Become a Pharmacy Media Darling | Michelle Burdo

This transcript was generated automatically. Its accuracy may vary.

[00:00:12] Mike Koelzer, Host: Well, hello, Michelle. 

[00:00:13] Michelle Burdo: Hey, good morning. Nice to be with you. 

[00:00:15] Mike Koelzer, Host: Thanks for joining us, Michelle, for those that don't know you, haven't seen you online. Tell us your name, give us a little introduction of what's going on hot 

[00:00:26] Michelle Burdo: right now. Give me my soundbite, right? Yeah. Well, hi everybody. A pleasure to talk to you.

My name's Michelle Burdo. I'm a former television news anchor. And now I teach executives how to look good and sound good on camera. And I have fallen into the healthcare space. I've been working with a lot of pharmacists as of late, and it's a joy to get to know your world, your language, and help you build a video library that you love.

It's a different 

[00:00:58] Mike Koelzer, Host: language, isn't it? It 

[00:00:59] Michelle Burdo: really is. Um, you know, it's interesting because as you come into your world as an outsider, There are so many acronyms, right? And so many different points of view about patient outliers and medication adherence. And you have to take a step back and a little bit of a breath to say, okay, let me think about this medication adherence.

Obviously that means X, Y, Z. Um, but what patients really want to know, what do they really want to know about. As a pharmacist, that's really my sweet spot. And then I, I of course will combine that with the world that you're in. Michelle, how many 

[00:01:38] Mike Koelzer, Host: other fields besides pharmacy? You know what I mean?

Like you specialize in any other ones, like car sales or something like that. How many different languages do you 

[00:01:52] Michelle Burdo: have to do? You know, I, I, it's interesting you say it like that. How many different languages do I need to speak? Because I actually said this years ago, I spent 15 years as a news anchor across different markets for CBS, Fox news, NBC, et cetera.

And, uh, I once said to a colleague of mine every morning, We need to be absolutely a hundred percent speaking, the same verbiage as so many different industries. So you're right. One day I'm talking to a person who owns a car dealership and I'm talking about entrepreneurship. And another time I'm talking about sociology and how we change the income status of people to bring more programs in.

And where does that money come from to fund that? It's amazing. But to answer your question, I do a lot of work in politics. Okay. Um, I do a lot of work in healthcare and manufacturing and manufacturing, which are all totally different. 

[00:02:49] Mike Koelzer, Host: They cross, of course, because if you think about those three things certainly would be.

Probably the top three things you would have to know if you were talking to a drug company or something, who's manufacturing things and has to get clearance from the government or something like that. So once in a while you hit probably that perfect trifecta of interviews 

[00:03:09] Michelle Burdo: and so on. Now, I think that there are so many similarities to what I have built as to what I used to do.

So. When it comes to forma, I still write scripts and I still have. Go through the editing process to make sure it's as clear, concise, and conversational as possible. So I'm still being creative that way. I'm still using all of my storytelling skills on how to take what I've done for 15 years, every single day, and use that skill set to create the stories that really matter.

So instead of being on the crime beat or the education beat, I am helping. People in healthcare tell their stories so that they have a point of differentiation. 

[00:03:54] Mike Koelzer, Host: Yeah. You know, it sounds to me like you're putting your psychology degree from, uh, New Jersey to use 

[00:04:02] Michelle Burdo: Mike kudos to you. You did your homework.

[00:04:06] Mike Koelzer, Host: Why psychology before getting your master's in broadcasting. 

[00:04:12] Michelle Burdo: So that's a great question. So everything I do in retrospect is based on my love for people. So I've always been that student that went above and beyond. I loved being a student. I love learning. I still love learning. I still love the energy in a classroom to that end.

I wanted to impact people and I took that psychology degree. And instead. Uh, opening up my own practice, which was originally a it's like, I'm going to go straight through, I'm going to get my PhD and I'm going to open up my own practice and I'm going to help people. Uh, I, I took that desire and instead of helping one person at a time, I chose to help the masses at a time.

And I thought the best venue to fulfill that dream was in broadcast journalism. And that's when I finished my psychology degree, it was after an internship. I went to Walt Disney world. That was my senior year. So my senior year of college, I was a college intern at Disney world. And I came back after seeing how a large company works.

Affects change and happiness in the world. Right. It made me switch courses. Um, and then when I decided to get my masters in broadcasting, I interned at good morning America, um, and CBS locally in Miami. And after doing that, it was just for me, I knew that I was in the right place at the right time. It was it, and there was no stopping me.

