134: An Insider's Guide to Pitching the Press with Christy Laverty

Way back in the day when I was a director of communication for the cruise line industry out of Washington, D.C. i interviewed candidates for a PR management position when I asked them to rank the PR tasks from their favorite to least favorite. Always sitting at the bottom, pitching the press. Putting yourself out there for rejection is not easy, but the payoff is grand when you land a story in the press. Welcome to the Confident Communications podcast. Helping communicators find the right response at the right time and deliver it in the right place.

So whether you're looking to raise your public profile or hoping to get the.

Word out about a new product, media coverage is one of the best ways to get noticed. This week I'm speaking with former journalist turned publicist Christy Laverty about the secret to obtaining press coverage. Nowadays. With over 20 years of experience as a media professional, Christy says it isn't as simple as firing off pitches and hoping for the best. Listen as Christy shares how to leverage the power of the media to gain influence and get that serious business street cred.

Tell me about your transition. So where did you start and how did you decide to make that transition from journalism and into just helping people with media?

Well, I was doing a little bit as a side hustle. So I worked in broadcast media for 20 years, working most of my career in television, to be honest with you. And then I.

What did you do in television?

So like anything, sort of editorial, I started as an assignment editor. I was a writer. So I worked for City TV and at the time City TV owned CP24, which they launched it, which is all News. So I worked first on the All News, the wheel. Right, because you're just like constantly writing the meat machine. And then I graduated up to the shows. So on the main station I was a writer there, then became an associate producer, a weekend show producer.

Christy, tell me the top story you worked on. I think every journalist has that iconic story event that happened that they worked on. What was yours that made that indelible.

Mark 911 I was, I was a show producer on the all news station on 911 and well, yeah, I would say 911 and SARS up here because SARS given the pandemic now, you know, SARS developed in the city, we didn't know what it was but 911 I was working and I did an interview with a friend of a fellow news colleague who was. Was an ambulance driver up in the Toronto area. And they were mostly like transport, not emergency. And when 911 hit, they just were like, we need to help. And they got into their ambulance and they literally drove straight to New York. And so they were doing it.

How long did they stay there?

Gosh, they were there probably. I think they were there about a couple weeks.

Okay, so you did a lot of.

Stories with them, did a lot of interviews. And like, they were there within, I would say, 10 hours of, you know, when the planes hit. And like when they got there, there was still, you know, debris in the air. And those interviews were so gripping. And, you know, it was sort of the connection because we ended up having to, as the producer, I ended up still talking with them after we were off the air, like on the phone, because they were so, like they were in so much shock that they didn't have anybody to talk to. So we, we, you know, continue to talk and we went back to them continually because they were right on the ground, just helping. And so that, that was probably the story because it went on for so long and it was, it was the story that you couldn't get away from because you'd work a, you know, a nine, ten hour shift on all news and that's all it was. And then you'd go home and that's all that was on TV and it was all that anybody was talking about. And I, I often think that that must be what journalists covering Covid feel like. There's just no escaping it.

Yes. And I know this, you know, firsthand from working with journalists right now that especially last year it was Covid election, and now it's still Covid. Covid, Covid. And so, you know, you know, bringing up 9 11, it's interesting talking to people in our field, whether no matter which side they're on, whether it's journalists or public relations, public affairs, they all have that one indelible story that not only, not only do they not forget it, but it shapes their work and how they view their role in their profession. Like they kind of take some, some tactics that they've learned or some practices and it's. So now that you've made that transition, tell me, like what from that, that iconic 911 moment and now that you work with clients, helping them with their media, anything that, that stayed with you through that time that, you know, still works. You know, here we are from, you know, 2001 to 2021, what still resonates 20 years later?

