Stories by Matthew Schwartz

A recent blog post by my colleague Diane Schwartz, titled, “9 Words to Avoid Saying Today,” struck a chord with communication pros. Using phrases such as “um,” and “you know” won’t do you any favors when you’re trying to impress the CEO or a prospective client.

There have been several CEO-related stories in the last few days. There was the buzz surrounding the feature story on Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer in the September issue of Vogue, accompanied by a two-page photo spread of Mayer decked out on a chaise lounge in a blue Michael Kors dress.

PR pros now spend a lot of their time navigating the social media terrain. They post tweets, distribute pictures on Instagram and create six-second video clips for Vine. Whew. While those skills certainly hold value for communicators, they may not be the essential element for career advancement.

It’s a common mistake in PR: including executive quotes that derail the overall message and cause reporters to toss your press release into the circular file. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The great mystery writer Elmore Leonard passed away yesterday. The Internet lit up. And interestingly, it was as much about his tips for great writing as it was for his brilliant work.

Despite the ongoing proliferation of visual elements throughout the media, the use of multimedia in PR remains a mixed bag, according to an exclusive survey by PR News and PR Newswire.

Amidst the turbulence in marketing communications, one area seems a fairly safe harbor for PR professionals: corporate social responsibility (CSR).

When putting together a PR event or promotional stunt, communicators need to consider the law of unintended consequences. The folks at LG didn’t think about that, apparently, when they started a race in Seoul to grab smartphone vouchers hanging from helium balloons, resulting in 20 people being injured and seven sent to the hospital.

Tim Armstrong was a media darling when he ran Google’s advertising sales, marketing and operations teams. But it’s been a different story since he became chairman-CEO of AOL in 2009, as Armstrong has struggled to right the AOL ship. The latest episode may not help matters, particularly when it comes to the perception of whether Armstrong is in full control of the company.

The Children’s Place has removed a controversial T-shirt from its stores after a backlash on social channels. But the real question for The Children’s Place is how can the company be so out of touch with its customers?