Baseball can teach PR people a thing or two. Like how to step back up to the plate after a strikeout (or a failed press conference) ... or that the ability to perform in the clutch can make or break your career. Here are nine lessons PR people can learn from America's pastime.

1. 9 PR Lessons from America’s Pastime
Want to be a PR hit?
Heather Whaling • Geben Communication
Heather@gebencommunication.com • @prTini
photo credit: laffy4k

2. photo credit: caitlinator
Strategy. Adrenaline. Superstars. Role
players. Wins. Losses.
At its core, PR about communicating the right
information to the right audiences and
engaging people in a way that will encourage
them to help share your story. Nothing new.
As much as we like to talk about how social
media is forcing public relations to evolve, the
simple truth is that the tools have changed,
but the overall goals are incredibly similar.
Simply put, PR is our “communication
pastime.”
Baseball is often referred to as America’s
pastime. So, what can one pastime teach
another? Baseball has 9 innings. 9 position
players. 9 batters In the line-up. And, with
that, here are 9 lessons PR pros can learn
from America’s athletic pastime.

3. The ability to perform in
the clutch will make – or
break – your career.
In baseball, clutch is how you perform with the
game on the line. Bottom of the ninth inning.
Two outs. Do you deliver the hit that drives
home the winning run? Or do you swing and
miss, striking out and costing your team the
game?
In PR, a clutch performance is delivering
when everything is on the line. That could
mean keeping your client out of a damaging
news story, alerting your boss about a
potential online crisis, initiating steps to be
taken that mitigate the damage, thriving under
high-stakes deadlines, or getting front-page
news stories in the major national
outlets/sites.
Be a PR clutch performer. Take a deep breath and just do what needs to be done.
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4. Prevent the competition from
getting too far ahead.
Pitchers give their teams a chance to win by
throwing strikes, keeping runners off the
bases and eliminating hanging breaking balls
(easy pitches to hit). When pitchers perform
well, they keep their team within striking
distance – positioning them to win.
Just as pitchers can’t totally control the
outcome of the game – the offense needs to
deliver some runs – PR people can’t control
everything. But, we can put our team, aka our
brands, in a position to stay ahead of the
competition. And, social media makes it
easier than ever to keep tabs on the
competition. If part of your social media
strategy doesn’t include monitoring what the
competition is up to, you’re not doing
everything in your power to help your team
win.
Stay one step ahead by using social media for competitive analysis.
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5. Keep the team loose. If you watch SportsCenter, it’s not uncommon
to see a player – frequently a role player –
smash a pie in the face of a player being
interviewed. What may seem like fun and
games is actually important. Baseball seasons
are long – spring training, 162 games,
followed by the playoffs. To keep morale high,
and to prevent people from getting too down
on themselves, someone needs to assume
the role of jokester.
Same goes for PR. We can’t be super serious
all the time. Why not create a funny internal
video or add some good-natured humor to the
workplace? Part of public relations
encompasses employee communication.
Follow the baseball player’s lead and sprinkle
in some fun.
Don’t underestimate the importance of employee communication. Loosen up. Encourage fun.
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6. Don’t dwell on strikeouts. Ryan Howard, the Philadelphia Phillies All-
Star MVP first baseman, set a record in 2008
for most strikeouts in franchise history … tying
the record he set the year before. But, he
doesn’t let some bad at-bats hold him down.
Howard also set the record for the fewest
games to hit 100 homeruns, fewest games to
hit 150 homeruns, and most homeruns in his
first 1,000 career at bats.
What’s a PR strikeout? How about holding a
press conference that goes uncovered by the
media? Or posting something online that
draws negative attention? Whatever it is, don’t
let it define you. Analyze what went wrong.
Determine how to “improve your swing.” And
step back up to the plate. That next at-bat
could be a homerun … or a grand slam.
Don’t dwell on PR strikeouts. Analyze. Improve. Step back up to the plate.
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7. Recognize top performers. Major League Baseball holds the mid-summer
classic, the All-Star game in July. Plus,
awards are given annually for a slue of
accomplishments. Why? Because players like
