Becky Slack, founder and managing director, Slack Communications Visit the CharityComms website to view slides from past events, see what events we have coming up and to check out what else we do: www.charitycomms.org.uk

1. Effective media relations
for small charities
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

2. What do I know?
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

3. Agenda
• Understanding the media
• What makes a story
• Beyond news…
• How to pitch
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

4. Understanding the media
What do journalists do and what do they want?
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

5. Understanding the media
What do journalists do?
Journalists investigate, collect and present
information to their audience.
They make sense of the world and present us with
what we need to know, filtering out unnecessary
content.
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

6. Understanding the media
A journalist’s priorities
- (Breaking) a really good story
- Selling more newspapers/magazines
- Receiving more clicks and shares
Not a priority: your key messages, fundraising targets…
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

7. Understanding the media
What they want (from you)
- Good story ideas
- Useful, reliable, accurate information
- Speedy delivery
- Right format
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

8. Understanding the media
Key characteristics of a journalist
- Experts in their fields
- Exceptionally busy
- Demanding, impatient, cynical
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

9. What is a story?
What do journalists look for in stories?
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

10. What is a story?
Galtungand Ruge’snewsvalues
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

11. What is a story?
Share-ability
Galtungand Ruge’snewsvalues
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

12. What is a story?
The most successful stories include all or combination of:
- News values
- Human interest (real-life stories)
- Opinion (something to generate debate)
- Evidence (to give credibility to your opinion)
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

13. What is a story?
What is not a story?
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

14. What is a story?
What is not a story?
Promotional material (PR puff)
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

15. What is a story?
The ‘So What?’ test
- Will anyone but you actually care about this story?
- Why do people need to know this information?
- Does it tell them something they don’t already know?
- Why is this ‘a story’ and not ‘PR puff”?
- Will it create traffic?
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

16. Beyond news…
News: A story that reports information that was not previously known
Features: Articles devoted to a particular topic, typically at length and
usually involving analysis, case studies and detail
Educator pieces: Informative pieces often presented in list format,
such as ‘How to…’ or ‘Seven steps to…’
Op Eds: Opinion pieces/blogs providing personal comment on a
particular issue
NIBs: News in brief. Also: what’s hot/not; stat of the day; photo &
caption etc
Case studies: real-life story of a human being (triumph over tragedy,
or conflict and resolution)
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

17. Example: Loneliness this Xmas
News: Two million older people will spend Christmas alone, says report by
Charity X.
Feature: Inviting an older person for dinner this Christmas is more than just
a nice gesture. You could save their life (featuring case study by Charity X)
Educator piece: With research showing two million people will be lonely this
Christmas, here’s five ways you can bring joy to their lives
Op Ed: It’s a social disgrace that two million pensioners will be on their own
this Christmas, says CEO of Charity X
NIBs: 10 ways to reduce your plastic consumption this festive season (No 4:
Instead of presents, buy a Christmas Dinner for a lonely pensioner from
Charity X)
Case study: Local resident Alice, 87, suffers from dementia and had been
hospitalised six times in a month– until Charity X helped turn her life around.
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

18. How to pitch
1. Identify your story
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

19. Identify your story
1. Audience (Who do you want to reach and what is going to be
interesting to them?)
2. The So What? test (Why will people care about your story? Why
should they take the time to read your story?)
3. Evidence (What do you know that others don’t?)
4. Human interest (Who are the people involved?)
5. Opinion (What have you got to say and how will this generate debate /
advance the conversation?)
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

20. How to pitch
1. Identify your story
2. Match your story to the media
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

21. Match your story to the media
1. Audience (Is this story relevant and interesting to their readers?)
2. Reach (Do you need to tailor to the location or format? Regional v
national; print v web-only)
3. Frequency (Will your timelines fit with their press deadlines?)
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

22. www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms
Same story; 3 different titles
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

