Tip 1: Make a list of goals you want to achieve before starting the process. You don’t want to limit your idea and thought process, but you do want to define the goals to be achieved. When it comes to a PR brainstorm, your goal is to generate a list of the most important story ideas, including new business concepts, unique value you offer, important information you can provide, and anecdotal stories. Also spend some time focusing on how and why you can be presented as an expert regarding your company, your business, and your field in general.
Tip 2: This is a group process. Don’t brainstorm on your own, schedule a brainstorming session with your PR consultant, or if you’re doing it internally, meet with members of your staff who understand your business. If you are a one man or one woman show, gather some friends or associates who understand your business. You want people with whom you can exchange ideas. You want feedback, more energy you want. make it fun; Let it be a game, but one with a purpose.
Tip 3: Allow everyone involved to speak freely. Set an agenda but let the information flow. Start with a list of the obvious stories, then dig into more unique stories; Also review different ways to present stories. You don’t want to spend most of your time on concepts or stories that are too left (or right) of center, but let it get a little crazy. Think outside the box. Be creative. Remember that you don’t have to use all of these stories or ideas, but the deeper you dig, the better the chances of finding a great story, so let the ideas fly. Allow yourself to brainstorm ideas for stories that you will probably never use. You never know, that could lead you to some PR golden nuggets.
Tip 4: Once you’ve created a list of possible ideas, start thinking like the media. Let’s say you’re an editor or producer; which of the stories you came up with would be the most attractive. How and why will those ideas work? Now dig even deeper, which ideas will specifically work as TV presentations? Remember that television is a visual medium; you want to feature stories that offer more than just a talking head. When presenting television, think in terms of the strongest visual stories you can present.
Tip 5: Finally, start segmenting the media. Different media have different needs. You should keep that in mind when pitching and presenting your story ideas. This is where most stories find their destination. Not only do you have to come up with great story ideas, you have to come up with stories that a particular journalist writing for a very specific target market understands. For example, you might come up with a great pitch idea that you could pitch to a women’s magazine, a men’s magazine, and general interest magazines, but how you pitch your story to each particular outlet will decide whether the media will cover it. or not. . Spend some time brainstorming and practicing building those media bridges. It will be time well spent.
Copyright © Antonio Mora 2011