to be recognized for their achievements, and
in the case of the All-Star game, fans
welcome the opportunity to see all the heavy
hitters together.
How does this translate to PR? Recognize
your top performers. Whether it’s a luncheon
to recognize outstanding results, or a blog
post touting someone’s good work – take the
time to show people that you notice and
appreciate their performance. Also,
brainstorm opportunities to incorporate online
tools to improve/update traditional morale-
building activities.
Find opportunities to reward achievements in a public way.
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8. Quality matters more than
quantity.
In baseball, there’s a misconception that
teams can buy championships. This may
sound plausible, but it’s just not true. Of the
teams with the 10 highest payrolls, only two
made the 2010 playoffs. It’s not how much
you spend on your team … it’s how you
spend those dollars.
We place a lot of importance on website
traffic, RSS subscriptions, fans, followers --
numbers that indicate the size of our network.
And, to a certain extent, quantity matters,
otherwise you’re just talking to yourself;
however, the size of the network isn’t the
most important ingredient. Success is
determined by how you interact and leverage
the network.
In baseball and in PR/social media, it’s not
about the size of your wallet or the size of
your network. It’s what you do with the dollars
or followers that counts.
How you interact with and leverage your online network is more important than its size.
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9. Practice makes perfect. Sure, the best baseball players have some
natural-born ability; however, that’s not
enough to reach the upper echelon of their
sport. The best baseball players are the ones
who arrive early at the park to take additional
fielding practice, or stay late to analyze their
swing. The desire to be the best isn’t enough.
It takes hard work, commitment and lots of
practice.
How can PR people practice? Hone your
skills by volunteering for a nonprofit. Ask a
colleague to offer constructive criticism about
a recent project or blog post, find a mentor,
hold “workshop” sessions with your team.
Learn more by participating in Twitter chats.
(For example, the PR 2.0 #pr20chat chat is
every Tuesday from 8-9p ET.) Outwork
everyone else.
Volunteer for a local nonprofit to hone your skills -- or to develop new ones. Outwork everyone else.
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10. Know your role. Generally speaking, each baseball team’s
roster can only include one MVP. The other
players have to know their roles. People want
strong role players on their team. Someone
who understands how to effectively help the
team succeed, like perfecting the bunt to
advance a runner into scoring position. That
person is more valuable than the guy who’s
focused on doing everything he can to stay in
the spotlight.
Likewise, everyone can’t be the PR superstar.
For example, if you’re an excellent
researcher, focus on delivering the best
research possible. Go above and beyond to
find those extra-valuable nuggets of
information. Though there’s no award (that I
know of) for researcher of the year, it’s a
mission-critical aspect of effective public
relations. Your teammates – co-workers – will
remember and reward your ability to do the
behind-the-scenes work that helps them
shine.
We can’t all be PR superstars. Instead of worrying about the limelight, know your role and excel at it.
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11. You can’t always swing for the
fences.
Homerun hitters are fan favorites. There’s
nothing quite like the excitement at a baseball
game that comes from watching a ball sail
over the fence. Leading the league in
homeruns is synonymous with superstardom.
But, baseball players know they can’t
approach every at bat with the sole purpose
of sending the ball into the horizon.
Sometimes, the team needs a bunt. Or a sac
fly. Or a hit-and-run. Or taking a strike to allow
a speedy runner to swipe second base. That’s
all part of the winning formula.
Same goes for PR. While there are many
aspects of public relations, there’s nothing
quite like seeing your client on the cover of a
national newspaper. But, every story isn’t
worthy of front-page coverage. If we’re
spending all our time looking for the next
national feature, we’re missing lots of smaller
opportunities along the way that will help our
clients win.
Work on the “homerun” story, but focus enough time & attention on smaller tasks that produce results.
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12. Collaboration. Integration. Social Good.
Heather Whaling
www.gebencommunication.com
heather@gebencommunication.com
@prTini
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