IT’S A PR THING

Stewarding our PR Time -- What Is Your ROTI  PR pros are always being pulled in different directions. We are expected, as the nature of the job, to be on-call, to be available to respond to breaking news, to crisis, to bend and flex with urgent deadlines, and to spend much of our day in meetings gathering info and intel – and then finding time to get the work done. That’s all on top of responding to media inquiries and sundry minor fires that happen across a week. And that leaves little time for strategic reflection, planning and the crucial relationship building needed to build business. How in the world can we steward our time, when we often don’t have claim to it?   Meet Lissa Figgins, a time-stewardship coach who counsels CEOs, Christian businesses and solopreneurs. (Notice I did not say “time management”.) Lissa is also the host of REDEEM HER TIME podcast. I heard Lissa as a guest on a different podcast months ago, and I thought about how as PR pros our time is rarely our own – because so many things can change the trajectory of our day. And the concept of time stewardship just seems to fit much better for us. So I reached out and asked Lissa to talk to us about this approach – and I’m delighted she said yes.   Join me today as Lissa walks us through the difference between time management and time stewardship, how to measure our ROTI (she'll explain the acronym), and why it's so important to both our profession, our home life and our personal character.  LEARN MORE, DOWNLOAD THE FREE "IMPACTFUL DAY GUIDE"  Listen to Lissa on her podcast: https://redeemhertime.com/tune-in-redeem-her-time-podcast/ Download the free IMPACTFUL DAY GUIDE: https://redeemhertime.com/day   LISSA'S BACKGROUND https://redeemhertime.com/about-me/   ************************************************************************************************ IT'S A PR THING PODCAST RESOURCES & INFORMATION  DOWNLOAD: FREE GUIDE - 8 STEPS TO MEASURE CUSTOMER EFFORT  BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E  

Measuring Customer Effort In this episode, we take the next step in the conversation we started last week about boiling customer frustration and what it means in reading the organization’s relationship radar. Today we focus on Customer Effort Scoring — a practical way to see where people are running into friction and operational hurdles long before they turn into a reputational issue. CES helps teams see the incremental operational hurdles that show up in aggregate as overall poor customer satisfaction. When organizations use CES well, they can help reduce customer effort and create a smooth and positive customer experience. And that generates return business, referrals and revenue generation. Listen in today and learn how CES is an excellent tool to add to your relationship radar system. DOWNLOAD: FREE GUIDE - 8 STEPS TO MEASURE CUSTOMER EFFORT  BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

CUSTOMERS ARE FED UP  The urgent reputation risk PR must face in 2026 In this first episode of 2026, we take a clear look at a growing issue shaping the year ahead for PR professionals: customer frustration has reached a breaking point, and new data from 2025 shows just how widespread the problem has become. Customers are dealing with broken processes, confusing systems, and automated tools that create more work instead of solving problems. Companies are trying to cover these issues with messaging, storytelling and AI, but the numbers show that approach is backfiring. People want ease and peace, and instead they’re getting noise, delays, and unnecessary friction. We walk through the latest national research on customer frustration, including record levels of anger, wasted time, financial loss, and emotional strain. We also look at how customers are responding — from ghosting brands to walking away after one or two bad experiences. At the same time, many executives believe their customer experience is strong, creating a dangerous perception gap. This episode lays out what PR pros need to understand as they guide their organizations through 2026. Join me as we break down the data, the trends, and the real reputational risks shaping the year ahead. EPISODE STUDY SOURCES:  Forbes Technology Council (2024). Breaking the Cycle of “Doom Loops” in Automated Customer Service. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2024/09/23/human-centered-cx-breaking-the-cycle-of-doom-loops-in-automated-customer-service/ CSG International (2025). 2025 State of the Customer Experience Report. https://www.csgi.com/resources/2025-state-of-customer-experience/ National Customer Rage Survey (2025). CCMC & Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business. https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20251202dc36248/new-national-customer-rage-survey-reveals-civility-in-freefall-across-americas-marketplace Emplifi (April 2025). The Social Pulse: State of Consumer‑Brand Engagement on Social Media in 2025. https://emplifi.io/press/emplifi-reveals-70-of-consumers-will-abandon-a-brand-after-just-two-negative-experiences/ PwC (2025). 2025 Customer Experience Survey: The Loyalty Illusion. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/business-transformation/library/2025-customer-experience-survey.html BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E  

