Company: GE
Timeframe: Nov. 1 - Dec. 9, 2009
Sometimes a PR campaign doesn’t sound like a PR campaign. Sometimes it sounds like a speech. Although by definition it is a one-time event witnessed by an audience, a speech can be an extremely effective public relations tool not only for driving a message but also for defining the person delivering it and the organization he or she represents. Such was the case with General Electric chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt’s oration at West Point last December.
Immelt delivered his remarks, under the lofty title of “Renewing American Leadership,” at West Point during the depths of the recession. His hard-hitting message spoke to the change and leadership required to get the country out of the economic doldrums, and was designed to outline the similarities between the leaders GE is seeking and the leadership skills cadets learn at West Point.
In somewhat of a departure from more cheerleading-style orations, this speech provided a clear message that the private sector and government must work together to keep the United States competitive on the world stage. Immelt called out mistakes made in the financial sector, including those made by GE, and outlined a five-point plan that mirrored West Point’s values of “Duty, Honor, Country.”
“This was really the comet across the sky. It was meant to send a very clear signal,” says Peter O’Toole, a director of public relations at GE. “There had to have been some sort of volcanic event in Jeff’s mind in order to get through to people, including his peers and people in Washington. It had to be radical, loud and a very different type of speech.”
And it was. Here’s an excerpt:
While some of America’s competitors were throttling up on manufacturing and R&D, we de-emphasized technology. Our economy tilted instead toward the quicker profits of financial services.
Our country was built on great undertakings that brought out the best in government and business alike. But that kind of economic vision, that kind of focus on essential national goals, has been missing.
We need a new strategy for this economy. We should clear away any arrogance, false assumptions that things will be “OK” if we stick to the status quo. Rather, we should dedicate ourselves again to be the most competitive country in the world.
By all counts, the speech succeeded on all three points. From a PR perspective, there were three additional criteria, notes Megan Parker, communications specialist at GE: “It is important that the speech is the right message, at the right time, targeted to the right audience,” she notes. “Easier said than done, but ideally you have the perfect balance of all three so your message is remembered and repeated.”
GETTING PERSONAL
Among the keys to an effective speech is the speaker’s personal ownership of the message. In this case, not only did Immelt write the lion’s share of the oration himself—with help and tweaking from a three-person team during the month before the event—but he was fired up about delivering a “tough love” message.
“He’d seen up close and personal what the financial maelstrom was doing, and the wreckage around us. And, at the time, he didn’t know how much more wreckage was still coming,” O’Toole says. “A lot of leaders choose not to do anything when times are bad, and for some that’s a good strategy. But Jeff said people needed to step forth and assert some leadership.”
Given the Immelt’s message and his impassioned delivery, it was clear that his speech was authentic—a critical benchmark for an effective oration. “You can’t fool an audience. They always know,” says Joy Fisher-Sykes, a business consultant and coach at the Sykes Group, a Virginia Beach, Va.-based consultancy specializing in motivational speaking and presentations. “If you lose the trust of your audience, they won’t believe anything you say, because going forward you won’t be seen as sincere.”
TWO-WAY STREET
Given that delivering the speech meant a trip to West Point for Immelt, GE saw the visit as a chance for the CEO to tap into what was top of mind for the cadets.
Although some of the West Point leaders have spoken at GE training events in the past, “This was the first time Jeff got out and went to them,” O’Toole says.”
Along with a handful of GE employees who are also veterans, Immelt had lunch in the main dining hall with some of the cadets before the speech. “There was no agenda—the conversation went wherever the cadets wanted to take it,” O’Toole says.
After the speech, Immelt led several information-sharing sessions, called Black and Gold Leadership Forum sessions, with small groups of cadets. “By removing the podium and putting leaders like Mr. Immelt into close contact with cadets, the cadets not only learn from the message his words convey, but they’re able to learn through observation,” says Major Jordon Swain, assistant professor in West Point’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership, which sponsors the Distinguished Leaders series, of which the Immelt speech was a part.
“The personal interaction helps drive the point home that leadership is not just about what you say, it’s about how you carry yourself, how you interact with others—it’s about everything you do,” Swain adds.
