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Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Hi there, welcome to the MS communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton the biz communication guy, bringing you communication tips and strategies that will boost your business. Because my guest and I will share winning words and ways with you. Our guest today, I’m very pleased to say is Monica Pierre coming to us from New Orleans, Louisiana, Monica Pierre is an Emmy Award winning reporter, an Alex tree back legacy fellow, a speaker and assistant professor of practice with the Department of mass communication at Xavier University of Atlanta, excuse me of Louisiana, where she teaches podcasting broadcasts announcing and storytelling to the next generation of multimedia client. As a veteran reporter and talk show host Monica has interviewed 1000s of people from all walks of life. She knows there is more than enough room for all stories to be told, shared and valued. Monica Pierre is founder of the story maker Academy, where she teaches how to discover develop and deliver stories for influence, impact and inspiration. Monica is also host of the powerhouse, woman women show so please join me in welcoming Monica pier. Hello, Monica.
Monica Pierre
Hello Dr. Bill Long time no see as my dad used to say how are ya my
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
dad would say the same thing. And also saying glad to see you which which is a delight to have a preeminent television producer broadcaster award winner on the biz communication show. Monica you’ve had a a long and distinguished career and New Orleans and when I think of New Orleans, there are many thoughts I have. But one is when I was a kid growing up 100 miles from there. I listened it night to station W W L the Clear Channel 100,000 Watts station it was called. And I never would have dreamed that I would have connection with one of the superstars who started early in your career at WWE. l great memories there. To get to tapping some of your expertise. Let’s talk about the impact of of the media. I’m thinking with your career in New Orleans, you have been there, through some good times let the good times roll is the slogan of the city. But there have also been some very tough times and I’m thinking especially as many of our viewers and listeners will have the storms I think a Camille I think Katrina I think of others in between and since then that I are too numerous to name. So the question I have is people had to stay informed they had to stay encouraged. They had to know when and how and if help was coming. What part did the media play in these calamities and will continue to play when tragedy strikes New Orleans again, what what impact and influence do you Would you tell us that the media had
Monica Pierre
Oh, it was when I look back during that time and remember the things that people said to me, radio saved people’s lives. Radio heeled radio was the connection in particular also television as well and even print. We had to do things differently. I remember working for one media company and everybody had to leave the city of New Orleans. The media company I worked for Bill actually had a station in Baton Rouge Louisiana where the impact of the storm was not felt. There was the WW el station where you know they were competitors you know I had never set foot in WWL radio station at all while I was working for another station and other media company. The powers that be decided overnight that we would come together and form United bro I casters of New Orleans, where you’d have one talent from one media company, another talent from another media company. And together, we would do shows and we would inform the public, it was the most imagine unimaginable blessing to be able to provide not only information, as best we could remember, the city was underwater for the most part. But how can we provide information? How can we have the elected officials or the public servants come and give us update, but we also did something that I had not seen before. We use the airwaves, to have people call us and say, Look, I haven’t seen my brother, I don’t know where it is. Have you seen so and so? Have you seen father read, we let them it wasn’t the professional radio, it was the connection radio where we allow people to say, I’m looking for my mom, I’m looking for my dad. But then I found that he didn’t make it. And it was also a healing, that so many people were able to take advantage of as we went from the disaster, the flooding, the recovery, the rebuilding, so media played a life saving role in that story.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
It’s great that those of you who had been working separately, formed a team and that team was vital to bringing that information and to helping people find their loved ones, their their friends, they’re their colleagues. I had one Well, I actually had two encounters. In a tornado, when I lived in Athens, Georgia, and was teaching at the University of Georgia, twice within 60 days, tornadoes hit my neighborhood and another neighborhood. I can recall so clearly, that this Monica was long before the Weather Channel. So it was decades before we got warnings of what was coming. What got us through it. What got us through it was the Athens, Georgia, local radio. And fortunately, we were able to keep radio during both of those times. And it would tell us where the storm was, Where did hit where it might be moving Next, take shelter the precautions. So I have experienced that myself. And today, I think the media still continues to be a safeguard for forest when calamities of any kind are coming. And my gosh, I I suppose the the most the biggest example would be 911. What happened during 911? We depended on the media to get us through that, that terrible day and to have hope for tomorrow. So thank you for that. And I know it must have been a very satisfying and satisfying feeling for the broadcaster’s to be able to do those things. Absolutely.