23. How to pitch
1. Identify your story
2. Match your story to the media
3. Test your story’s strength
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

24. Testing your story
1. What are the potential headlines?
(If you can’t find an interesting or newsworthy headline, your
story probably isn’t interesting or newsworthy)
2. Will this story be of interest to your chosen media?
(Have they covered similar stories? If the answer is no, then
it’s unlikely they will care about yours)
3. Has it been done before?
(Has this story been covered already? If so, what are you
saying that is new or different?)
4. Key components
(Can you actually deliver all that you promise in terms of
data, opinion, case studies etc)
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

25. How to pitch
1. Identify your story
2. Match your story to the media
3. Test your story’s strength
4. Identify the journalist
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

26. How to pitch
1. Identify your story
2. Match your story to the media
3. Test your story’s strength
4. Identify the journalist
5. Make the approach
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

27. How to pitch successfully
1. Tailored approach v blanket email: Both can and do work
2. Be persistent: Nearly half of all journalists receive more than 25
email pitches a day, while producing fewer than 25 pieces a month.
3. Be real: Distributions sent from a named email account rather
than a generic one experience higher open rates.
4. Be relevant: Journalists are busy and don’t need to be coddled.
You can just send the release. But make sure it’s relevant to them.
5. Include all the necessary info: Journalists are usually up
against a deadline and missing details/images can slow them down.
6. Send a Dropbox link: fill this with everything they could possibly
need — a press release, press-friendly images, video files…
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

28. How to pitch
1. Identify your story
2. Match your story to the media
3. Test your story’s strength
4. Identify the journalist
5. Make the approach
6. Follow up on the approach
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

29. How to pitch
Follow up is important.
Journalists are busy. They may not see your email. In
fact they probably didn’t. Chase, then chase again.
Research by Agility shows that the second email is
the one that is more likely to be picked up.
Don’t be afraid to resend the same info more than
once. But don’t hassle.
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

30. How to pitch
1. Identify your story
2. Match your story to the media
3. Test your story’s strength
4. Identify the journalist
5. Make the approach
6. Follow up on the approach
7. Know when not to pitch
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

31. How to pitch
When not to pitch
- Press day
- Major news day
- Between 10am and midday on a Monday
- On a Friday
- Sunday evenings can be good
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

32. How to pitch
1. Identify your story
2. Match your story to the media
3. Test your story’s strength
4. Identify the journalist
5. Make the approach
6. Follow up on the approach
7. Follow up again
8. Provide the journalist with what they want, when they want it
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

33. Give them what they want
1. You do not control the story, they do
2. Provide them with what you originally promised
3. Meet their brief
4. If you can’t deliver something, offer an alternative
5. Meet their deadlines!
6. If you are not going to meet a deadline, give them
plenty of warning
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

34. How to pitch
1. Identify your story
2. Match your story to the media
3. Test your story’s strength
4. Identify the journalist
5. Make the approach
6. Follow up on the approach
7. Follow up again
8. Provide the journalist with what they want, when they want it
9. Share the story via social media
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

35. How to pitch
1. Identify your story
2. Match your story to the media
3. Test your story’s strength
4. Identify the journalist
5. Make the approach
6. Follow up on the approach
7. Follow up again
8. Provide the journalist with what they want, when they want it
9. Share the story via social media
10.Thank the journalist
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

36. Why is this a story?
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

37. Why is this a story?
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

38. Why is this a story?
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

39. Any questions?
Slack Communications
We help you tell your story
Becky Slack
managing director
07854 221 568
becky@slackcommunications.co.uk
@SlackComms
@Becky_Slack
www.slackcommunications.co.uk
www.slackcommunications.co.uk @Becky_Slack @SlackComms

40. Small Charities
Communications Conference
10 July 2019
London
#CCsmallcharity
Sponsored by

41. Visit the CharityComms website to view
slides from past events, see what events
we have coming up and to check out
what else we do:
www.charitycomms.org.uk