" - Should be a great moment but frequently very difficult. VII: DEALING WITH THE MEDIA A few words of advice in working with a powerful route of communication internally and externally.