Oxygen - A Breath of Fresh Air

I love the smell of bacon in the mornings, actually it can be a pretty enticing aroma at any time of the day - however, the aforementioned food group was just a bonus for turning out early this morning to meet the business professionals at Oxygen, a networking group that meets in Oxford.

I had been invited to reveal 'The Secrets of Great Public Relations' as part of the education slot by my business guru from Action Coach, Sally Rainbow Ockwell (Click here for a free Business Health Check with Sally and here to register for her newsletter) and found everyone attentive and keen to learn some useful pointers on making the most out of PR for their respective businesses.

A mix-up meant that my carefully crafted PowerPoint presentation remained locked on a memory key and I had to improvise, but it seemed not to matter with everyone paying attention and nodding reassuringly and laughing in most of the right place. They followed up with some good questions and finished off with applause. Which was rewarding for some hasty busking based around sparse notes and memory!

What I found rewarding was how many of the 30 second presentations (this is networking 30 seconds, not radio broadcasting so think closer to 90 seconds!) that each member did illustrated my point that much of PR simply reflects what they do. Not rocket science - although there was an electrician with a shaggy dog story that was nearly a frazzled dog story about two black labradors chewing through a cable - but simply tales of everyday existence that would work with a wider audience.

I am due to deliver the same kind of presentation to another business group soon, hopefully with PowerPoint included and I am happy to offer it to any groups out there who are enticed by 'The Secrets of Great Public Relations'.