Teresa Morrow, senior vice-president/corporate communications director for
Bremer Bank spoke to an audience of 40+ nonprofit executives and communications specialists in Fargo, N.D., earlier this month. Morrow’s talk, entitled Managing Your Reputation: Media & Communications for Nonprofits, covered many ways nonprofit organizations can avoid the public relations pitfalls lurking in our world of communications.
She warned against being caught off guard by a reporter asking for an interview and suggested you take some time, even if it’s just a few minutes, to collect your thoughts and prepare for the interview. Preparation included knowing who your audience was, drafting some key talking points and identifying examples that bring your story to life. Some good ‘take-aways’ included never responding to a question with ‘No comment” and remembering that when dealing with the press, NOTHING is off the record!
Morrow’s knowledge and experience in her field is very evident. The feedback from those attending was that this was very helpful, even to seasoned executives who found it a great refresher course on handling media.
Howard Barlow, NRS, Fargo
