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Explore the world of storytelling and communication with host Jason Mudd and guest Ken Melton, Communication Strategist at Johns Hopkins.

Guest:

Our episode guest is Ken Melton, Communication Strategist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Ken is a retired U.S. Marine public affairs specialist with a master's in public relations from Georgetown University and a bachelor's in communications from the University of Maryland Global Campus. He's passionate about public relations, employee engagement, storytelling, teaching, and writing.

Five things you’ll learn from this episode:

1. Why doubt can be good when completing a writing project
2.  The best ways to improve your writing skills
3.  Ways to make data and numbers easier for your audience 
4.  Ken’s most valuable writing advice 
5.  What roles emotions play in creating a complex story and how to leverage them

Quotables:

• “Make your stories speak” - @KenMelton2001
• “You can't let what you've thought or what you know shape your story. It's all about what's inside you and what you want to get across.” - @KenMelton2001
• “Once you come to the realization that there's nothing more I can learn, nothing more I can do wrong, then you're doing yourself disservice.” - @KenMelton2001
• “I doubt myself because I want to answer myself in a positive light.” - @KenMelton2001
• “I really love talking about it and helping people find their voice and telling how their stories are going to be, even if it's something like talking about a project.” - @KenMelton2001
•  “Always write for the human reader first and then the search engine second.” - @JasonMudd9
• “Don't be afraid to ask for help. You never know the answer you're going to get, but it gets you closer.” - @KenMelton2001
• “A piece of advice that's been helpful to me over the years that I try to give to others is while you're writing, visualize the one person that you are writing this to.” - @JasonMudd9 
• “When you have a memory, it's always tied to maybe even a sound or a smell. The same thing goes to your reading. When you read something, that one nugget and it brings you back, you're like, Oh, man, I remember that.” - @KenMelton2001

If you enjoyed this episode, would you please share it with others and leave us a review?

Contact Ken Melton:

Ken Melton on Twitter

Ken Melton on LinkedIn

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory website

Additional Resources:

• Encouragement for your writing journey PRSA article 
• Newsjack your way into the spotlight 
• Listen to more episodes of the On Top of PR podcast.
• Find out more about Axia Public Relations.

Episode recorded: September 6, 2023 

Support the show

• On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.
• On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.