Monica Pierre
And I remember when we again, because you didn’t even really know what was going on with your particular neighborhood or our house when people didn’t know that, you know, of course, you had the national news, they were covering certain things, but they weren’t covering anything. People would call and say, Well, what’s happening in the lower night, what’s happening uptown, what’s happening across the river, in Algiers, or in Jefferson Parish, which is our counties. So they were depending on us. And people would actually it was, you know, a clear channel signal. So after the sun went down, right, all school radio now, whatever the sun went down, people in other parts of the country could get the clear signal and they would say, I’m in my truck right now is 11 o’clock at night. And this is the only information that I can get an early on when we were in Baton Rouge, the two media companies coming together. There was a young man who came up to where the radio station was, I mean, he actually came off the street, went up to the station and he said, Monica, when I heard your voice, I felt as if I could go on. So all of those connections with their favorite people on the air, whether it was for from WW L or wq. IE, we we absolutely were there and we didn’t care if it was the most, you know, we know mistakes. We had people were putting on the air with no prep, we just had to say okay council member Okay, Governor, okay, whomever give us the latest, give it to a straight and we were able to do that. And that young man didn’t even to this day people will come up to me and say, I loved you on the air. You made a difference. You are a lifeline. And I really believe People said that in all sincerity
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
of all the awards that you have won as a top level broadcaster. And my, my guess is that that tops any award that you’ve ever won to know that? Absolutely, you made a life saving and life changing difference for people. We’re going to talk more
Monica Pierre
work. It was hard work to rebuild. It was hard work to figure things out and make decisions. So yes, so when people felt that they could go on that no statue, no me comes even close.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
That’s right. I have another question. We’re going to discuss about the media be back in just a few seconds. Do
Speaker 3
you wish you felt competent about giving speeches? Do you want to deal with difficult people constructively? And what about becoming more persuasive and sales? Then keep listening now to Dr. Bill Lampton, he spent 20 years in management, so he knows the communication skills you need for success. I urge you to call the biz communication guide today for a no call, but very valuable. 30 minute discussion about your communication challenges. Call now. 678-316-4300 Again, that’s 678-316-4300
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
We’re back with Monica Pierre, a media expert, and veteran and award winning veteran Monica, there’s another point I want to bring up and that is, like many others i i was a huge fan of some of the renowned newscasters and one of my favorites was Walter Cronkite, I read Walter Cronkite’s autobiography. And the autobiography is he was looking back over his incredible career as he was looking to where television had become and as he was forecasting where it might be. Walter Cronkite said that he feared that instead of television, and the media being an information source, that we’re becoming so much an entertainment source. And so he thought, maybe the way we’re going to have to start describing it is not information. But as he put it, infotainment, I’d like to know, and I’m sure our viewers and listeners would like to know, what’s your reaction to that? Was he on target? To what extent has that happened? And what are the benefits or the liabilities of that?
