AssistKD had the pleasure of meeting Global Communications trainer and Award-winning former BBC News and Panorama journalist, Felicity Cowie, while she was preparing for her talk ‘Speed storytelling for Rapid Engagement’ at the IRM UK Business Change and Transformation Conference Europe 2023.

How to Make a Business a Go-To Authority for Journalists

In the online meeting, Felicity shared highlights of her prestigious career in journalism. Felicity covered memorable, high profile breaking news stories including the London 7/7 bombings, the boxing day tsunami, the death of Princess Diana, the capture of Saddam Hussein, Millennium night and many more. In the background of the call, her book Exposure was proudly on display. Felicity explained that she authored the book specifically to help businesses become a go-to authority for journalists.

Exposure was published in 2022 and was a Business Book Awards Finalist in 2023 for the category of books that support, encourage, or inspire entrepreneurs to get their business up and running or onto the next stage.

What is Journalism?

Most of us know about journalism from television and social media, but we only see the results of that work; the documentaries, the news coverage and even films typically portraying the relentless journalist who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth and get their first big breakthrough story.  

However, time is of the essence for journalists, they are constantly looking for the next big story from a mound of press releases and information. They need to have key facts readily available to decide which story to develop.

How can Journalism and Media Relations help Businesses?

Media relations can help businesses in a variety of ways. Today businesses have a plethora of their own channels on which to publish content into the public domain, but third-party media coverage is more valuable as it provides external validation and the trustworthiness that comes from the views of an independent party.  

Preparing for media relations forces business leaders to really think about how to articulate what the business is all about. If this is done well, the business can be promoted favourably to customers and investors alike. This unpaid coverage provides several benefits including the ability to build a faster customer pipeline and obtain funding.

Tools and Techniques for Securing Media Coverage

In Exposure, Felicity Cowie introduces the reader to numerous techniques and insights to help secure media coverage, which includes challenging businesses to answer thought provoking questions about their existence. The book includes an invaluable ‘media relations toolkit’ which shows business owners exactly where to start in engaging with the media, an A-Z of what journalists think when stories are pitched, and the most useful technique of all, 50 mighty words for Speed storytelling.  

50 Mighty Words for Speed Storytelling

This technique provides businesses with a framework for answering the fundamental questions to ensure precise communication of their most important messages:

1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. Where or when do you do it?
4. How do you do it? (More detail on What)
5. Why do you do it?
6. Who are you? (More info)

The answers to these questions should articulate what the business does in 50 words. This is exactly what journalists need to know.

Here is an example of 50 Mighty Words in action (provided by Felicity Cowie):

Who? Project Customer Hub.

What? One Stop Shop for our most wanted data.

Where/when? Based on 10 years of customer requests.

How? (More detail on What) Aggregating current databases, interviews with all customer-facing and sales teams.

Why? To serve 100% more customers per day and save £1M per quarter.

Who? (More info) Explore ‘Project Customer Hub’ SharePoint here.  

Here are the 50 Mighty Words produced from the above information:

Customer Hub will be a one-stop shop for our most wanted data, featuring 10 years of requests. We will create it by aggregating current databases and interviewing customer-facing & sales teams. This will enable us to serve 100% more customers per day and save £1M per quarter. More here.

Conclusion

Exposure shows us that journalism is not for the faint hearted or for the planners of this world. Journalists need to prioritise the story of the moment quickly and accurately, above everything else. They need to go with the flow and manage the unanticipated deadlines and last-minute plan changes. This must be frustrating, particularly when long scheduled work and client interviews must be postponed for another time.  

Felicity Cowie has clearly put every ounce of her expertise into this book, which is crammed with useful, practical, easy to apply content and insider secrets. With Felicity’s guidance as a communications consultant, businesses can utilise media relations to their advantage and enjoy the advantages that positive coverage brings.  

The book is a fascinating read. Anyone can benefit from reading Exposure, as there is one main parallel with journalism and all other industries – the need to really think about and communicate the right messages to the right people, to achieve the desired objectives.

Links 

Watch AssistKD’s BA Brew with Felicity: https://youtu.be/Ho2XjU5wzzM 

How to describe your business change in 50 words  - IRM UK