Well, I think it's, it's still the, the humanity of it all like that, that everything that we do, even, you know, from the journalism side, but on this PR side, it's all about the stories and how do we like, connect with people? And, you know, it's the thing sometimes I think companies, when they're kind of in their bubble, forget that, you know, journalists are people, the audience are people, you're just a person. And we're all just trying to live our lives and, you know, learn more, understand more. And if we remember that we're just communicating with people, that really is what resonates. People just want to be, you know, understood. They want to be thought about, considered. And you know, those 9, 11 was that story that it impacted everyone in a different way, but it was those human connections that really kind of brought that story and why we felt the way we felt about it. And I think that that still is what resonates with people. I think about, you know, the memes that we see when the, you know, the baby who's laughing at a dad who's just tearing the paper. I mean, why does that go viral? It goes viral because we feel something. So, you know, I think that that's really the key. It resonates like across the board, no matter what you're doing.

So, Kristi, now that you've made that transition from the journalist side to the PR side and you are helping your clients with their media relations and getting seen in media pitches. So first just tell, tell me what you do in your work right now.

So most of the, the entrepreneurs that I'm actually working with, most of them are solo or very small teams. And so for many of them, they've actually never, you know, actively seeked out media, earned media before. You know, I think a lot of people understand the social media, you know, paying for, you know, boosted posts or paying for ads. So for a lot of them it's, you know, I'm helping them understand how do we navigate and understand story. Because it can't just be about, hey, look, I'm doing this awesome stuff because again, we're talking to people. So it's a lot of that is helping them understand that process, pulling out the stories. Particularly now because it can be a bit hard during COVID because it dominates. It's what people care about. So finding some of the sweet spots in terms of what they're doing and how they're helping people and how that sort of fits in with the news cycle, you know.

Well, you work with a lot of entrepreneurs, small business, but what you're saying for an entrepreneur could also apply to a small, medium sized business.

Absolutely.

A company without a PR shop per se. So it's up to them to get to get their own press. So are you saying if someone doesn't have a story that is, that relates ancillary to COVID 19, they have something completely different. How do they find that sweet spot? How do they find that space?

Well, I think if you're an entrepreneur navigating during COVID you have something to say regardless of what you do or how you help people. I think that that's been one of the interesting things about COVID is we know that there's a health impact, but the impact on the economy has been immense. And there are some industries, frankly, I'm not sure will survive in the way that we understand before COVID There's some that have just seen immense growth. So I, I think it's telling your story, you know, helping, helping people understand maybe how it has impacted you. You know, women have been so impacted by Covid in the job market. And you know, one of my clients works in that space. And so it's been really important to, to sort of say, hey, you know what, when these job numbers come out, we need to look at what they're saying. But also talk to people who are impacted and understand what this means. You know, it's, yeah, it's somebody who's lost their job, but it has that spin off impact of, you know, these are women, how's it affected? Mothers, you know, what does that mean for the family? What does that mean for the economy? Can we be a strong economy, whether it's Canada, the United States, anywhere in the world, if half of the population has been negatively impacted by Covid? So I think sometimes, you know, businesses, and it is a dance, right? When we have something like Covid, you can't just, you know, step out and, you know, start pushing a certain story or product without understanding does it have space? Can you tell a story? And certainly there is some fatigue with COVID Yes. So there is room to tell other stories and to sort of think about that whole educate, entertain, enlighten part of the PR space. But I think if you're running a business, really, if you're a human being right now, during COVID there's some aspects that has impacted you, whether it's kids at home, your business employees, how the governments are rolling out benefits, all of that kind of stuff.

So find your hook, find your angle. How can you understand what the media really wants and what they don't want? How can someone navigate that?

Well, I think a lot of times what ends up happening is people want a quick path to, to PR and you know, really it takes a little bit of listening, watching, you know, following on social media. Social media is a really good sort of shortcut.

Tell me more about social media then. Tell me about that shortcut.

So Twitter really is the platform that I love the most when it comes to media, npr. When I was an a working journalist, Twitter was the space that I used the most.

Tell me how. Well, for a minute, Christy, tell me how you use Twitter as a journalist.

