Official Blog of Bannon Communicatons President and CEO Shawn Bannon

Archive for the ‘Leadership Communications’ Category

Birmingham News: Pittsburgh Blueprint Helped Transform City

Sunday, September 26th, 2010

Leaders in Birmingham, Ala., publicly released Blueprint Birmingham this week.  It’s a five-year strategic plan to improve quality of life and economic development efforts in the region and to change the way Birmingham is perceived by business leaders, young professionals, families and tourists around the world.  Click here to read my op-ed about the plan […]

Truth or Consequences and Public Relations

Monday, May 24th, 2010

When I was a kid, I was a fan of professional wrestling.  I watched the greats of the 1980s – guys like “Macho Man” Randy Savage and the “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase – battle it out with Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan.  And I loved every outrageous storyline.  Because I was a kid, […]

Bannon Communications President Featured in Carnegie Mellon University Newsletter Q&A

Monday, May 10th, 2010

My college years were some of the most enjoyable and most transformative of my life, and I’ve been glad to remain engaged with my alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), throughout my career.  During my years working to promote the Pittsburgh region to national and international media, I was always particularly enthusiastic when I had […]

Bannon Communications Featured by Vital Speeches of the Day

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Special thanks to Vital Speeches of the Day, which is currently featuring my article about improving state-of-the-village speeches on its home page. Click here to read the article on the Vital Speeches Web site.

Lackluster State-of-the-Village Speeches Suggest Alarming Decline in Quality of Leadership

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Earlier this month, David Murray, a respected voice in the field of speechwriting and leadership communications, wrote an article for The Huffington Post about the lackluster state of recent “state-of-the-village” speeches.  David is editor of Vital Speeches of the Day and is the former editor of Ragan Communications’ Speechwriters Newsletter.  He probably reads more speeches […]

A PR Pro’s Defense of Sarah Palin’s Palm Reading

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

The political world’s been abuzz this week with pundits on the left and right trying to score points over former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s use of some hand-written notes during a recent question and answer session.  And by “hand-written notes” I mean to say notes that were literally written on the palm of her hand.  Some on […]

Toyota’s Mistakes Demonstrate Importance of Crisis Communications Planning

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Could it get much worse for the folks at Toyota?  I guess it can always get worse.  I mean, their spouses could all begin cheating on them with the folks from Kia.  Or their teenage daughters could all run off with that guy you know will never really become a rock star.  Frankly, I’m hoping […]

Answering Your Questions — Communicating After a Workplace Tragedy

Friday, January 15th, 2010

From time to time I’ll use this space to answer readers’ questions about the practice of Public Relations.  Here’s a great question and some advice you can use if you find your organization in the midst of an unanticipated crisis. Q: I’m looking to find out what the dos and don’ts would be in dealing […]

Tips for Speechwriters (and Other Communications Professionals): Getting Your Speaker to Deliver the Speech that You’ve Written — Part 5

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

Here’s tip five in my series of tips to help speechwriters frustrated by speakers who abandon the approved script in favor of extemporaneous remarks that, more often than not, seem to miss the mark. Tip 5.     Let your speaker tell his own story. One sure-fire way to craft a speech your client will be able […]

Tips for Speechwriters (and Other Communications Professionals): Getting Your Speaker to Deliver the Speech that You’ve Written — Part 4

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Here’s tip four in my series of five to help speechwriters frustrated by speakers who abandon the approved script in favor of extemporaneous remarks that, more often than not, seem to miss the mark. Tip 4.      Write the way your speaker talks.  And if you can’t do that, keep the language simple. We’d all like […]

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