Monica Pierre
He absolutely on target. And I used to watch him as well. My mother was a big she should have been the reporter. She loved news, she followed everything. But he absolutely correct when he did see that it was shifting, and it was the delivery of how we would do it. It just couldn’t be here are the facts, here’s the story unvarnished, we had to figure out how to package it. So people would pay attention. So my concern has always been, are we giving people what they really need, or just what we’re giving them what they really want. And then sometimes that changes from time to time, the challenge is, is to figure out how we can honor where people are. The truth is many people don’t have the bandwidth or the attention span to get it where it’s just let’s go for the long view, let’s make sure that people get everything they need. So how do we present it, give them the information, but also give it to them in the way that they can digest it. And oftentimes, it’s very, very challenging. People say they want good news, but they don’t watch it. You know, they say they want to like something really, really fun and and make them feel good. But then at the end, they want to know what’s going on. And we you know whether or not we’re divisive in this country, we can we can have a good conversation about that as well. But our goal, particularly those of us who started out one way, now we’re having to adapt to how people are receiving the news, how they want their news, and how we continue to make sure but you still need to know certain things. So I don’t have the complete answer. But because I do teach at Xavier University here in New Orleans, I’ve had to stop saying, well, in my day, we did it this way and figure out how can we give them what they need and also give them how they want it delivered without dumbing it down to the point where you still aren’t informed because you still at the end of the day need to be informed as well as engaged or entertained.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Well said one of the I suppose one of the The illustrations of how we have moved from extended news to news as more compacted and mixed in with entertainment. I don’t remember the exact figures, but I do remember that, let’s say when you started in television, and you were interviewing someone, a local political figure, our religious leader, our civic leader, you might have, you might come up with a sound clip, video clip, maybe five to seven minutes. It would be more like, what, 45 seconds now?
Monica Pierre
Maybe? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’d be very, very short. And including the whole setting up of the soundbite or the clip. So yes, and people just don’t have a lot of time. There’s distraction that we’ve just coming to the point though, even though we’re on our phones a lot. It’s all quick. It’s all fast. So you want to make sure they have it? And what’s the most impactful thing can you deliver in that 45 seconds, or that minute and a half, or whatever it is, because no one’s going to stick with it for 10 minutes, 30 minutes, even podcasts, you know, you’re what’s the sweet spot for podcasts, we could teach a whole lot in two hours. But who’s going to sit through a two hour podcast? Nobody, no one for the most part, or they’ll break it up into segments. So again, there’s a challenge. But I would try to keep figuring it out, as opposed to saying, Oh, we’re doomed. Let’s just give up on it. Because they need the information they enter, they want it at the end of the day as well. They just have to figure out how to package it and make sure that it’s something that they can stick with and be engaged with.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
To me one of the saving graces here is that people will often when they wouldn’t watch a news show, that was all news. They will watch documentaries. Tell us about a documentary that you produced. I was fascinated to read about it.
Monica Pierre
Oh, thank you so much bill. It’s called battlegrounds. The loss community of fuzzy anvil. And Savanna anvil was this community, a little bit near New Orleans, and it was created by former enslaved people, there was a free man of color who said, I want to be able to sell these formerly enslaved people so they can keep their community together, but have their own land. So they they bought their land, it was next to the battleground in Chalmette, Louisiana, the War of 1812. Many of you may know that. And they had their their community it was beautiful. Their home, their church, the church also was their school, and people grew up there for over 100 years. And then suddenly, there was this move, to get rid of anything that will be in the way of the monument. So there was this effort to get rid of the homes, sell it and pay for it for pennies on the dollar. And then their community was erased. And it was unfair, it was heartbreaking. And their stories began to be at the point where nobody even knew about it. So when we found out about it, I was I was approached to be a part of the documentary and I said, I want this story to be told. But I also want their voices to be heard. I’m not necessarily looking to be a part of a project where you’re like, and they all live happily ever after. That wasn’t the case. So over 60 years ago, the community ceased to exist. But the memory was there and the stories were there. And how do you tell that story with dignity? How do you tell their story? How do you give them a space to tell their story? How do you tell the truth of what happened? Yeah, they basically got messed over. But they were also present Veals all around the country, different communities where people lost, you know, they know that the they wanted the land and the land was taken from them, or they were given just very little for the land. So the documentary took a little while. But the documentary aired last year, and it has been nominated for a sudden Coast Emmy Award. So that award show will be in December of this year. So I’m just hoping that it wins. But I’ll tell you why. I wanted to win so that people can know about the story even more.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
I was a history major in college and so I have I have a fear of revisionist history. I know that the history I started those years ago was, for the most part, accurate, didn’t leave out a lot didn’t distort a lot. And so I commend you for this documentary. Is there a way we could access it are?
