Russ: This is The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com, and it's guest time on the show this morning, and with me here in the studio is Ray Thompson, principal with WPNT, and Ray, I already described you in the introduction to the show as being the guy involved with counseling and consulting on crisis management in all sorts of difficult circumstances that business leaders and politicians get into these days. Is that even halfway accurate?

Ray: I think it's very fair, Russ. You're spot-on.

Russ: Okay. It seems like the number of crises happening these days has got to be at an all time high.

Ray: You know, it's a wild economy out there and shaking up a lot of our clients and a lot of other folks, and this is a time where companies, organizations, anybody has got to do a really good job of explaining themselves and their value propositions. Small businesses, big-boy, you better be a good storyteller today, or you may not be in business much longer.

Russ: Well, it almost even seems like some of the stories, even if they're told well, might be controversial these days.

Ray: Right. Tell the truth. It's easier to remember. That's one-

Russ: Right.

Ray: -good advice in communications, but it's not so much about the style as it is substance today.

Russ: Okay.

Ray: People want credible, genuine, authentic speakers and leaders, and one of the things we see, Russ, is that good leaders are good communicators, especially in times of crisis where you've got to understand what the concerns are of folks, customers, business partners, investors, government regulators, these folks, these stakeholders are keenly interested today in what business is doing to right the ship or to weather these tough times.

Russ: But boy, when you say good leaders are good communicators, I've seen several guys that have actually been testifying in front of Congress these days that are leaders of huge corporations that just don't seem to be coming off very well in that environment.

Ray: Well, you must be referring to the automakers' testimony.

Russ: That's what I'm referring to right now, yes.

Ray: And I think the sound bite that caught my attention there was these guys arrived in private planes with a tin cup in their hand looking for a handout.

Russ: Right.

Ray: But that's just bad optics, poorly handled, poorly staffed by their communications people to allow these senior executives to put themselves in that situation.

Russ: Right.

Ray: But they've got to take some responsibility for that. Optics matter.

Russ: Right.

Ray: How do you look? And if your behavior isn't consistent with what you're saying, you're going to have a credibility problem, and I think those guys handled themselves very poorly in that exchange.

Russ: There you go. Well, let's say that I discovered that my industry was being examined real closely and I've suddenly got an invitation to appear in a venue like that, and I heard about you. I heard your interview on The BusinessMakers Show, and I said, "Man, I've got to call Ray Thompson." Share with us what you would do. Do I go through some specific training sessions?

Ray: Well, most of the clients that we work with at WPNT have got in-house communications people, but in a time of congressional testimony, you've got to have good alignment in preparation. You need the lawyers, you need your government relations people, you need your operations people, the communications people, all the team together to sort out just what is our business objective in the testimony? What are we trying to do? Are we trying to inform? Are we trying to persuade? Are we trying to influence some legislative action or some market activity?

Russ: Right.

Ray: And so what we do is sit down and help knit together, among those disparate groups, legal communications. In other words, what's the measure of success for successful testimony? Getting out of there sometimes with regulators and legislators doing no harm is oftentimes your goal-

Russ: Right.

Ray: -and we can help craft both the message-we're good on the messaging side, and my folks come from a government relations background, media background, communications professionals, operations executives. We've got a really good team that can come in and help the group center on what's our measure of success, what are we trying to accomplish? Second, who's the audience? And understand more fully who are we really trying to reach?

Russ: Right.

Ray: If you're trying to reach the marketplace, C-SPAN may not be the best place for you to be.

Russ: Right.

Ray: C-SPAN is a great place to influence legislators and regulators and staffers in the apparatus of Washington, but if you're trying to talk to Wall Street, then there may be other venues. So you have to have in mind, who the various stakeholders are and what are their concerns?

Russ: Right.

Ray: You know, so we work our way through what's the objective and who is the audience first before we center on messaging and delivery.

Russ: Sounds real logical. I'm wondering, are there any real big business leaders-say Fortune 500-who these days would just walk into a venue blind without getting help? Does it still happen?

Ray: Surprisingly, it does. That's why our business is good.

Russ: Okay, okay. I guess after they do that, they realize they need some help.

Ray: Well, look at the automakers.

Russ: Right.

Ray: I mean, yes, they were coached, but I'm told that, at least one example, there was real pushback from the handlers, the people who they think it's their job to insulate and protect senior management.

Russ: Right.

Ray: They often do them a disservice. One characteristic we find in working with C-Suite executives, whether it's getting ready for an investor presentation, talking on a talk show, television format, or at a town hall meeting with a community group, good leaders want to learn and they have an appetite for learning. One of the things we translate is, "Okay, you've got your business strategy and your audience figured out and you've got good messaging. Now let's work on the messenger." So common in all of our training programs at WPNT is on-camera coaching and training.