So Twitter is sort of the, the water cooler, right? Like, it's. It's the place people go to talk about stories, to share pictures, to, you know, to like, do those short bursts of information. So you can really go a see what's trending in the world, in your region, in your city, and you see what people are talking about. But you can also reach out to people and say, hey, you know what? I'm working on this story. I saw that you shared a picture. I saw that you, you know, we're talking about this. I see that you do this thing and it, it allows you to search for people easily, connect with people really easily. Email still the place where you spend a lot of time, you know, pitching. But Twitter is just, it shortens the Runway, really, right, because you can just get in and get out really quickly. It's not bogging down your email. And it really is where people go to, to rant, to share, to connect.

Tell me about a tweet. I mean, I see just scrolling how you could find something that there's a trending story. I would assume that you could click on a hashtag if you're doing a story on that area. But is there something in particular about a tweet that might grab your attention?

So I think back when I was working in all news radio and there were a couple of stories. One, it wasn't connected to any major event except that there was a. There was for some reason this bog down at Toronto International Airport in customs. And we started to notice pictures popping up. And then thousands of people were posting pictures of this immense bottleneck. They'd had massive numbers of international flights landing at Pearson, and for whatever reason, there was something going on with customs. They didn't have enough people. And so people were waiting, like, I mean, again, post Covid this probably would never happen. But like thousands and thousands of people at an international airport could not get through customs. And so in that way it was like, okay, we see these photos. Oh, and then you start to see. But you were able to, you know, in the age of cell phones, you send people DM okay, can you, would you do an interview with me? And okay, can I call you? Can I call you? And so we literally went from no story to, oh, see, would you guys see what's happening here on Twitter to, to pick out, to then do interviews with people. And so I think pre Twitter, that wouldn't have been something that we would even have known about because understanding how, you know, sort of organizations work, the airport would have given, you know, somebody could have called us, but we would have called the air and we would have gotten their spokesperson and.

Right.

You know, again, in crisis communication, it would have been a statement and we wouldn't have been there because you can't just go into the airport and report. You need permission.

And especially if there's a backup, even then it probably would have been very difficult. I remember this story. It's coming into my brain right now. I feel like I remember the Toronto backup airport story.

Yeah. And it got a lot of attention because people, after you've been on an airplane, you just want to go home.

And they will get angry. They're angry. You'll hear about it. Yeah, yeah, go ahead, go ahead.

And I, I think there was another story too with power outage in Toronto. And again, that was something that very early, you know, I, I tend to be an early adopter to social media. I'm, you know, there are some platforms I don't, you know, dabble in, like Tick Tock and Snapchat. But, you know, early on when there was this blackout in Toronto and the hashtag was trending and I was like, in the newsroom, are you guys seeing this? This is like ready made content. All we have to do is say, hey, can you get on the phone with me? And I, I think that that is why journalists spend so much time there is because you quickly identify stories, you can quickly connect to sources rather than spending a lot of time. It can be really difficult to find a source for a story. And these are people who are right in the thick of it, who, again, are, you know, emotional, who are invested, who understand the story. And so that can be a really great way to build content. But it can also help you. You know, I see now where journalists use those hashtags, you know, hashtag PR request, hashtag journal request, where they're working on a story and they just throw out a call out on, you know, Twitter saying, hey, I'm looking for, you know, this source. I'm working on a story about, you know, I don't know, women impacted by Covid who have, you Know, school age children, like, very specific. And they'll throw those two hashtags on and you know, if you're following those hashtags, it's a quick response. And so what may have taken them, you know, a few hours, took them a few minutes.

Oh, so that is interesting. So someone who is even angling for, for placement somewhere could just type that hashtag in every day and look for it. Oh, Christy, valuable, valuable. What are other tips that you could provide someone to become a media magnet? Like how are people drawn to people other than the story and the human aspect of the. Is there anything else, that magnetism that connects you to a reporter?

