Brand Ambassador Barbecue Test

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How to prepare: Identify "watercooler buzz" about your company and industry. Target the high-level stuff. Don't be concerned with exclusive trade-press articles or what the CFO said in the latest earnings call. Instead, just run a quick Google News search and see what the top five news results are, or check out your hometown's local newspaper to see if anything has been written in the last few weeks.

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How to prepare: Ask the most basic questions you can think of on the topics you identified. Family and friends are curious, but they're not out conducting an investigation. As obvious as this may sound, communications professionals spend their days crafting perfect message points and preparing for hard-hitting interviews, so it's not always easy to turn it "off" when Cousin Joey asks about a merger rumor he heard from a guy who sat next to him at the ball game. Remember that although it may sound like a big question, he's just trying to be cool while basically asking, "Hey, so what's new at work?"... You'll need simple answers, so think of simple questions.

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How to prepare: Realize any business-related questions at a barbecue are really human-interest questions in disguise, and thus need humanized answers. Again, were not preparing to face a political pundit trying to instigate juicy headlines%u2026 this is Auntie Jane we're talking about. Sure, everyone loves a little gossip, the truth is that she just wants to know her little baby is doing well and has a nice place to work.
Here are some examples:

• "How's your company holding up in this economy?" = Do you, someone I care about, still have a secure job?


• "I heard on the news about that guy who did that thing%u2026 what are they going to do to him??" = Please reassure me that you, someone I care about, isn't in a similar situation or could face similar consequences.%u2028


• "How fast/big is that company growing?? Are you going to relocate to their new international headquarters?" = Tell me that you'll always remember your roots and know that your family here loves you%u2026 don't forget about us!%u2028

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How to prepare: Ok, so this is really just a standard PR tactic with a bit of a twist. In communication planning, it can often work to your advantage to make some exclusive pitches and line up a feature story in a reputable publication; the pub loves being first to report the story, and you benefit from others getting their info from a reputable source.

You can create this same impression with friends and family even with previously announced and/or readily available info about your company. Even if something has already made top story on the national evening news, there will still be an air of allure if you lead off with a line like "Yeah, a friend of mine works there and actually told me..." Trust me, this works. Here's an example: "Did you hear about that new lens called The Employee Messenger?... Yeah, a friend of mine works at Squidoo and told me that it's already reached #1,321 in the business and work section!" Although that info is full transparent and easily found, few (if any) knew about it before I shared this "exclusive" piece of news.

Which leads us to the last question on our Brand Ambassador Barbecue Test...

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How to prepare: Ultimately, passing the test means that we're ready to create brand ambassadors that can go off and tell their friends about their cool cousin/brother/nephew/spouse, etc., while singing praises of our company at the same time. If you've created talk-points answers to things my dad might ask that are current, relevant, simple, humanized and exclusive, you're in a position to have them easily shared with others. Your last step is to subtly give them permission to go share it. End your conversation with something like, "Well, the next time you're at yoga class, tell your instructor that they'll soon be hearing more about my company in the news." (wait, did that just make the news seem even more exclusive than it already was... very nice...)

If you answers "Yes" to all the questions above then, Congratulations, you've passed the Test!