Ever hear the phrase, “right tool for the right job”? Today we’re going to discuss how three free tools embedded in Microsoft Word can help you improve your writing. How? By making your sentences and paragraphs easier to read and understand, which should lead to a higher impact among your intended audience. They may or may not go where you … Read More
Gifts for Energy Communicators: Our Best-Read Content from 2019 EEC Perspectives gained dozens of new subscribers this year, many of them in the last few weeks after I hit the conference circuit. For that reason, and others, we’re re-gifting our best-read content from 2019. You don’t have to wait until December 25 to unwrap these presents! DEREK JETER’S OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD TUTORIAL … Read More
California’s decision to go to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045, passed late last month by the state legislature and awaiting Governor Jerry Brown’s signature, means electric utilities and electric cooperatives in the Golden State will have to up, yet again, their clean energy communications. That applies to electric utilities and cooperatives located outside California, too, as customers increasingly prefer cleaner … Read More
“Poles and wires are boring, but people are interesting,” a utility communicator once told me. I agree completely: The best way to feed your audience, especially customers, the information you want them to know is to embed it in a compelling story focusing on people. Whether it’s still or video photography, the image draws the audience (customers) in and carries … Read More
Christmas is only a few weeks away. It’s always a special time in our home. I’ll never forget the Christmas Day years ago when our son Jack, then about age 6, bolted down the stairs and hurled himself at the presents under the tree. His expression was a mix of excitement (“Wow, there’s a ton of presents, I wonder … Read More
For Utility Communicators & Marketers Only! We want to HEAR from you! Earlier in my career, I prepared budgets for my utility’s media relations function. I had no independent, third-party information to know whether I was under-staffed, fully staffed or over-staffed compared to other utilities. Having that information would have helped me make a stronger budget case to executive … Read More
Many of us would prefer to avoid awkward conversations if we can. We turn evasive when our children ask us, “Where do babies come from?” At a party, someone asks about the presidential candidates and most people go into full-on fudge mode. Stalling, evading and dissembling are seen as preferable to having a conversation that makes us uncomfortable. The ongoing … Read More
When I talk to media relations representatives at utilities, I often hear how difficult their jobs have become. Newspapers have closed. Dailies have become twice-weeklies. The news hole is shrinking. Veteran reporters who used to cover the utility have taken a package. If those veterans are replaced (and their positions are not always back-filled), it typically is with a shiny … Read More
Utility marketers and communicators I speak with remain intrigued by the idea of direct interaction with their clients, contacts not mediated by email, social media, the news media or the contact center’s voice-response unit (VRU). They understand the power of personally connecting with customers. But these utility representatives I speak with seem fixated on the logistical challenges of direct outreach: … Read More
When the Financial Times, one of the world’s oldest and most authoritative business dailies, and the “Dilbert” cartoon strip independently explore the same issue at about the same time, that’s worthy of note. And the issue is one near and dear to my heart, and hopefully yours: the need to communicate using clear English. Have you ever played buzzword bingo? … Read More