Monica Pierre
Yes, yes. If you go to YouTube and you put you type in battlegrounds, or even for Zan, Ville, it’s French SAZEND V i l l, e, and the documentary will pop up and you’ll be able to watch it. It’s beautifully shot. And I want to take thank WLA e TV number one for approaching me, number one, a two for sticking with it. And number three, for helping to put together such a beautifully told story. And I’m learning more and more bill about the power of story. You talked about revisionist, because if we are not the Guardians, if we don’t find ways to tell the story with truth, and dignity, the story fades away. The story is gone. And that was my my concern that the longer we go 70 years, everybody’s going to be gone. There’ll be no one left to tell the story. So now the story gets to live on.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Well, thank you for directing us to it. And you can bet in the next day or two. I’m going to be watching that on YouTube. I was I was very fortunate my two adult daughters not too long ago, geared me up for Netflix and YouTube TV. And for a while I’m like, Yes, I was watching a lot of movies and sports and so on. But it was great to discover documentaries on on many historic topics. And I’m glad to know about yours. Monica, this has had been so fascinating. And as always happens on the biz communication show with the terrific guests that I’m able to host the time absolutely does fly. I know there are those who would like to get in touch with you. So would you please give us your contact information?
Monica Pierre
Oh, Bill, thank you so much for that. I’ll keep it very simple. Monaco, Pa Pierre presents.com, or social media. Monica Pierre, very, very simple. And I just love what you’re doing. And you do it so expertly. And it’s so professionally done. So I’m just honored to be on the show.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Bless you for that coming from a little hard. Coming from an award winner. That means so much I’m very happy. We renewed our acquaintance this week because I’ve had great admiration for your work and and you as an individual for a long time.
Monica Pierre
Thank you so much, and to your audience. Thank you all for for watching.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
And just to be sure, do we have your contact information? Yes, a
Monica Pierre
harmonica pa presents.com or on social media Monica Pierre.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Thank you. And since you have given yours I’m very happy to give mine invite you on Bill Lampton the biz communication guy so I invite you to go to my YouTube channel, where you will find this interview along with interviews from other stellar communicators over the past several years. In fact, I have over 450 instructional videos on my YouTube channel and we love that favorite word free. So when you go to my YouTube channel, be sure to hit the subscribe button. And then certainly I want to give my website as well as the biz communication guy. Naturally My website is biz BZ biz communication guy.com When you go to my website, notice that there’s a way that you can subscribe to this podcast. It’s very clear and I hope you’ll do that. So you’ll get to hear many more of my expert guest and then be sure to give me a call after you’ve reviewed my services for corporations and leaders. Give me a call at 678-316-4300 Monica this again has been informative, so fascinating. So helpful. So how would you pull it together with any closing thought?
Monica Pierre
I was so amazing. I think a theme throughout all of this is the stories of so many people you talked about you know your the tornadoes you talked about the what your dad used to say and and WWL radio. And oftentimes when we think about all that can distract us and divide us. Let’s remember what connects us and what connects us is the power of story whether YOUR Story, the Story of the present fill community up being a communicator, what you’re doing in the world of business communication. It is the stories that really tap into our humanity. And even though we grew up in different places, if we say, you know, what is the story of our humanity, I think it’ll be much, much better off. And then we’re going to find that we’re not as far apart as the world that happens believe.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
I underscore your recommendation that we focus on stories. When you and I were little kids, our ears perked up when somebody said once upon a time, and, and it still has magic, whether it’s spoken in a family art is spoken on the news. Again, thanks so much to Monica Pierre, for being with us. Thanks to you, who joined us on the video portion and on the podcast portion. We want you to be with us for the next edition of the business communication show so that you can learn winning words and ways that will give you tips and strategies that boost your business. I’m your host Bill Lampton the biz communication guy
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