You know, I think a being accessible and being open to sort of jumping on and you know, doing interviews. And I think that that comes down to being well prepped. If you were, you know, this, you know, again, solo entrepreneur all the way up to big corporations, if your spokespeople are really well prepped, then they can easily just hop on and grab opportunities when they present themselves. I think sometimes when, you know, interviews, reporters are looking for, you know, sources, especially in those all news stations or the daily news. It's not that they're going to wait until tomorrow when you can do the interview. That opportunity may have passed by. Right, right. It's, it's being quick, being accessible. But also I, I think too like being social media is still really important and I think again, journalists are looking to social media to find sources.

Right.

You know, I date myself because I worked in a newsroom pre Internet or sort of pre social media, I would say, where we still had those, those books, the sources.

Right.

And so you'd flip through the book. Yeah. So, you know, now I think they're going to social media. So having a really strong online presence that really highlights your expertise rather than, you know, the hard sell. I think a lot of times people use social media to sell really hard. And you know, when you can really highlight your expertise and be of service, that's really going to stand out to a journalist.

Is there any code or shortcut that tells a journalist or producer that this leader, this CEO, this PR person is a good spokesperson that you know right away like, oh, this is going to be, this is going to be a solid source for us.

You know, I think whenever I'm looking around in my days of being in a newsroom is really getting a sense from, you know, video like, can I, can I get a quick hit of how you speak? And it's not those vanity metrics, it's, you know, can you connect? Do I feel a connection when I watching you speak? Do you talk less about, hey, look at all the awesome things I'm doing, but more about the people that they serve? How do they help those people? And I think even, like, if you're selling a service, but even if you're selling, you know, pop can't pop. Like, I don't know. So am I, am I, am I Canadian? Like, I'm making myself Canadianized.

I'm originally from Minnesota, so I grew up on pop. And as soon as I moved to Boston and they had no idea what I was talking about, I had to change the soda right away. But I haven't heard pop in so long.

Papa soda.

Okay, so here's something that's coming in my mind right now. So if, if. And I love what you're saying about changing that Persona. It's not about us and what in how great you are, but it's how you serve, how you help, how you solve problems for someone else. I'm just asking you this.

Do you think.

Now if an organization or a company had their spokespeople, their leadership, you know, the people who they would put in front of the camera, their primary spokesperson, if they provided some type of clip, not necessarily in the newsroom, if you will, but is there some, again, like that shortcut where you could see, like, if they put a clip on their homepage or if they're frequently showing video clips. I would assume that that would alert a reporter that, oh, this could be a good source. Yeah.

Because I think it really gives us a sense of who you are. We, you know, I, I just think of all of those social media platforms. Right. Why is TikTok. Because it's video, it's Instagram reels, those snippets of, like, how we're connecting with people. And I think it can be really hard. And I think again, as you, the bigger the company, the, the less connected you get to those daily parts of your business. You know, I think CEO is far up. They. They get so far removed. And if that's your spokesperson and I don't have any frame of reference, especially if maybe they're not popping in the news as often, it can be really hard to say, okay, Especially if, if it's going to be live television. Right. Because you don't have any frame of reference. And, you know, again, everyone has sort of biases on what you anticipate somebody would be like. And so, you know, thinking of a CEO of a big, like, okay, well, are they going to Be, you know, that regular Joe kind of person. Are they going to be able to connect to the audience or are they going to be so high level that it's not going to be what we need? So I think that could really help journalists understand. It's one of the reasons why when you do, as a journalist, you do health stories and you know, the PR agency, you'll see, oh, I have a doctor. It's like, oh, you have a patient instead. Because what you, what I always anticipate from a doctor is, you know, medical jargon, you know, far removed from what I, what I want is the, the well, what does this mean for people? And so you go to the people rather than the doctor, and sometimes that means you miss part of the story, but you figure that that person, the patient's going to give you more of a basic understanding of what this meant to you, whereas the doctor's going to be so high up that it, it'll be hard for an audience to connect.

