Avoiding Mistakes: Top 10 Tips for the Savvy Strategic Communicator

1. First do no harm. Your words have consequences—be sure they are the right ones.
   
   
2. Don't babble. Know what you want to say. Say it..then say it again.
   
   
3. If you don't know what you are talking about, stop talking.
   
   
4. Focus more on informing people than impressing them. Use everyday language.
   
   
5. Never say anything you are not willing to see printed on tomorrow's front page.
   
   
6. Never lie. You won't get away with it.
   
   
7. Don't make promises you cannot keep.
   
   
8. Don't use "No comment." You will look like you have something to hide.
   
   
9. Don't get angry. When you argue with the media, you always lose (the pen never runs out of ink) ... and you lose publicly.
   
   
10. Don't speculate, guess, or assume. When you don't know something, say so.
    

Adapted from: Risk Communication guidelines for Public Officials (2002). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.samhsa.gov