SPREAD THE WORD
Critical to the PR strategy surrounding Immelt’s West Point visit was a campaign to spread the word. Literally.
GE employs 11,000 veterans, 238 West Point graduates and nearly 600 graduates from all of the service academies combined. To send an empowering message to those staffers, “All GE employee veterans received a copy of the prepared remarks via e-mail the morning of the event, and their response was overwhelming positive,” says Parker.
To increase the dramatic effect, the PR team departed from typical practice and did not alert the company’s constituents ahead of time about what the CEO was planning to say. Instead, as Immelt was delivering the speech, the team shifted into high gear, issuing a copy of the text to GE stakeholders, employees, targeted politicians and the media.
“Once Jeff sent out such a strong signal for the need for leadership, we knew people would start to ask questions,” O’Toole says.
“The message extended beyond the walls of West Point and, to be effective, required a larger community to be informed and involved in the discussion,” says Parker. “One important audience for the remarks was GE employees, and specifically GE employee veterans.”
GETTING RESULTS
The Renewing American Leadership speech was successful not only in reaching out to cadets and GE employees, but to key influencers as well. The event received widespread coverage, including:
• A front-page story in the Financial Times, articles in Fortune and The Wall Street Journal and a reprint of the speech in the Washington Post.
• Blog posts in Mother Jones, The New York Times, American Thinker and Huffington Post, among others.
“A speech can be a very effective as PR,” Fisher-Sykes says. “If it is shown on the Internet, videotaped, streamed, the text is released and sent around—it really can live on in perpetuity. People will always be able to refer back to it.”
SPEAKING CANDIDLY
What might have made the campaign even more effective? Bringing more constituents with ties to the speech or place of delivery to accompany the person giving the speech, says Parker. In this case, GE employees with West Point and/or military ties on site.
“Looking back, I would have brought in more GE employees to the event,” continues Parker. “We had three GE West Point graduates attend. However, given our culture of leadership, I would have brought in more of them.”
In retrospect, O’Toole adds, “We would have expanded to people we didn’t know and told them, ‘You might not know what GE does today. This is the company today, this is who our leader is, what he’s interested in and we would like to start a discussion with you.’ This would have opened up communications with a whole new set of constituents.” PRN
CONTACT:
Peter O’Toole, [email protected]; Megan Parker, [email protected]; Jennifer Fisher-Sykes, [email protected].
Fessing Up in Public: How to Admit Mistakes Gracefully
When GE CEO Jeff Immelt delivered his Renewing American Leadership speech last year at West Point, he called out the mistakes made by the financial sector—which includes units run by GE. No one likes to admit they’ve done something wrong, especially in public. Here are some tips from Peter O’Toole, a director of public relations at GE, on how to do so forcefully yet gracefully.
• There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution and, often, it’s a cultural issue. “In one place culturally, getting up and admitting a mistake would have you looking for a new job the next day,” O’Toole says. “I think that’s one of the reasons you aren’t often seeing that kind of frankness and humility.”
• Ideally, have all your ducks in a row before getting on the podium, then be honest and clear. “Jeff had not made this kind of a landmark denunciation and outlined his vision of running a big company and what a country could do and should do,” O’Toole says.
• Don’t be defensive. “Being defensive is fatal in many instances,” says O’Toole. “We’ve seen that in some of the big crises that have happened in the past year.”
Crafting a Winning Speech: It’s a Pain and Pleasure Thing
Joy Fisher-Sykes, a business consultant and coach at the Sykes Group, says that audiences can’t be fooled by an inauthentic oration. She recommends ditching statistics and making a real connection with the audience. Here’s how:
• Know your audience. “It’s about making a connection with what they are experiencing,” Fisher-Sykes says. “And remember, the only things that move people are pleasure and pain.”
• Avoid dry, statistics-filled orations. No one will remember.
• Tell your story. “People don’t remember statistics; they remember a great story, especially one they can see themselves in,” she says.
• Keep it real. “When a speaker shows some level of vulnerability, the audience will immediately think, ‘Wow, they are human, too,’” says Fisher-Sykes.
• Think carefully about handing out the text of the speech to your audience ahead of time. “It can work well, or it can be a distraction,” she says.