Christie, this is a good tip because in a crisis, in, in my work, when I do crisis workshops or any type of training or my work with clients, when there's a crisis, I like to go as far up the chain as I can because that's the bottom line. Right. The buck stops right there. But you're bringing in that interesting element just about, you know, media placement and, and what works, what works in just your day to day news. Get the person closest to the issue who can give, provide a story and insight as, as, as opposed to someone so far removed from it. That's a good point.

Well, and I think too, you know, journalists, especially news people, they're a skeptical bunch as a whole. Like they just don't.

Yeah.

So, and that's very common for crisis communication for the person at the top to, to talk. But when it's not a crisis situation, you often don't get access to that person. And so, you know, that can create a bit of, I don't know if distrust is the right word, but it's a, there's a bit of a break, right, where you're like, oh, okay, well, when I was doing, you know, story A, I couldn't get access, but now they're crisis and they're trying to manage and now that person is available. So, you know, part of it is just sort of managing and, and you know, you understand that a CEO can't be, you know, jumping on interviews at the drop of a hat because they're, they're the CEO. That's not their job. They have a job, but it's sort of a balance. So that at least when there is a crisis, because let's face it, there's, I mean, if you manage to have a business, you know, for 50 years and never have a crisis, I think you have to count yourself pretty lucky because sometimes you just can't predict.

So unpredictable. Especially in this age that we're in right now. Because you can be adjacent to a crisis. A crisis can happen in your industry. It's still, you know, your crisis even if it's not your business directly.

Yeah.

So if you're in the. So let's. Now you're straddling the line. So you have all this in depth experience as a journalist and now you're helping clients get seen on the air and you're helping them with media relations and PR and pitching. What do you tell clients now if they are going, let's take, let's just talk about video or even audio interviews. How do they. I love this. On your website you wrote how not to suck on the air. How do you not suck on the air?

You know, it's interesting because people often think that doing interviews is easy and it's not always easy. We all have mannerisms. I'm fully aware of the things that I do. I say a lot. I kind of look off when I'm thinking. So how do you manage that when you're doing an interview? And it can really highlight those things when you're on tv, those things really, you know, if you're doing them a lot in the span of three minutes. Because three minutes seems like a long time. But you know, it's, it's not. And if you're doing it a lot, it can be really painful and the producer is going to say, that person kind of really sucked. I'm not gonna have them back. And the thing, the thing is, is that other media, especially in the market you're in, you know, I'm, we're in the Toronto area. It's, it's, it's a pretty big market and you know, media watch other media. So if you suck on one network, they're not gonna have you on theirs the other one either. Right. So I think it's, it's being mindful of the mannerisms. You know, oftentimes when we're doing interviews, we feel like we have to fill the space and it's okay to just like close your mouth for a second, like recompose and then keep going. And you know, I often say just like close, close your lips and then pick up again, especially if you're feeling the urge to use those mannerisms. And so sometimes it's just being aware. And once we're aware, we tend to manage them a little bit better. So, you know, knowing if, you know, the little red dot of a camera makes you nervous, then don't start with tv. If you've never been in an interview before, that might not be the place to start on live television, but just, you know, practicing, practicing. If you're, you know, you have somebody who's doing PR for you, practice with them. If you don't find somebody, have your kids or your, you know, partner or friend ask you questions that you don't know what the questions are, and you.

Have to respond, you know, Christy, I. I just found a tip. It was a reminder for me because I. I recognize that a lot of people might fall in the same trap, people who are accustomed to speaking publicly. So maybe they will. They'll speak at sales meetings, or they're a CEO or they're a public relations spokesperson, and they can get up and speak with ease. But speaking on camera for television and radio, the fear is heightened because there's more repercussions there. And. And I was reminded of this. I did a TV hit a couple weeks ago, and it was one of those immediate. You got to get on, you have to speak. And as soon as it was started it, we started recording. Like, I never get nervous speaking, ever. But then it's. The implications is, it's that. That's the heightened fear that comes up. So it was a good reminder of that. What do you tell your clients in terms of how to prepare for remarks? Are you someone who tells them to go in with talking points or to have three ideas in mind? What do you instruct your clients?

