During a live TV interview, a reporter surprisingly asked me a question NOT on the pre-produced list of questions: “People think PR, and they think spin. They think, something is going on, but we want people to think something GREAT is going on. So, it’s about messaging. That doesn’t really work within the household, or does it?”
My short answer was “It does!” Click here or the image below to hear the complete answer and to watch the full short interview.
More recently, I understood that not only can you bring PR spin home to help with communicating with your family and anyone in your personal travels, it can also be particularly useful in communicating with ourselves.
In times of disappointment and frustration, PR spin can help all of us to adjust our attitudes, keep our sense of humor and put things into perspective.
My Very Odd 60th birthday
As fate would have it, my father-in-law sadly passed away from advanced Alzheimer’s and liver failure while my husband and I were in Italy for my beautiful cousin’s magnificent destination wedding. See my 45-second summary video by clicking here or the image below.
The morning after the festivities we raced home for the funeral and the 7-day mourning period.
Originally, upon return from our Italy trip, we were going to plan something special for my upcoming 60th. My birthday fell on a Friday. YAY, a weekend. Perfect timing! Plus, big milestone, right? Perhaps we’d organize another quick getaway to somewhere fun? I was excited.
Instead, I learned during the mourning period that my father-in-law’s tombstone unveiling was to take place on the exact day of my birthday.
Intellectually, I wanted to and knew that I needed to attend and support my husband through this difficult day.
Emotionally, I was disappointed and a little pissed. It felt like my 60th birthday had been ruined.
I mean, REALLY! Of all the days in the year, this ceremony HAD to land on my birthday??? And a milestone birthday at that. (Insert your choice of profanity here.) Total bummer.
I began to battle with a bad attitude. A really bad attitude. Does that ever happen to you when you get disappointing news?
PR Spin and Perspective
I wasn’t pleased with the itinerary for my birthday (cemetery, sad, teary family lunch to conclude the 30-day mourning period, home), but it was unavoidable.
Time for some PR Spin, perspective and to take my own advice, as hard as it may be.
I had a serious, out loud conversation with myself so that my “target market”, ME, would not only hear my chosen words, tone and delivery of my strategically crafted key messages in my head, but also with my own ears.
I told myself to stop whining like a three-year old. Think about the tragedies and losses of the last year and how the world has turned upside down in every which way. I reminded myself to be grateful that the core important things in my life were in order.
I repeated these key messages to myself throughout this very bitter-sweet day. I also looked for the silver linings: the weather was nice, it was quiet where we were, and the family was together. All blessings.
Between the continuous PR spin and perspective checks and the unexpected fun surprises later in the day, my bad attitude turned positive. Keeping my sense of humor helped tremendously too, even if my humor was a little dark that day.
I hope this story inspires you the next time you are challenged with a tough time.
How will you PR spin it to find the sunshine?
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