Keep Calm and Carry On

Adam Sterling  //  September 29, 2011

I’m going to let you in on a secret.

As much as the Symmetry website was a labour of love, it was also the product of incredibly frantic last-minute work. Why? Mostly because I thought the website was due to launch in mid-October. When Kelly Lynch sent me a text message on September 22, reminding me that the website was actually set to debut on September 30, I thought she was joking.

When I realized she wasn’t joking and that a September 30 launch made far more sense, I think I might have peed myself a little bit. Just a little.

And so, as I quickly grabbed my laptop, a few HTML reference books and a fresh pair of underwear, I sent Kelly a reply: “Great! Sounds good! I can’t wait!”

Keeping calm under fire is one of the most important things  young communications professionals can master, especially if you happen to be a masochist like me and love media relations.

Over the summer, I completed my first co-op work term with Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI). It was a fantastic experience and the NSBI Marketing and Communications team is filled with smart and wonderful people. The experience was made all the more fantastic when approximately half of those smart, wonderful people left NSBI for various reasons, saddling me with different parts of their job descriptions.

Being named the agency’s primary media contact was the most exciting and terrifying of these new responsibilities. Honestly, there’s no way to describe how it feels to be a co-op student and to see your name tacked on to the end of a government-issued news release.

Actually, that does a pretty good job. That’s exactly how it feels.

But let’s face the hard truth: that name and phone number at the end of the news release are not there just to inflate your ego. They’re there so reporters can call you and pop a big hole in  said ego once it gets too big.

On a good day, I’d receive anywhere between two and six calls from different reporters. On a bad day, I’d receive none. Yes… as my manager at NSBI was fond of saying, I really am that twisted.

What every media relations professional needs to remember, though, is that freaking out about media calls will get you nowhere.

If you have The Chronicle Herald calling you about a transaction, while AllNovaScotia wants to know a client’s employment numbers and the CBC just seems to be trying to poke you in the eye for no apparent reason, crying under your desk will not help you. Well, you may  be able to convince a co-worker to bring you chocolate or some other kind of comfort, but that’s not really going to solve the real problem.

In these kinds of situations, what you really need is the ability to stay cool and collected. Running in a panic to your manager will not help your reputation. In fact, you will probably come off as amateurish. Unless the building is on fire, it’s always a good rule of thumb to stay calm when talking to anyone who has the ability to give your paycheque to someone else.

When I replied to Kelly’s text message, I didn’t freak out at her. I put on my best puh-puh-puh-poker face and I didn’t make her feel uncomfortable or worried.

But here’s the thing: you can’t lie. If something is spiraling completely out of your control, own it. Yes, you still need to stay calm. But be upfront about your inability to meet certain expectations. If I had felt that I wouldn’t be able to complete the Symmetry website for September 30, I would have told Kelly right away.

Similarly, if a reporter is asking you for information and you can’t get in contact with the people who would have that information, let the reporter know. You don’t have to say, “Oh, I’m sorry, but the person I need to talk has been in the washroom for a really long time now and I don’t have anything for you.”

What you can say is “I’m sorry, but there’s nobody available with that information at the moment. I’m working as hard as I can to get this for you, but it will take some time.” Cool. Collected. Honest. A good reporter will respect that.

It might seem like the secret to success is simply putting your best foot forward. And, of course, that helps a lot. If it didn’t, none of us would have jobs upon graduation. There is, of course, one secret to staying calm in almost any situation: knowing what in the hell you’re doing.*

Near the end of my work term, NSBI’s vice president Lisa Bugden recalled a phone conversation she had with me. At the time, I had been working on a long, detailed media request and there was almost no one in the office. She called to check in on me and I calmly assured her that everything was under control. She later told me, “I thought to myself, ‘Either this guy is incredibly calm under fire or he doesn’t know what he’s doing and we’re in trouble.’”

Ultimately, if you can keep yourself from having an aneurysm every time you get a media call or every time a deadline gets pushed up, you’re doing yourself a favour and you’re making life easier for your employer. And really, that’s all an employer wants.

*Or you could get just drunk enough that you seem really relaxed in all situations. Your choice.