Today we tackle my favorite part of the PR work -- measuring success while a campaign is still in motion. In today’s show, we’ll talk about a framework to help you read the signals stakeholders give off in real time, and how those behaviors reveal whether your strategy is progressing or stalling. You'll learn clear, actionable ways to measure momentum as it happens, so you can refine your approach and achieve stronger results. And here’s the proof: campaigns that consistently apply this framework outperform those campaigns that fail to use it.  Too often, evaluation happens only at the end of a campaign, when the chance to adjust has already passed. Don't be those guys!  You’ll want to share this with your team, your division leaders and use it as a basis for strategy development and management in the future. BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

It’s Time to Reframe PR — Go Beyond the Messenger Role If you’re a PR professional tired of being seen as just the company’s messenger service or the cleanup crew after a crisis, this episode is for you. PR pros in numbers are crying out to be rightly recognized as strategic-management professionals  — yet too often, we’re left out of the early conversations where our knowledge, experience and insights can make the biggest difference. In this episode, we dive into a pivotal true story and share five crucial strategies from the PR Pro’s Reframe Playbook to change the conversation about what you do. These are real, applicable approaches you can use in your job every day to transform the way your organization views and leverages you, your team and your public-relations expertise. Listen today -- and start changing the conversation about what PR truly brings to the table.   BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

Welcome back to IT'S A PR THING, where we help you build relationships that build business. Today’s episode is straight talk for PR pros who want to do the work better. We’ll cover 10 strategies that help retool your thought process, load you up with practical approaches and transform your PR function into a relationship-building machine! This is a mini-course – building from the basics while escalating to the more expert skills that drive you and your team beyond the “stay-on-message” culture. Each strategy hits the highlights with cut-to-the-chase, real-world experience. And we finish off with access to an audio book that takes a deeper dive into each strategy, and we provide recommendations on how to use the chapters to transform your PR function. Whether you’re working as the one-man-band PR pro in your organization, or you’re managing a multi-division PR operation, this episode is for you! BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E  

Welcome back to IT'S A PR THING, where we help you build relationships that build business. In today's episode we challenge the idea that public relations is about telling your story. Instead, the stories that matter most come from the people you serve. Today you’ll learn how to shift focus from pushing messages and content to creating experiences that develop and maintain relationships across your organization's stakeholder spectrum. We’ll walk through how to ask better questions, listen with purpose, and design interactions that reflect what your stakeholders actually need. You’ll also learn how to treat relationships as hard assets—the real proof of value that can stand up to crisis, change, and public scrutiny. Whether you’re leading a small business or a large organization, this episode gives you practical tools to help others tell the story of how your work made a difference. Because the most powerful PR isn’t authored—it’s cultivated through the stakeholder experience. OUR CASE STUDY ORGANIZATION  Plahaus Tourist Home HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

NOTE: THIS RECORDING WAS PREVIOUSLY RELEASED ON OCT. 13, 2025.    THE ISRAEL / GAZA DEAL: A MASTER CLASS IN GLOBAL RELATIONSHIP CAPITAL The peace deal between Israel and Gaza isn’t just a diplomatic headline—it’s a global master-class in relationship capital. As the remaining 20 living hostages are now released and reuniting with their families, we break down the five ways this moment proves that building relationships is not a soft skill. It’s power – power through people and connection. Whether in the PR industry, politics, or any space where outcomes depend on people, the Israel/Gaza deal is a glaring reminder that developing, accessing and leveraging relationship capital can move mountains in geopolitical circles – and in our own communities and organizations. HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

For those of us in public relations, Charlie Kirk’s death should ring our bell. Without freedom of speech, there is no PR profession. That’s a fact. Today’s episode breaks down this point into four key areas where freedom of speech is vital to the existence of our profession – and in how PR is effectively practiced. We’ll also cover insights from international students studying PR in the United States, and tackle the question about recent employee firings and what they signal for anyone representing an employer’s brand or responsibility to the community. Finally, we'll wrap up with a relevant book recommendation that anyone in PR leadership should read. There’s a lot to unpack in this episode, so get ready to take some notes.

