Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. He who molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. He makes statutes or decisions possible or impossible to execute. – Abraham Lincoln, 1860
You must study human emotions and all the factors that move people, that persuade men in any line of human activity. – Ivy Lee, 1921
The simple focus of this blog is to call attention to new and useful ideas in the practice of public persuasion, with my principal emphasis on public relations. I have been a PR professional for nearly 25 years. Today I practice crisis and corporate reputation public relations internationally for high profile executives and companies, and I teach as an adjunct professor at the Annenberg School of Communications at USC. I was most recently executive vice president for Edelman, the largest independent PR agency in the world. I was also a senior PR executive for Lockheed, ARCO, and Global Crossing. I am a former reporter for Fortune and was senior editor at New York Magazine and Esquire.