Thorough and highly applicable advice for communications consultants.
A public relations professional pulls back the curtain on his consulting practice.
In this second installment of a two-volume series, agency principal Darnell offers a comprehensive manual that delves into how to operate a public relations/communications consulting business. The first book, The Communications Consultant’s Foundation (2021), provided an introductory framework for starting such a business. This sequel takes a deep dive into the nuts and bolts, first covering communications strategies and account management, then discussing the business of running an agency, and finally providing an action plan for implementation. Darnell not only explains communications consulting in sometimes-dense detail, he also liberally cites examples, many very specific, from his own career. The author’s experience is credible and considerable; he has worked for other firms and run his own small communications agency for over two decades. It’s a credit to Darnell that he willingly discloses his business philosophy, strategies, and practices, right down to how (and how much) he charges his clients. In Part 1 of the guide, readers will get a solid understanding of the process of pitching accounts as well as insights into more mundane topics such as record-keeping and billing. Also in this section is useful information about client positioning, internal versus external communications, the specialized area of investor relations, and a helpful rundown of various media and public relations tactics that could be employed on behalf of clients. The second part of the work focuses on agency management, professional development, how to scale a business, and potential exit strategies. Here, Darnell delivers some wise suggestions for how best to research media as well as seasoned observations about trade associations and industry gatherings. Perhaps most intriguing is the author’s advice on ways to scale a business, in which he draws from examples of other practitioners. Part 3 summarizes previous material and shows how to apply it in the form of a “Marketing Action Plan” that can be developed for clients. The level of detail in this section is particularly impressive. As in his first book, Darnell includes a wealth of questions to answer and relevant exercises to complete.
Thorough and highly applicable advice for communications consultants.Pub Date: Dec. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-03-201257-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Routledge
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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