So how much does it cost you when your logo flops? And is it the what or the how that brings on the flop? And did our reigning grand champion of logo flops – Cracker Barrel – miss a real opportunity to leverage a branding change? Join me today as we learn what a logo flop can cost you in hard dollars and cents, the lessons from Cracker Barrel’s recent experience, and most importantly, an alternative approach that could have involved customers in the change – and let everyone own the new brand look together. Let’s all dive into some PR learning love, and explore why this great Cracker Barrel controversy is a glaring demonstration of why we must seek first to understand, to know our stakeholders, and to strive to build that all-important relationship capital. HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

Poor customer experience is driving poor mental health -- and that's a PR thing and a brand destroyer.  Join me today as we hear what studies and experts have to say, and how a U.S. culture of poor customer service and experiences is damaging the public's mental health in several ways.  As we wave our banners about being compassionate, empathetic, kind and caring -- we as a U.S. business culture across all industries are missing the opportunities to show these behaviors in our customer interactions every day.  Are you ready for this kind of truth?  Of course you are -- you're a PR pro! Let's dive in for some more PR learning love!    GILES CROUCH: "HOW TECHNOLOGY FAILED CUSTOMER SERVICE"    HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E  

My First PR Teacher -- Thank you, Mamma. Today we celebrate the upcoming Mother's Day weekend with a tribute to Franny J, the OG relationship builder. Franny J came from northern Alabama, knew no one of influence in Indianapolis, but her relationship-building skills earned her a client list that included some of the most prominent names in Central Indiana. And she's my mom. The start-up queen before start ups were a thing! She started two businesses, grew them exponentially, and never advertised. But she has some old-school relationship-building skills that our flash and splash today can't match. In today's episode you'll learn the backstory about Franny J, and the Franny J four rules of relationship building. Enjoy!   HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E    

The news isn't good. CEOs and C-suite members have low confidence in their PR departments. In fact, the confidence rating for Congress at this moment is higher -- almost double -- compared to how C-suite members rate their PR teams. YIKES! Houston, we have a problem! And waking up to it is our first step to resolving it. Today IT'S A PR THING looks at some of the data points on what C-suite leaders think about their PR divisions and what they deem of value from the PR team. And we give you five tips on how to inspire confidence from your CEO and the C-suite team, deliver value back to the organization, and help your company masterfully manage your public relationships.  You'll definitely want to grab a pen and paper to take notes today. PR field, we've got work to do. STUDY MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODE   NEED HELP IMPLEMENTING A STAKEHOLDER AUDIT?  We can advise you, implement the process, or help your comms team facilitate the process across your organization. We'll help you create a relationship-capital dashboard, and map out a plan to improve, maintain and grow your relationship capital. Visit us at MCFARLANDPR.COM HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E      

Just like your financials need to be regularly reviewed and audited, so do your stakeholder relationships. In fact, not having a finger on the pulse of your relationship capital can impact your organization's financial health. This is another next level PR management practice that helps you know the relationship landscape across your organization, know what your relationship radar system is signalling, and help you to advise your C-suite leaders -- so they can decide how to invest time, energy, resources in building relationship capital. And it can be instrumental in helping your C-suite to pivot and swerve to avoid trouble before it takes root. Interestingly, it's the CEO who most often gets this need to have a pulse on the company's stakeholder relationships. And when trouble raises its ugly head, it's the often comms team that is pulled into question as to how the company could have avoided the threat. Follow today's five steps to become the trusted advisor who is managing the organization's relationship capital actively and effectively. And avoid being the "fixer" that's expected to manage the mischief and clean up the mess. NEED HELP IMPLEMENTING A STAKEHOLDER AUDIT?  We can advise you, implement the process, or help your comms team facilitate the process across your organization. We'll help you create a relationship-capital dashboard, and map out a plan to improve, maintain and grow your relationship capital. Visit us at MCFARLANDPR.COM HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E  