I think it's really important to have talking points or those sort of key messages that you want to kind of hit. I think sometimes the downfall is scripted. A lot of times people want to script something so that they can refer to it. And scripting can be the thing that is actually a major downfall, because you then sound a little bit like a robot that you're reading, and you never want to do that. And I think sometimes, you know, if it's your business, you know what the answers are, right? And, you know, so you have to really just cast off. A lot of times it comes from that space of fear, right? Fear and doubt. And, you know, you know your business, and you know what you're going into. And I guess that's part of the other thing too is, is that, you know, do the research. Hopefully if you're working with somebody from a PR space that, you know, they've done a bit of research and they've given you the information, it is important to know if you're going into an interview that's a bit of gotcha journalism, what you're getting into. No. Is there somebody else going to be on this panel? Is this, you know, a competitor? Is this somebody that I've, you know, kind of had run ins with in the past? Is this somebody who has a strong objection to, you know, the content that you're sharing? So knowing what you're walking into, knowing. Is this a five minute interview? Is this a 30 minute interview? You know, I've had a, had a client who did a radio interview. It was four minutes and that was the, the moment the phone picked up to the end, to the goodbye. So, you know, she was like, oh, you know, I, I, I, I think I froze because it was short and you know, we were like, okay. But that's the format. So we've got to know that when we're going into that format that the answers have to be a little bit shorter. But in a 30 minute interview you can take your time and have a conversation. So I think it's knowledge, having some understanding. I always like to, when I've set up an interview, I always like to send a picture of the person that they're talking with, even if it's over the phone. Because again, we tend to be a little bit more comfortable, especially over the phone, if, you know, you can visualize the person that you're speaking with.

Calms them down.

Yeah. And just because they're less, they're more of a person and less of this, you know, oh, this unknown journalist on the other end of the phone. And again, it just is one of those things that we feel more conversational when you're having a conversation with a person. And so that helps to make a bit of a connection.

How many talking points, how many? Too much, how many? Too little? Or does it depend on the person?

I suppose it depends, but three is usually good. I mean, I think if you're planning to get more than two or three talking points in a, especially a shorter interview, you're trying to jam too much in.

Okay, for sure. Good advice, good advice, good advice. Is there anything that a person, person can do on the other end of an interview that speaks to credibility, authority, expert status, other than the knowledge of what they know? But is there anything else that they can do to kind of increase that credibility factor.

You know, I always think when, you know, things like awards and recognition organizations. Do you work, volunteer on a board? Do you, are you involved in your community? Those things. Often when I go in my journalism days and I've looked at a, you know, a media kit or a, you know, media page, and you go, oh, that person's involved in, you know, this organization. They're aboard on this, you know, charity. You know, they're aboard on, you know, I don't know, school of journalism or a school of management. Those things to me always go, oh, okay, that's up the level. Because it isn't them saying, hey, I do awesome things. It's the community and other organizations saying, hey, this person's expertise is really valuable in a space outside of the business of things.

Does that make you look at them in a different lens than if you're working as a reporter? Do you might treat them a little differently?

I, I always did as a producer. Um, just because it's the credibility factor. Um, you know, and I working at, I worked at CBC for a while and you know, at a, at a network like cbc, those things are important because it really does go to the, the credibility, the, the authority. It sort of takes that expert level up a notch and sometimes depends on the, the topic. It doesn't have to always be that way. But, you know, when I think about politics, economics, you know, those sort of business management, those things are important because it really allows you to see that their expertise goes beyond the space of their business. So that's definitely, you know, that extra thing. And especially if you're looking and you have a couple of choices, the person that's going to sort of win out for you is the person who has those extra things.

