You can tell its summer. It’s the first week of Wimbledon, we’ve already had our week of hot weather and it looks like the silly season has started early. From the other side of the globe comes the story that Julia Gillard, the Australian PM has decided to knit a Kangaroo for the imminent arrival of the new royal baby. (Seriously!) As seen here on today's front page of The Daily Telegraph, a smiling Julia Gillard has posed for the Australian version of the Women’s Weekly magazine. She is seen sitting comfortably (not a corporate suit in sight), surrounded by balls of wool, knitting needles carefully positioned and her dog Reuben by her side. Just an ordinary Ozzie, doing what ordinary women do all the time – Yeah right! This is a genius bit of image manipulation. She is currently facing disastrous polls and the threat of losing the next election. Apparently Australian men can’t stand her - so what better than to appeal to the fairer sex. To show that she’s not the hardnosed tough talking politician who is happy to take on the rough and tumble of the Australian Parliament. To show that she is in touch with the women of her nation! Hmmmm – me thinks not. She is a smart operator who has battled to remain in power and isn’t about to give up any time soon. Hats off to her PR team who knew that these images would not only appeal to the home audience but with the royal connection were bound to be picked up by folks back home in the UK.
So dear reader what can we learn from this. Well I wouldn’t advocate rushing out and giving your key spokespeople a set of knitting needles and telling them to ‘just get on with it’. However as we all know the moral of this story is once again image is king. Even if your key spokesperson has been betrayed as rather unapproachable and corporate – portraying his or her softer side so that your audience can begin to relate to them is a good place to start. Yes the message is important but the image is where it all starts. That’s why presentation skills training is so important for any of your key spokespeople. Of course media training is part and parcel of making them an effective communicator. However presentation skills training will enable them to have a much greater understanding of why how they look and how they deliver the message is as important as the bullet points shining out from their PowerPoint.
This story is a timely reminder that it’s so important not to lose sight of who the target audience really is. Whether its B2B or the great British public, most people just want to be able to relate to whoever is trying to connect with them. They want to see that the person doing the communicating is personable, approachable and looks competent to manage the task effectively. It’s so easy to slip into the trap of appearing too corporate, speaking jargon and therefore not in touch with your audience needs.
So who would have thought the latest bit of kit in the PR team’s ‘media management’ drawer would be a ball of wool and a pair of knitting needles!
Media First are media and communications training specialists with nearly 30 years’ experience. To find out more about our highly practical presentation training, contact us here. Don't forget to subscribe to our blog.
