Schatzie Brunner spent nearly a decade at Turner Broadcasting as talent coordination for “Larry King Live” and as a CNN news anchor.  Today, she does individual and group communication coaching.  In a recent article she gave some good advice:

 “We have all heard about needing a 30-second commercial or elevator speech that encapsulates all the important things about your product, service or talent.  But what you might not have at your fingertips is what I call a working inventory of stories and analogies with which to impress clients.

 Schatzie contends that if you’re asked what you do for a living and say, “I’m an accountant,” the conversation doesn’t have anywhere to go from there.  But, if you say “I save people money” or “I help clients grow their money,” you naturally invite interest and provide a way to keep the conversation going.

 If you tell interesting stories that are not about you, but the results you’ve accomplished for your company or client, “you have staked a claim to an advantage over your competitors,” she says.

Schatzie counsels businessmen and women to “Live 2009 with an inventory of responses that allow you to never miss an opportunity to engage someone else or have that person engage you.  It can pay off with new business contacts and more success.”

Good advice for small and mid-sized ad agencies that want to grow in the new year.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.