Wonder Woman in Business, Deirdre Breakenridge & her FEEL First Communications

Deirdre Breakenridge in her own words... I’ve been a career-long storyteller and Chief Relationship Agent (CRA), helping professionals to get unstuck in their communication and creating opportunities that result in business impact. As a communications consultant and CEO of Pure Performance Communications, my focus is marketing strategy and planning. I’ve launched marketing and PR programs (from Fortune 500 to startups) delivering creative, passionate and bold stories that help brands and their thought leaders to be seen and heard and to build genuine relationships with their stakeholder groups. Today, my communications consulting and training programs take a proprietary approach with a new model called FEEL First, which was developed as a part of a year-long research journey. After the tragic loss of a family member, I wanted to learn more about how millennials showed up to their conversations, what they valued and what they expected from others in their interactions. What I uncovered was a disconnect in intergenerational communication. I’m working with professionals and their organizations to FEEL, which stand for face your Fears, engage with Empathy, use Ethics and good judgment and unleash the Love of your mission, across communication channels for authentic connections and to foster stronger bonds between groups. The FEEL model took shape after conducting weekly one-one-one telephone interviews with millennials and business leaders, as well as diving into social media intelligence and text analytics. The model, with an accompanying online FEEL First Test (www.FEELFirstTest.com), helps leaders and managers to gauge if they FEEL First in order to connect authentically at different touchpoints. When you add FEEL to your communication planning and strategy you not only connect with people on a deeper level and but you also move from transactional to meaningful relationships that are based on trust, advocacy and greater loyalty. As the author of several business books, it’s through my love of writing that I share stories about my communications journey. My most recent book, “Answers for Modern Communicators” was published by Routledge in October 2017 is a response to the most pressing PR and communications questions asked by students and professionals. A couple of other well-known industry titles include “Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional” and “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.” I’ve spent almost 15 years teaching on the university level, developing curriculum for PR and social media courses, both online and in the classroom at NYU, UMASS at Amherst, Rutgers University, and FDU. I speak nationally and internationally on PR, marketing, branding and social media communications, always through a FEEL First lens. I’ve also spent the last five years as a LinkedIn Learning Instructor with eight video courses on Public Relations Foundations, Media Training, Handling an Unruly Audience, Marketing Communications, Go-To-Market Planning, Competitive Analysis, Creating a Marketing Culture and Marketing Ethics.