Our Blog: The Podium Sign up for IR News Careers Practice Areas Case Studies Industry Expertise About Contact Our Blog: The Podium Sharon Merrill CEO Maureen Wolff Recognized with Lifetime Achievement Award from Investor Relations Magazine March 31, 2021 Sharon Merrill Associates Leave a comment By Sharon Merrill Associates Read More Awards, Sharon Merrill Associates, Investor Relations Agency, Investor Relations What’s In and What’s Out for 2021 January 08, 2021 Sharon Merrill Associates Leave a comment By Sharon Merrill Associates Read More Investor Relations, Trends, IR Trends, Investor Relations Trends, what's in and what's out Investor Relations for the New CFO: Five Tips to be an IR Game Changer in 2021 January 05, 2021 David Calusdian Leave a comment By David Calusdian, President Read More Investment Thesis, SEC, CFO, Financial Communication, Investor Relations, ESG 10 Ways to Look Good to Your Private Company Investors October 02, 2020 Polly Pearson Leave a comment By Polly Pearson , Senior Vice President Read More Strategic Messaging, Corporate Governance, Reputation Management, start-up IR, private company IR Approaching ESG from a PR Perspective September 24, 2020 David Calusdian Leave a comment By David Calusdian, President An effective program for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) management and communication can fundamentally make an organization stronger, more resilient and more attractive to investors and other key stakeholders, while helping to mitigate long-term risks. In today’s blog we talk to Evan Zall about how to incorporate public relations into an ESG program. Zall is President of Longview Strategies, a strategic marketing and communications firm with an emphasis on sustainability and finance. With more than 20 years in strategic marketing, Evan believes that strong communications can resolve a great number of complex challenges in the world – and clarifying connections between sustainability and profit is one of those challenges. Evan has been a speaker at national and regional sustainable investing forums, is a founding member of PR Masterminds, and is a contributor to the upcoming book, “Aligning Hearts, Minds, Wallets: A Collective Experience (Reshaping Capitalism for the Greater Global Good).” Read More Strategic Messaging, Corporate Governance, Public Relations, ESG ESG in 2020: 6 Steps to Start Your ESG Journey with Confidence July 16, 2020 Maureen Wolff Leave a comment By Maureen Wolff, Chief Executive Officer With a record $20 billion+ flowing into ESG oriented funds in 2019 in the US alone there is no denying that a compelling Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) platform has become a critical component of investor relations programs and overall communications for corporations of all sizes. Investors, proxy advisory firms and debt rating agencies are demanding it. And, other stakeholders including employees, customers, strategic M&A suitors and suppliers are increasingly considering ESG practices in deciding where to work and with whom to conduct business. ESG can fundamentally make an organization stronger, more resilient and more attractive to key stakeholders, while helping to mitigate long-term risks. At the same time, the lack of an ESG strategy and sustainability narrative can leave a company exposed and at risk on several fronts. ESG data is being used on every public company today, whether the companies have released ESG information or not. As BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stated in his 2019 Letter to CEOs, “In the absence of robust disclosures, investors, including BlackRock, will increasingly conclude that companies are not adequately managing risk.” Additionally, BlackRock along with State Street and other institutions have committed to vote against directors at companies that do not demonstrate a commitment to ESG. The events of recent months -- including the global COVID-19 pandemic and the racial justice movement -- have further amplified the need for greater corporate focus on a range of ESG initiatives, including risk oversight, supply chain security, IT infrastructure, employee safety, talent management and diversity and inclusion. While doing nothing on the ESG front is clearly no longer a viable option, implementing an ESG program can seem overwhelming -- particularly if publishing a full-scale sustainability report that meets GRI or other standards would not be feasible for your company right now. The good news is that ESG is a journey, not a sprint. By taking a few strategic first steps to put a stake in the ground, you can establish a strong ESG foundation to build upon over time and earn tremendous credit from investors, employees, customers and the society at large. We’ve guided many companies through this “walk before you run” approach. Here is where we suggest you start: Read More Strategic Messaging, Corporate Governance, Investor Meetings, Presentation Training, Crisis Communications, IRO, Financial Communication, Shareholder Communications, Investor Relations, Investor Relations Firm, IR Trends, Investor Relations Trends, Corporate Communications, Investor Relations Websites, IR Recommendations, ESG Rewriting the Investor Day Playbook: Tips for Executing a Successful Virtual Event June 17, 2020 David Calusdian Leave a comment By David Calusdian of Sharon Merrill, and David Fine of Fine Communications Two investor day experts combine experience to deliver best practices on leveraging digital platforms to deliver a compelling virtual investor day. The investor day is one of the most effective platforms for presenting your company’s strategy, outlining your long-term targets and showcasing the depth and strength of your management team. With the world moving to virtual formats for the foreseeable future, IROs are faced with a new task – mastering virtual investor day planning. This pivot presents new challenges as well as exciting new opportunities to engage and communicate critical messages with the investment community. The following are top tips for IROs to master to execute a successful virtual investor day: Read More Investor Presentation, Investor Day, Investor Relations Agency, Investor Meetings, Presentation Training, Crisis Communications, IRO, Shareholder Communications, Investor Relations, Investor Relations Firm, IR Trends, Corporate Communications, Investor Event Planning, Event Planning The Art of the Virtual Non-deal Roadshow April 20, 2020 Polly Pearson Leave a comment By Polly Pearson, Senior Vice President 5 Ways to Enhance Your Virtual Presence with Institutional Investors In the