Russ: Okay.

Ray: You should run through and create muscle memory around "How am I going to handle those tough questions?"

Russ: Create muscle memory. You've said it so much it's just ingrained in who you are?

Ray: Exactly.

Russ: Cool.

Ray: So you see yourself doing well and then chances are you'll do better.

Russ: Cool. We're talking with Ray Thompson, professional communications specialist and principal with WPNT, and we'll be back with more with Ray after this. You're listening to The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.

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Russ: This is The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com, and continuing on with Ray Thompson, professional communications specialist with WPNT. Now Ray, as we talk about the presentation and when your client is in front of the audience-whatever that might be-investors, congressional hearings, customers, that's one thing, but man oh man, in 2008 it seems like you potentially are on the stage, on TV around the clock, and I kind of know that from media editing capability you could just do fantastic in front of your target audience, and as you're walking to your car with your driver, say something that's picked up and then that's the only thing that's on CNN. Does your service take that into consideration?

Ray: Russ, it's an excellent question because the business has changed, the media business, and you've built successful businesses and you also operate in this media environment-

Russ: Right.

Ray: -so you see that intersection today, and what technology has done is made everybody a journalist, so you go and give a nice press conference or a meeting with customers and then afterwards, somebody with a cell phone walks up to you and you get caught off guard.

Russ: Right.

Ray: And we don't want any of our clients ever having to apologize or explain an embarrassing moment spoken in an elevator or captured on a cell phone, so and ending up on YouTube. First, if you don't want to read it in the New York Times, don't say it.

Russ: Okay.

Ray: I mean, that's the first bit of advice we give people.

Russ: Okay.

Ray: But the media business, as you know, has changed dramatically, even in the last 5 years.

Russ: Oh, yeah.

Ray: You know, people are fighting for viewers and readers and listeners and subscribers, and so with the business model in media under great pressure, the media go back to the things they're really good at and that's the provocative the exciting, the sensational, the conflict and controversy. When reporters come to you, one of the things we do in our training programs is make people understand the business model of media and how it's changed and the pressures that reporters and producers and anchors are under today to hold and attract viewers, readers, listeners, subscribers, website visitors, and so you can expect tough questions, expect the unexpected to the degree you can. You know, there are just dos and don'ts in media interviews and staying on message and not getting drawn into a battle, being pithy and keeping your comments on mark.

Russ: Okay. Now, that reminded me of a statement I heard often back about 5 years ago and which you might disagree with now based on what you said, and that was that any press is good press. It was almost like if you had something controversial you'll get on the air. Has that rule evaporated with the way that the media is today?

Ray: Well, there's so much media, online and traditional media today that I think there is a grace period. You know, there is some embarrassing stuff everywhere on companies and I think the public is more tolerant today of a misstep because there's so much media. At the same time, though, people have high expectations. When they hear the CEO of this company is coming to our community meeting or testifying before the state legislature or in Washington.

Russ: Right.

Ray: They expect this guy is a senior leader of a big company, he ought to be a skilled and gifted communicator, and that's what our coaching does-put them on camera, work them over, help them avoid the missteps. I mean, first and primary rule, do no harm.

Russ: Right.

Ray: Media relations should not hurt your company. But you ought to be playing offense too, and I think one of the tricks in media is to understand who you're really trying to reach, Russ. Who is the stakeholder group? Is it customers? Is it neighbors? And understanding, and one of the things we work on is helping companies understand and prioritize that ecosystem of stakeholders.

Russ: Okay.

Ray: The general public is important to some companies, but most companies have a hierarchy of it's primarily Wall Street analysts and what are their concerns today?

Russ: Okay.

Ray: Or it's primarily, business partners or investors or neighbors or regulators or customers, and sorting out those different stakeholders and understanding their needs and talking to them through media is really what makes media relations more strategic today.

Russ: Okay. We have lots of leaders of companies that are listeners to The BusinessMakers Show.

Ray: Sure.

Russ: What kind of general tips might you give them to improve their business communications?

Ray: Well, right now I put a premium on authenticity and credibility. In this market in this time, you've got to be speaking absolutely clearly and absolutely truthfully to investors, to creditors, bondholders, government officials, and others.

Russ: Right.

Ray: There's a lot of scrutiny today, so authenticity and being-I'd rather not say something than say something that stretches credibility. People want straight talk. Now, at the same time, the bar is being raised in the world of communications with our new administration. Barack Obama is a skilled speaker.

Russ: Yeah.

Ray: Eloquence is going to be rewarded here.

Russ: Right.