Okay, and, and, and one distinction I want to ask, since you have experience in this for the listener, how do you manage a producer compared to reporter? Most people just think of reporters, but I know the producers do a lot of the legwork and they're sometimes the one doing the interview, getting all that background information. Could you explain the difference in their job roles?

So producers are really, they're oftentimes the gatekeeper. So if you're the producer, you're in charge of your show. So you're in charge of stories, you approve stories, you line up stories, while reporters will. Can come to you with stories. It is almost always in my experience in the newsrooms that I've worked in, it is always the producers who give the okay who say, yeah, you know, What? I don't love that story, so let's just shelve that for now. And they're. They're the ones who will give final approval. They're the ones who say, hey, you know what? I don't love that person you interviewed. You know, I think that you need to get a little bit more. We need to dig a little bit deeper. So they are often the people who actually make the decisions about what goes into a show. And of course, there. There are meetings. That's the other thing I don't think a lot of people understand is there are production meetings right there. They're producer meetings that start every day before every show that, you know, you kind of go to the table and assignment editors and, you know, reporters. Reporters might not necessarily be in, but they have, you know, they've got somebody in that meeting championing their. Their story idea. And so it's all talked about amongst producers, and they'll say, yeah, no, not doing that story today. And it might not be that the story idea was bad. It may be that there isn't enough meat on it yet. Okay, so that's where those interviews, that's where those experts, those sources matter in pushing a story forward. But producers are usually in a. In a broadcast newsroom. They're. They're the gatekeepers. They're the ones that make the decisions. And oftentimes, yeah, they're. They're doing interviews, they're setting things up, they're, you know, passing things on, saying, hey, I want you to do this story. This is the person I want you to talk with. So it is important to. To know that. Not that reporters aren't good people to. To pitch to, you know, it still funnels back.

Okay, Christy, so you have shared, oh, my gosh, Such valuable information for anyone trying to understand communicators, trying to understand how to navigate the press nowadays. I mean, so much has changed, but there's fundamentals there that. That clearly don't change. And you've extended that into your work now on the other end, where you help people pitch to the media like a pro. So what are you doing right now? How do you help people find media placement today?

So, you know, part of it is understanding the news cycle. And, you know, we do a lot of talking. So it's, you know, I still, you know, put my producer hat on. It's something that I can't let go fully. I think that it's a plus now that I'm on the PR side. But, you know, we do a lot of talking we get on the, you know, whether it's the phone or the zoom call and I kind of play that producer role, I ask the questions and we talk through things and you know, I kind of wait for little nuggets to, to come out and say, okay, that's great, because, you know, this is kind of what I'm seeing in the news cycle. I watch a lot of news and so we can say, you know, these are things that you're doing in your business and this is how you're helping people. So, you know, how does this relate to where we are in the space right now? And it doesn't always have to relate to Covid, but I think right now it's always something that you're keeping in the back of your mind. It still dominates, right? So, you know, how can, how can you pull out that expertise? So we do a lot of talking and then, you know, I kind of fine tune, we, we list the things and a lot of times it's talking points, where's your expertise? And I think the sweet spot sometimes is less about, you know, the day to day business. Unless you're seeing things, trends, predictions, those are really great things to look at. Especially now because, you know, we think back if you were five years ago, we're saying, what would I be doing in five years? This wouldn't have been one of the things where we are right now. But you know, what has changed in your business? What has gotten better, what has gotten worse? Those are all really good things to talk about. But also thinking in terms of, I always like to say, what's the goal? What are you trying to achieve? And you know, really fine tune because media doesn't just happen in this bubble, right? You're trying to achieve something whether it's, you know, telling people about a project, telling people about a campaign or a book, or, you know, it's the thought leadership piece you're trying to educate, you're, you're building awareness about something. So thinking, what do you, what, what are you trying to achieve? What's the goal? Okay, what's going to help us achieve that and how are we going to use that information and sort of find the media that's going to help us achieve that and still being, you know, sort of what's the best way to be of service? Because a lot of times, you know, the thought leadership piece isn't necessarily, if you're an online, you know, business isn't maybe always going to drive immediate business to the site, but it's going to help you Level up in terms of how you offer information and sort of change people's minds about what they think of you because maybe they didn't know about you before. So there's a lot of talking. We pull out story ideas and themes and then I spend a lot of time sort of crafting those. And it isn't about mass emails, it's, you know, about sort of fine tuning. And there is a place sometimes for that sort of hitting many people, many journalists with the same news. And I think, you know, again, it, it's just fine tuning. What are you trying to achieve? What's the goal? What information is going to help you achieve that goal? Being, you know, really intentional about what your, you know, sending to a journalist. Oftentimes that's kind of where I work. I'm not often, you know, writing the news release and then, you know, sending it out to a hundred people, but being intentional about who we're trying to, to connect with and where that is going to be best fitted to be of service to a journalist in the audience and still be of service to you and achieve that goal. So.