coming quarter (and possibly quarters), the inability of your management team to travel during the pandemic should not derail your pending investor meetings and non-deal roadshow plans. Virtual non-deal roadshows offer an easy, high-ROI means of positioning your company with receptive institutional investors. In fact, this is a real-time need. Active investors are in the market looking for stories and opportunities while market volatility is still offering favorable valuations. Help them help you. Consider putting your company out there to offer virtual (on-line), face-to-face investor meetings to best connect active investors with your refreshed story. With virtual meetings, both sides of the interaction are guaranteed to be more engaged in what is said. Use this moment of attention to build deeper and “real” relationships with existing and prospective investors to introduce your refreshed story. Virtually. Following are five tips to help you conduct virtual one-on-one investor meetings and NDRs. Read More Investor Presentation, Investor Relations Agency, Investor Meetings, Presentation Training, Crisis Communications, IRO, Shareholder Communications, Investor Relations, Investor Relations Firm, Corporate Communications 10 Tips for Executing a Remote Earnings Call April 16, 2020 Ryan Flaim Leave a comment By Ryan Flaim, Senior Vice President With most companies practicing social distancing, many management teams will be conducting this quarter’s earnings call remotely. For most, this will be a change from the typical in-office setting and it is important to think through logistics ahead of time to minimize disruption and allow management to remain focused on the important task of providing investors with a business update in the wake of COVID-19. Following are 10 tips for executing an effective remote earnings call during this unprecedented time: Read More Investor Presentation, Investor Relations Agency, Investor Meetings, Presentation Training, Crisis Communications, IRO, Shareholder Communications, Investor Relations, Investor Relations Firm, Corporate Communications Preparing to Deliver your Story on a Virtual Non-Deal Roadshow April 14, 2020 David Calusdian Leave a comment By David Calusdian, President Five Tips to Effectively Present to Investors on a Video Platform Management teams of publicly held companies throughout the world are readying for a new phase of the corporate “new normal” in the COVID-19 world – the virtual non-deal roadshow. After the calendar Q1 reporting season ends, management and investors will be meeting via video platforms such as Zoom, Google Hangouts or Teams to discuss their companies’ prospects going forward. In addition to figuring out the technological logistics that will allow management to tell their companies’ stories to investors in an online format, they will need to prepare to deliver corporate messages using a different medium than what they’ve been accustomed. There is an inherent difference between communicating face to face and through a video platform. In this blog, we provide five tips to help deliver a compelling story to investors during a virtual non-deal roadshow. Read More Investor Presentation, Investor Relations Agency, Investor Meetings, Presentation Training, Crisis Communications, IRO, Shareholder Communications, Investor Relations, Investor Relations Firm, Corporate Communications Next Subscribe to The Podium! Subscribe to our award-winning blog, The Podium, and keep up to date on investor relations, crisis communications and reputation management topics. Email* Connect with your Investors Establish a sincere connection with investors to communicate key messages during your Investor Day. Download our free e-book on effective presentation habits, and learn to deliver ideas with confidence and clarity. Delivering Effective Presentations When it's time for a change Whether planned or sudden, it is crucial to communicate the succession of high-profile positions effectively. Download our three-part e-book and learn the best way to craft a plan for CEO, CFO and Board of Directors transitions. Download Your Free eBook: Communicating Management Transitions Be Proactive, Not Reactive With our new Proxy GamePlan, we create a year-round, data-driven strategic roadmap for effective shareholder engagement. Implement a best-in-class program rooted in a deep understanding of your company’s proxy practices, shareholder voting trends and peer landscape. Learn More About Proxy GamePlan Find Effective IR Counsel Whether you’re seeking external IR counsel for the first time or evaluating your current provider, you need a firm that understands your strategy, adapts to your culture and tells your story. Download our free guide on how to assess the effectiveness of an investor relations firm. How to Assess an IR Firm Activism Defense No company is immune to shareholder activism. Sharon Merrill helps boards of directors and executive management teams identify the activist red flags lurking in your shareholder base, assess your governance risks and develop an action plan to prevent, detect and neutralize any threats. Download our free white paper, “Leveraging Institutional Shareholder Relationships to Reduce Activism Risk,” and learn how the best defense against activism is a strong offense. Download Activist Defense White Paper Captivate your Audience Speaking persuasively is critical in today’s competitive business environment. Effective speakers use voice techniques and body language that project authority and credibility. Download our free e-book, “A Guide to Delivering Captivating Presentations,” for insight into good -and bad- presentation habits, and learn how to improve your skills. Become a Persuasive Speaker Perceptions Matter How do you ensure that investors clearly understand your strategy, growth drivers and market position? The most effective way is through a perception study. By periodically taking the investment community’s pulse you can avoid the knowledge gaps and misperceptions that hurt valuation. Download our free whitepaper, Why Perceptions Matter, to learn more. Download your free copy of 'Why Perceptions Matter' Common Topics: Investor Relations (116) Shareholder Communications (45) Crisis Communications (42) Investor Relations Agency (34) Investor Relations Firm (32) IR Program Planning (31) Strategic Messaging (28) More topics Authors: David Calusdian Maureen Wolff Sharon Merrill Jamie Bernard Ryan Flaim Sitemap Privacy Policy © 2020 Sharon Merrill 33 Arch Street, 15th Floor, Boston, MA 02110 Phone: 617 542 5300 Fax: 617 423 7272 Email: info@InvestorRelations.com