Why the PR Game Shouldn't be Played by Science

Wired posted this great article on Monday "Why Science Needs to Step Up Its PR Game" and while I find the premise quite intriguing, I have to disagree strongly. As a PR professional myself, it's quite easy to get frustrated with the lack of success in persuading public opinion that science often has.

The point, however, is that the purpose of science is not for persuading. The facts should be unbiased and speak on their own. It is the job of activists and PR-type professionals to persuade, it is the job of scientists to provide the material with which persuading will occur. If scientists were to start employing PR professionals to "sell" their ideas, the objectivity of the scientists would be lost and their information would be biased. If information can be argued to be biased, it can be dismissed and, despite the potential validity of this information, it will not be able to be used as for further research purposes and therefore will be ignored and valuable resources will be wasted.

I would argue that instead of using PR to promote science, we should be using PR to change the perception of scientific research and to help the public to better understand just what it is that science really is.

Lessons from Monty Roberts: Teaching vs. Learning

I finally got around to reading Monty Roberts' book "The Man who Listens to Horses" and I must say that I'm very impressed. The book is part biography and part tantalizing hints about horse behaviour, all wrapped up in a neat package.

If I try quoting each part that has stuck with me, I'd probably need to write a book of my own, so I'm just going to quote one:

"Knowledge, she told us, ...needs to be pulled into the brain by the student, not pushed into it by the teacher. Knowledge is not to be forced on anyone. The brain has to be receptive, malleable, and most important, hungry for that knowledge... To use the word 'teach' implies an injection of knowledge... there is no such thing as teaching, only learning." (The Man Who Listens to Horses, p87-88).

Now the great thing about this statement is that it can be applied to both people and horses. In fact, Roberts uses it as part of his teaching philosophy with horses. I'm in the same mindset as him; it's impossible to teach either a horse or a person something if they don't want to listen or learn. The trick is to get them interested and wanting to learn. Usually this will involve making learning fun, rewarding (either in the physical sense, with praise or treats, or mental sense), or easy. Or it could be a combination of all of the above.

What I'm really getting at is if you find yourself as the teacher getting frustrated with your students, be they two or four-legged, take a step back and ask yourself "Am I helping to facilitate learning or am I forcing knowledge right now?"

Call it a hunch, but some of my sessions with my students will probably go a lot easier from now on.

The importance of confidence

I was working with a particularly difficult horse today and the more frustrated I got, the less she responded to what I was asking her to do. I had to let her be for a few minutes while I got myself calmed down. Finally, I got back in the ring with her and projected a calm, confident aura to her and she responded positively to me and did what I asked her to.

This whole experience has reminded me of the importance of confidence. Confidence is one of those things that you take don't really notice when you have it and desperately want it when you don't. This is particularly true when dealing with horses. Horses can sense and respond to the energy that you're projecting and it's particularly helpful when you're projecting confidence.

It makes me wonder how much more effective I'll be in working with horses when I've done more leadership training. Maybe boosting my confidence in myself is what I need to be more confident around horses. I'll let you know.

Maxwell House brews up some good feelings with a bitter aftertaste

I was watching TV last night when one of the Maxwell House commercials came on and I actually paid attention for once. It's a bit old (2008) and is referencing their "Brew Some Good" campaign (orchestrated by OgilvyOne Toronto) where Maxwell House donated $226,000 to nominated charities instead of spending it on a commercial.

The reason that I paid attention was because Maxwell House donated to C.A.R.D. (a.k.a. the Community Association for Riding for the Disabled), which just so happens to be a pet cause of mine. The ad had me completely convinced that I should support Maxwell House at least by buying their instant coffee when I'm going camping. (I'm very particular about buying whole beans instead of ground coffee, so switching over completely isn't feasible.) However, after a little research, I found out that the donations and their Brew Some Good Week were a one-time deal in celebration of their reformulated 100% Arabica bean coffee.

If Maxwell House really wants to celebrate by rewarding "Canada's top do-gooders", the donations should be on-going or at least offer yearly competitions, and Brew Some Good Week would also be a yearly thing organized by Maxwell House. If the company can afford to throw that kind of money at charities once by reducing costs on their commercials, logically speaking they can do it again. And again.

Nice PR stunt Maxwell House, but I'm not buying.

Rupert Isaacson and The Horse Boy

Last week, I was fortunate to be at a screening of The Horse Boy in London followed by an appearance by Rupert Isaacson for a Q&A session. Isaacson runs a centre in Texas for autistic children and their siblings to socialise and interact with each other in a fun, low-stress setting.

I won't wax on how amazing the entire story of taking his autistic son to Mongolia to visit various shamans was, because of course it's amazing and if you're really interested, the book and film are available from Isaacson's website. What I will talk about is something that Isaacson said during the Q&A session after the movie.

Isaacson posed the question, why shouldn't we teach children where they want to be taught instead of using traditional methods where they have to be in a classroom? Why can't the outdoors be the new classroom? At his New Trails Center, children are free to choose where they want to learn, and as a consequence, the lessons are easier and tend to stick better. The key message that I took home was that autism is just another way of seeing the world, not something that should be seen as devastating and a disappointment. If you can learn to accomodate for a child's particular quirks, you can learn a lot.

Check out the short version of the story in Isaacson's own words:

Updates and apologies

You've probably noticed that this blog has been, well dead. So as stated in the title, I've got both updates and apologies.

My life has been quite chaotic up to the point of disrupting my work life. I've been working as a communications consultant while juggling other responsibilities, so unfortunately this blog was left on the backburner to burn.

But no more! I will be doing my absolute best to post on a minimum of a bi-weekly basis about PR in the news.