If you want news coverage, either do something or say something interesting. A panel allows you to say something that could make headlines even if it’s just a headline in a LinkedIn post.

Panel events have exploded in popularity since things opened up after the pandemic. They offer huge benefits. Things participants say can be quite newsworthy and this garners attention. 

On any given day I have the opportunity to attend at least one panel. On some days, I can pick from five or more. Right now Open Compute OCP in San Jose is happening and I was offered a free pass. I’m thinking about it. A conference like that offers one panel after the next with the biggest name in B2B tech and the consumer industry. OCP focuses on sustainability.

Now panels are mostly in-person. By the way, if you want to be a speaker at an upcoming conference, take a look at the schedule six months in advance and look for the speaker forms online. Hire a PR pro to help keep track of it all and say something catchy and timely in the form. 

I once did a freelance gig that was literally all speaker opportunities and award nominations. 

My Panel at Northeastern U. 

I was a panelist at Northeastern University in San Jose recently and it was fun. You’re inviting me to talk with a microphone? Yes, please. Flashback to Mr. Microphone commercials, “I’m on the radio, I love it!”  The topic was the impact of generative AI on journalism and PR. I typically say, “No” to panel invitations which I’ve been getting regularly for more than a decade but the recent one was on a Saturday, so I finally said, “Yes.” When you do PR you have to drop everything when news needs to go out. Saturday works better for me.

Here are tips that worked for me that will help you slay your next panel:

1. Be Yourself – I was nervous early on preparing with a bit of imposter syndrome. They would ask me about artificial intelligence, a technical topic. Shouldn’t a scientist or engineer do this? But then I thought, they are asking about my area of expertise. AI in public relations specifically. Once I had that epiphany I felt better moving forward. AI is used widely in public relations, e.g. by companies like Meltwater, MuckRack and Cision. Startups are using it to write press releases. That and I attend a lot of talks and lectures by STEM PhDs, ask a lot of questions and take copious notes. Go ahead and ask me when machines will be as smart as humans. I can answer that based on something a neural network scientist said to me. I can also drone on about the topic. I said “drone’” That’s AI humor.
2. Do Your Homework on the Other Panelists – Look at the panelists LinkedIn profiles or university scholar pages. Read one story or online comment by each of them. Study their organizations a bit and learn their biases. This will help you better converse with them and not say something you regret later. Realize that one will be swapped out a day prior due to illness or whatever. Arrive at the event early and research the newly added folks. Introduce yourself. My newly added panelist moderator had three degrees from MIT. I asked him a bunch of questions and learned we both worked at IBM. 
3. Add Value – I needed an interesting point to make, one that I invented. I came up with a zinger while researching the other panelists which included Fast Company’s Harry McKracken and the founder of the Redwood City Pulse, Michelle Iracheta. I mentioned to her that ChatGPT doesn’t recognize information newer than Sept. 2021. And this is a huge shortcoming! I confirmed that her news site was founded in October 2021. We had an epiphany that ChatGPT’s huge limitation wouldn’t even recognize her media outlet that was a full two years old. We said that during the panel. That added value.

Here’s a tip for women. Say, “yes” to a panel invitation even if you think you are too junior or shy. The trend is that more men are readily saying, “Yes.” And yes, I regret saying, no, all of these years. We need more women panels. Better yet, how about an all-women panel? I heard only women speakers the other day at Hacker Dojo. They were all female roboticists. 

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Michelle McIntyre is an award-winning Silicon Valley tech PR consultant. She is the head of editorial content for PRSA Silicon Valley. Sign up for the PRSA SV 2023 Media Predicts panel event on Dec. 6, 2023, at this link. Photos: Me and Northeastern GenAI panel audience members and event coordinators in photo 1. Me and Harry McCracken in photo 2.

Peter Shankman, the founder of HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, is a social media entrepreneur and influencer.

Recognized worldwide for new ways of thinking about the customer experience, social media, public relations, marketing, advertising, and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), Shankman often keynotes events.

The New York Times and others have quoted Shankman in advice and “how I got here” stories like this one on how to best work with journalists.

His comments are TED-like so any business person would benefit from them. Here are 50.

