Brainstorming 101: The Idea vs. The Execution

An e-mail message recently landed in my Inbox, which read, “We had decided this during our brainstorming.”

That’s the thing about brainstorming. Some ideas work – and some don’t. This particular idea, without going into the details, didn’t work when it came time to execute on it.

Brainstorming ideas should not be confused with decisions. Especially for outbound communications.

Merriam-Webster defines brainstorming as, “a group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members of the group.” There are countless publications – books, card decks, articles, and yes, blogs – which advocate various techniques of generating innovative ideas in a group. Techniques include white boarding, software tools, even asking probing questions to push participants into thinking out of the box.

The concept is that person A has a free-flowing idea; person B then builds on it. The group, together, is thought to come up with more (in quantity) and more (in higher creative quality) ideas than one isolated person.

The most important aspect is that during a brainstorming session, no one edits or evaluates or analyzes. In other words, no idea is a bad idea. If a brainstorming session is successful, there are too many ideas than can possibly be implemented. Some ideas may even be complete opposites of each other.

The next task is to evaluate each idea, based on the ultimate goal, task or problem to be solved. This normally happens in a subsequent session. Make sure it is a smaller group, and to add objectivity, involves participation from at least one person who was not in the initial brainstorming session.

What does this mean for public relations?

Public relations involves teamwork: input from product teams of the feature that is most unique, input from marketing teams about the competitive positioning, input from the organization about its values. All will push their own perspective. Plus, PR relies on creative ideas so that the organization or product being publicized stands out.

It’s really no different from brainstorming in any other situation. You need a team in which individuals feed off each other’s creative energies. You will need to eliminate until you have selected the best ideas. And you will always need to deal with that one person who pushes only their own ideas, regardless of their feasibility.

Let’s say you just had a fantastic brainstorming session on the theme of a conference. Now what?

• Select a theme. You will need to select only one theme, not multiple; otherwise the audience will be confused, or assume you are talking about two events. (One notable exception is Miller Brewing, now MillerCoors; the "Miller Lite" ads, voted as one of the must successful campaigns by Advertising Age magazine, contain the dual messages of “Tastes great, less filling”!)
• Ensure PR materials fit the theme. If the theme involves the “great outdoors,” and you plan a visual using photos, the image of a vintage Model T car – although it may be an excellent photo – is not the best fit for the theme. Using this logic, some ideas are weeded out, or filed away for future use (or campaigns!).
• Reality check – execution. Plan how the ideas can be put into practice. The strongest writer should write the copy, not the weakest. If no one on the team has video skills, hire someone who does. Finally, some ideas may not be feasible; a radio promo may be in your budget, while a Super Bowl commercial spot is not.

Ultimately, everyone has an opinion, but every idea in a brainstorming session cannot be implemented. The trick is to make sure that you are choosing the best solution (message and channels) for the problem (increasing brand awareness, promoting a new product). Don’t execute on the “cool” idea if it does not serve a purpose; in other words, do not implement the solution that is still in search of a problem.

Newsletter Content – Does Anyone Read the Whole Thing?

We skim headlines, scan television channels with the remote, even skip to the next song on our music players.

So what makes us think that the audience reads every word of our newsletters? They won’t. You have to make the content compelling.

The best stories are personal stories. Don’t just regurgitate the information that is already available, for example on the Toastmasters International site; put your own spin on it. When I won the “Golden Quill Award” for the best club newsletter in Toastmasters District 4 (in Fall 2008 and again in Spring 2009), the award presenter commented that a primary reason for the award was that the newsletter was personalized for the club – it was written about the members, by the members.

Some story ideas to consider:

• Testimonials. Encourage members to share their experiences. One woman who was asked to “say a few words” at her engagement party credited her Table Topics impromptu speaking practice for her lack of nerves!
• Member accomplishments. Has a member gained an educational award? Were they honored at work or in their community? Have they recently used their speaking skills gained in Toastmasters to give a presentation or be interviewed for the local news?
• Club events. Are there upcoming contests or joint meetings with other clubs? Is there a meeting with a particular theme coming up, such as Halloween? Will a company executive be a guest speaker? And after the events, don’t forget to provide a recap!
• Educational tips and tricks. Some nuggets of information, for example tricks to overcome nervousness before speaking, help members improve, while also being entertaining.
• Reminders. Are dues – due? Do you want members to bring guests to a specific meeting or open house? Remind them in your newsletter!
• Photos! Everyone likes seeing themselves, their friends, co-workers, and club members in action – receiving an award, or chatting at a Club event.

While brief, there are additional basic elements that should be included in every issue:

• The Name. Every newsletter should have a name, even if it the same as the name of the organization. Brand the newsletter, and make sure that the header stays consistent, so that readers can recognize it – and anticipate it!
• The Organization. Which company or organization does the newsletter represent? Include a short statement about its product or purpose. Is this an international organization (such as Toastmasters International), or is the newsletter related to a single club?
• The Editor. Always include a way to contact the newsletter editor, including a subscribe/unsubscribe feature.
• The Contacts. The editor may or may not be the point of contact for the organization as a whole. If it is a Toastmasters club, is there a primary contact person for a potential guest or member? Who are the officers? Is there a Web site?
• The Location. What is the address of the organization or club? Are directions available? For a club, where does it meet? When? Are there exceptions (such as no meetings on Christmas Day or President’s Day)?

Most importantly, find your own voice – have fun and be creative, this is not a dissertation or technical paper!

To Publish or not to Publish . . . your Newsletter

Half of my e-mail Inbox is filled with newsletters. I have no idea where some of them came from. Do you want to enter the fray – and if so, how do you stand out?

Imagine getting one announcement about a Toastmasters member joining your home club, then another message about another member receiving an educational, then two in a row, reminding you about an Open House and about the club celebration. Now image getting one newsletter, containing all that information in one place. Yes, newsletters are an ideal way to consolidate information.

They are also a lot of work.

The biggest debate regarding PR that rages in most clubs is whether to start a newsletter. And immediately on the heels of a “yes” comes another decision:

How long and how often?

The more pages in a newsletter, the longer it takes to put together. Meaning that you need to collect more articles and other tidbits, find more photos, lay everything out, edit it, run your edits by the authors, all of which takes time. And may result in something that is so long that it takes too much time for members to read.

Here are two extreme examples:

• One club targeted 12 pages for its newsletter, with the ultimate goal of having it printed professionally. The initiative actually stalled before the first issue was ever published, due to re-editing and re-fine-tuning.
• Another club sends out a weekly newsletter, which documents the members who took on roles in the prior week’s meeting, and the topic of each speech, similar to meeting minutes.

The answer lies somewhere in between.

Ask yourself first: what is the purpose of the newsletter? If a part of your mission is to provide regular updates and a calendar, you will need to publish more often. If it is a recap of events, it is not as critical to have the newsletter come out often with up-to-the-minute information, and can take a little longer to publish.

The rule of thumb is to publish short newsletters, often.

For my home club, we publish a 2-page newsletter once a month. It’s long enough to advertise club events, such as joint meetings with other clubs, and short enough to be read. It adds a nice touch to guest packets. And since it is published the first week of each month, the “February” issue will look current for the entire month! Unlike a newsletter that is published the last week of the month – it immediately seems out-dated!

All that work can be worth it. One of the best compliments that I received after publishing a club newsletter was from someone out on maternity leave: even though she was not able to attend club meetings at the moment, the newsletter made her feel connected to the current happenings. Mission accomplished!