NEWS ALERT FeedSpot named IT'S A PR THING among its top 70 PR podcasts "on the planet" you must follow in 2025. Read more. EPISODE 33 - SUMMARY Today we dive into the five practices that can take your PR efforts from a content-creating, output-producing function to a value-creating, outcome-delivering operation. This episode hits the high notes of which practices separate the tactical from the strategic, and the outputs from results.  From the CEO to the new professional, this episode plays up and down the corporate scale -- and tells you exactly how to transform your PR work into Next Level PR. Get ready to take some notes, because this episode packs a lot into a small space of time! HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

Don't 'Stay on Message' Yes, you read today's title right. Don't "stay on message". We hear it a lot in our field, the directive to "stay on message". And, for the most part, it's bad advice.  Today you'll hear for yourself what it actually sounds like put into practice. And we talk about what those receiving the "message" think about its delivery. Of course, we don't leave you with a "do not" without also giving you a new "do". Make sure you listen to the end for a special message that will stay with you all day long! ******************************************* SOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW Clip 1: Minnesota DFL - A Simple  Question: Yes or No? https://youtu.be/VySnpLoaUrI Clip 2: Tuesday Tip 2: Audience vs. Stakeholder: It's not Tomato Tomahto https://itsaprthing.podbean.com/e/audience-vs-stakeholder-it-s-not-tomato-tomahto/ Clip 3: Walmart is Closing - @cowboy_fred_425 (TikTok) https://www.tiktok.com/@cowboy_fred_425/video/7189098351571340586?lang=en ********************************************************************** HOST BIO: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00YNFH16E/about

Don't just take our word for it, learn what this new study has revealed about where organizations are taking their DEI programs. This new survey published recently by the Littler Mendelson firm (labor- and employment-law experts) adds some new quantitative data to the ongoing conversation on whether DEI is ending or evolving. SPOILER ALERT: This new survey confirms our own briefing whitepaper titled The State of DEI: A Reflection Point. HOST BIO: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00YNFH16E/about

DOES DEI HAVE A FUTURE? Today I share the highlights from our latest market-voice briefing whitepaper on the current state of DEI in the United States. Have DEI programs in the workplace come to the end of the road, or will DEI evolve and endure? Tune in today to catch the highlights of what we found in our briefing whitepaper titled The State of DEI: A Reflection Point. This briefing whitepaper is a compilation of information, facts, market voices and resources to help businesses understand the current state and future of DEI. This publication compiles a wide range of input and perspectives from business leaders, legal analysts, HR professionals, and DEI consultants and managers, whose collective input makes it clear that DEI is at a reflection point, rather than an inflection point. Following the insights, advice and suggestions from these sources, corporations and entities throughout the U.S. can help organizations reflect on their DEI programs, ensuring legal compliance, good management practices and clear communication. To get a copy of The State of DEI:  A Reflection Point, click here. HOST BACKGROUND Check out the host's bio @ https://www.amazon.com/author/stephaniemcfarland  

Why is Gen X battling a beat down online currently? Join me today as we explore what's happening through the practice of stakeholder analysis. You'll learn how to "seek first to understand" about the smallest of the adult living generations, and you'll get to "know thy stakeholder" through the lens of historical, social and cultural shaping, and the insights lived experience provides. This exercise in stakeholder analysis is not only somewhat entertaining, but it's a best practice that will encourage respect for diversity and help your organization build relationships that build business. Come on! Let's dive in for some more PR learning love!

PR Mail Bag Q&A (with Bonus Recipes!) After that heavy helping of trust problems we've dished out over the past three weeks, today's episode is going light and a bit random with our mail-bag format.  Today we dive into a cornucopia of common questions we get from clients, podcast listeners, new professionals, students and sometimes business leaders with no PR experience.  We'll dig into which branch of PR is the Big Wheel of them all, what hiring leaders need to consider when scouting new PR talent, why PR pros leave organizations, and what do those letters "APR" mean.  No notepad needed today. Just kick back, languish in your Thanksgiving Day foodie hangover and ponder the philosophies of public relations.    RECIPES AS PROMISED: Roasted Butternut Squash with Sausage and Spinach https://www.crazyblondelife.com/blog/61sq2ztcdhdumwox53ea780xh7ui5b?rq=BUTTERNUT%20SAUSAGE%20 Easy Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia Muffins https://biteswithbri.com/garlic-rosemary-focaccia-muffins/ Cranberry Brie Bites https://www.wellplated.com/brie-bites/