Oh, very helpful, very helpful. Way to summarize it. So here's my last question. And you have to wear both hats now. You have to wear the journalist side and the publicist side. What is your biggest pet peeve that PR types do? So either working what you experience now or even working in the news, what was your biggest pet peeve?

So probably when I was working in the newsroom would be sending a release and not being available or sending a pitch. So I never worked 9 to 5 in the two decades I worked in a newsroom. So if you were sending me something on a Friday night at 8 o', clock, I'm on the air and in the newsroom and I want to talk to you and you're not available because it's 8 o' clock on a Friday and it's like, so why were you sending it to me? Because, you know, they're, you know, off the clock, you know, and that is a bit of a pet peeve. On the flip side, now when I'm working with clients, it's still in that, that vein of, you know, a reporter's making a request and we have, there has to be a sense of urgency to capitalize on an opportunity, right? And it's like, well, I'm not available, you know, until tomorrow. Okay, well, tomorrow is probably too late. So how badly do you want this opportunity? And sometimes, yeah, it's, you know, you're going to look at it and weigh the balance of it and say, not that much. But you have to keep in mind that that reporter might not come back to us again because we weren't available to them. They'll find somebody else. So again, that, that's, you know, that's a bit of my pet peeve of knowing that you can't always predict. It's not always going to happen in the your work hours, it's going to happen in theirs.

Right? Oh, that's a good one. That's a good thing to remember because I know how important that is too. When, when they need it, they need it now. Chrissy, thank you so much. Where, where is the best place you can be found? In a lot of areas. Where's the best place someone could find you?

So my website always Christy A. Laverty.com and I spend a lot of time on Twitter and Instagram, so those two platforms. Christy A. Laverty. I'm Christy Laverty. Pretty much everywhere, so.

Oh, it rolls right off the tongue, too. Christy Laverty. Oh, well, Christy, thank you so much for, for taking the time to speak with me. There's so many hidden little gems there that people don't think about when it comes to media placement. You know, sometimes I just think of media response and picking up a phone when a reporter needs the stories, but you know how effective it can be if you put yourself out there and, and pitch it yourself. So thank you so much, Christy.

This was great. You know, I could talk media and PR forever, so I'm a long talker, so. Me too. This is my jam.

That's why I have a podcast so I can keep talking about it. Thanks, Chris.

Thanks.

My thanks to my guest Christy Laverty for sharing her playbook, for pitching the press to success. For more information on Christy, you can find her@christylaverty.com you can also find her on Twitter at Christy Alaverty.

That's all for this week on the podcast.

Remember, you can find me on Twitter @Molly McPherson or on Facebook @Molly McPherson PR. I'll see you back here same time next week. Bye for now.