Ray: And we're going to see more and more challenges to industry to live up to a higher standard in being both authentic and effective as a communicator. So for us it comes back to a couple of things. I'd recommend to any CEO is first, make sure that you come at your communications clear about your measure of success, whether you're there to inform, persuade, or motivate. Second thing, then, is who is the audience? Where are they coming from and what are their concerns? Really good communicators are audience-centered. They're focused on the concerns, the impressions, the feelings of their key stakeholders. And then message clarity and simplicity. Keep it simple.

Russ: Okay. I want to go into that perhaps a little bit more after this. We're speaking with Ray Thompson, professional communications specialists and principal with WPNT. You're listening to The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.

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Russ: This is The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com, and continuing on with Ray Thompson, a specialist in that whole communications area, which we know is just so very important. In fact, Ray, what are just some general characteristics of a good business leader that's a good business communicator?

Ray: I mentioned authentic and credible. That's vital, as well, though, empathetic. To me, understanding, articulating that the, "I know who my audience is. I've been thinking about you. I'm aware of your concerns," the need to understand your audience and then signal to your audience through what you say and how you say it. "I'm aware of the priorities, the concerns, the care abouts of these audiences." You know, if I'm a CEO today and I'm talking to Wall Street, I know one of the things they're wanting to know is what's my business continuity plan? Where am I taking this business? And so understanding audience concerns going into the communications process means really sitting down and doing some analysis. Here's the top priorities for analysts today: they're looking for liquidity. They're looking for stability. They're looking for putting a bottom on the stock and turning the company and the business plan going forward and how you compare to others.

Russ: Right.

Ray: So that then becomes much of what I want to talk about. Audience analysis yields better message development. If I was going to give somebody one good piece of advice today-

Russ: That's it.

Ray: -you sit down, look at who your key stakeholders are, and do some analysis on what their primary concerns, priorities, and care abouts are in this market and then develop messaging that addresses those concerns as well as advances your own business.

Russ: Okay. Well, it seems with this focus on authenticity that perhaps embellishment and spin are kind of out these days. Would that be right?

Ray: Yeah, absolutely. You know, maybe there was a time for that-

Russ: Yeah.

Ray: You know, you wanted to beat your chest, and any press is good press.

Russ: Right.

Ray: Not so today. I think people are pretty sophisticated. Audiences today can really quickly read through a speaker, presenter, a leader and figure out, "Is this guy for real or not?" and what we often are doing with people who are good leaders, they grew up-you know-and you get to sit in the corner chair for these Fortune 25 companies that we work with. You don't get in that chair without having excellent operational skills, but the skills that got you there aren't always the skills that keep you there, and so making successful leaders better communicators. You know, when you've moved up through the ranks, you're not sitting there because you're a great engineer or you have an MBA from Harvard.

Russ: Right.

Ray: You're sitting there because you can lead and motivate people and that involves communications and that involves the simple, stupid stuff that you might think of in terms of interpersonal communications, eye contact, gestures, movement, animation. That's why we drag cameras into all of our training programs, make these CEOs look at themselves and look at their leaders and decide, "Hey, what are we doing well here and what can we get better at?" But that takes a professional to help them with and an outsider who is not going to be worried about hurting the guy's feelings.

Russ: Okay. I'll bet you have some sessions that might be kind of interesting as well.

Ray: We should get you up to our training facility on the Northwest side sometime.

Russ: I'd love to see it. Well, you're a business person yourself, and boy, this area of specialty is somewhat unique. How did you get good at this, Ray?

Ray: You know, my background many, many years ago was in journalism, but I went off of the public and government affairs, and I was a spokesman and got interviewed several thousand times in media. My business partners are former-all mostly come from broadcast and television but also communications. Wixted, Pope, Nora, Thompson and Associates-well, there's the 4 partners that own the company.

Russ: Right.

Ray: We've got offices in Chicago, in Dallas, in Des Moines, and in Houston.

Russ: Right.

Ray: And, of course, I focus a lot on the energy side, but I grew up as a public and government affairs person working energy issues, did some lobbying in Washington, and did a lot of crisis management stuff, so I got into speech coaching under the mentorship of some pretty skilled people out of New York 10-15 years ago and made a full-time business of it.

Russ: Cool. Well, before I let you go, I just have one more question. I know that all of your clients are confidential, but have you, by chance, advised anybody that's participated in any of the last 6 months of congressional hearings?

Ray: Yes.

Russ: Okay. And how did you feel like your client did?

Ray: Everybody can get better, but the folks that we worked with we thought did a fairly good job, and I will leave it at that.

Russ: All right. Ray, I really appreciate you sharing some time with us.

Ray: Thank you, Russ, and a pleasure to be on, and I enjoy the program, and keep up the good work.

Russ: You bet. We've been talking with Ray Thompson, principal with Wixted, Pope, Nora, Thompson and Associates, and you're listening to The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.