1. If you don’t write your own story, you’ll be nothing but a footnote in someone else’s.
2. You don’t control the direction of your company. You are controlled by your customers.
3. Find your weakness. Wrap yourself in it like an armor and it can’t be used to hurt you.
4. Stay healthy.
5. I’ve learned to set up certain life rules for myself which work to keep me on track. Getting up early, always exercising first thing in the morning no matter how tired I am. (and I’m usually doing it at 4am), and eating as healthy as possible.
6. If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.
7. While others are looking for fire, spend your time and energy looking for wood that’s yet to burn.
8. Contact people at the time of day that they prefer.
9. Two things happen when you’re nice. Number one is that people remember you.
10. Get together with people in the way that they prefer. With Peter Shankman it might be running in NYC at 6 AM.
11. What matters to customers, regardless of their economic background or expectation, regardless of whether you’re a corner deli or a 7-star resort…is the same thing that’s always mattered: TRUST.
12. Being willing to try new things — I’ve started and sold three companies with nothing more than the experience I gained from the last one.
13. Keep an eye on your friends’ mental health. (He mentioned in a public relations group event that, sadly, two of his entrepreneur friends committed suicide.)
14. Dopamine comes from good experiences. It’s why I sky dive; it’s why I do Ironman triathlons.
15. Hire good people.
16. Allow your employees to work in the way that they can perform at their best.
17. If you are ADHD working at home works well.
18. Tell great stories.
19. Be authentic when you answer a journalist.
20. Don’t B.S. when you give comment for a news story.
21. Listen to everyone but be keenly aware of whose advice you take. Be brilliant at the basics. That’s all you need to succeed.
22. The entrepreneur economy is bigger than ever.
23. Ease of use and video are two huge factors that are going to move the needle for communicators in the modern world.
24. Understanding your audience is more important than ever.
25. Understanding your clients and employees is key.
26. Your audience is more important than ever before.
27. Trust is the biggest thing that leads to purchase.
28. Answer fast, like in 10 minutes if responding to a HARO, Help a Reporter Out, a company that he founded.
29. You have to know your audience. That is a major key to getting social media right.
30. Find the best time to call people, for example, that might be 4 AM for me right now.
31. Be slightly better than the norm.
32. We can earn and work from anywhere (now.)
33. Little moments equal massive effect.
34. The little things you do add up quickly.
35. Doing little things is the basis for any improvement you ever hope to have.
36. You can’t make anything viral but you can make it good.
37. I wasn’t just managing my ADHD. I was using it to my advantage.
38. There is no personal or professional anymore. There is simply your brand.
39. Everything you do affects your brand.
40. The pandemic has shown us that workers don’t need to be in the office every day.
41. Be a zombie loyalist. Use great service to attract rabid fans.
42. OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS! (In response to a cool image of him someone posted on Twitter)
43. Be transparent, be relevant, be brief, and be top of mind.
44. No one believes how great you are if you’re the one who has to tell them. You want your customers and your employees doing your PR for you and telling the world how great you are so you don’t have to.
45. I don’t drink anymore because I only have two speeds — off and all the way on.
46. I like to put 10x more help into the universe than I ask for. That’s the best way to live, I believe.
47. Listen to your employees and let them work the way they want to work.
48. Imposter syndrome is a real thing.
49. Doesn’t matter how much success I’ve had, I wake up every day sure that today is the day that I’m found out to be a fraud, and when I’m not, it’s obviously because I’m not important enough for anyone to waste their time investigating me. Over and over.
50. The majority of things I do aren’t normal but they work for me.

Here are two of Peter Shankman’s social media profiles:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petershankman/

Twitter: @PeterShankman

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Michelle McIntyre, a PR consultant and IBM vet, runs her own consulting practice and works for Aircover Communications. @FromMichelle on Twitter

Today at an event attended by public relations professionals, iconic technology journalist and Author Brad Stone gave advice on pitching Bloomberg News. He manages a team of journalists there. 

He also just published a book called Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire. 

He added that previously Bloomberg focused only on public companies; that has changed.

He was asked by the event moderator if he missed in-person events like conferences. He said yes, he has, and not having them has been a challenge. For example, he misses hallway conversations.

Here are seven tips he offered when pitching Bloomberg:

1. Be persistent.
2. Offer something interesting and impactful that a reporter doesn’t already know. 
3. Don’t be sensitive about hard questions.
4. Finding the right reporter is key.
5. Don’t try too hard when you know you don’t have the goods.
6. Don’t sell too hard.
7. Sometimes a pitch is successful just by chance.

In summary, please keep these tips in mind and simply think before you shoot an email off to Bloomberg. You might be surprised at what you accomplish if your timing and message is well thought out. 

On a final note, are you aware of a unique part of the Bloomberg business, the tech side? The company employs thousands of technologists who define, architect, build and deploy complete systems to fulfill the needs of financial market participants globally.

I’m a curious person by nature and when a friend who also does PR brought up Bloomberg Tech the other day I wanted to know more so I checked it out online. I used to think of Bloomberg as mostly an editorial operation. It’s not.

[The orange cup and pink notebook photo is from Canva Pro.]

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Michelle McIntyre is a Silicon Valley PR consultant and IBM vet. @FromMichelle on Twitter. Thanks PRSA-SV team for scheduling Brad Stone as a Friday Forum speaker.