There was a time Mike, that I had eight different addresses in five years because of broadcasting. You have to keep moving around and moving around and getting to the next opportunity. Because when you think about it, there's only six jobs and an entire television market. Area. So not to detour on the world and business of news.

I know we want to talk about pharmacy, but to give you a little bit of a taste, there are 210 designated market areas in. The United States. Number one is near New York city. And number two 10 is Glen dive Montana. So what you do in broadcasting is you go to those markets that have a thousand people in them, and you make all your mistakes on live television there because not many people are seeing them.

And then you work your way from market to market, to market. And then. The market changes, but also the position changes. So you work your way up from reporter to news, anchor, et cetera, et cetera. So I was constantly on the move and I loved it. It was the best time in my life. 

[00:06:59] Mike Koelzer, Host: Making 

[00:06:59] Michelle Burdo: those moves, making those moves feeling as if you're conquering.

The next step in your career. Right. And I always said for me, my personal goal was to be in a top 10 market as a main anchor. Uh, and, and I did, I was in Atlanta, which is a top 10 market and I was the main morning anchor. So, once I did that, I felt like, okay, I did this, what am I going to do next? What's the second iteration of this career?

And that's when I in 2012, started my own company and I, it started off as just media training and the onset of that was the advent of all of these talking heads. It was right around that time. All these talking heads were coming into local news stations, as well as of course the cable news stations. And I realized that not many entrepreneurs have.

Any knowledge of what they were walking into or the opportunity that was in front of 

[00:07:59] Mike Koelzer, Host: them, the talking heads you would define as on Fox or CNN, the people coming on and different formats. But one of them is eight people screaming at each other for 10 minutes. And some of the other ones are one or two relaxed people on the screen, probably with a green screen in back, maybe.

Is that a nor phenomenon? 

[00:08:20] Michelle Burdo: Absolutely. So this was right around the time. You know, cable news was around for quite some time. Um, but, but when it comes down to local newscasts switching the way that they did business, right? So now for instance, I was at a Fox affiliate. It was a Fox news affiliate.

So it was owned. The ownership group was Fox and they were one of the first ones that went towards that interview style in their local newscasts. So I had the opportunity to. For Instance, I would interview local pharmacists, local people, local thought leaders in the healthcare industry and being on that side of the coin, I realized, wow.

There's some room here too, to work with these individuals so that they can capitalize on the opportunity that's in front of them to speak to a million plus viewers in this three minute segment. And how do you synthesize and condense your top ideas? Your two one-liners it's a skill. That needs to happen naturally in a conversation.

And it's difficult when you don't operate like this on a daily basis. 

[00:09:35] Mike Koelzer, Host: Let me backup a second. What was before the talking heads? Was it interviews that you would go into places or people on the street? What would it look like before the talking heads? Just people not being on the screen with you or in the, in the interview.

What's the difference? So, if 

[00:09:51] Michelle Burdo: you were to look at a traditional newscast, let's say nightly news, for instance, um, you will see a reporter. The reporter will what we call the industry toss to a recorded package in that package. They have video, they have. People on screen talking, those are called soundbites.

So how do you, how do you speak in soundbites? 

[00:10:18] Mike Koelzer, Host: Right? The 15 soundbites put together and so on. And the talking heads are more like, well, the viewers, the listeners. See this now, but you and I are on the split screen on the computer and we're talking so it's, it's different than a news report, right?

[00:10:34] Michelle Burdo: Correct. Yeah. And then there are different nuances. So a live interview has different nuances than a taped interview. Uh, so it's training people on knowing what to expect and how to deal with questions that they don't have any privacy to. So most journalists will not. Say here are the questions I'm going to ask you because of that.

Unethical. Um, so, so for, for instance, how do you deal with that in a live setting when maybe you're in a position where you're being put on the spot, or you just don't know the answer, uh, how do you get through that moment gracefully? So, initially I started off doing media training for entrepreneurs and leaders, because we were starting to bring in more entrepreneurs, um, local.

Uh, gynecologist or, um, let's say a local pharmacist. I interviewed a local pharmacist on air, on Fox, um, people from different walks of life who are leaders in their industry to come and, and beyond the news, because they had a newsworthy story pitch, which we could talk about another time. But initially it was doing media training and then.

Because of where we were in the world, social media just took off and people were starting to put together videos for their social media presence. And even beyond that of just now we expect video. Yeah. Right, right. Expect to be a part of your world by looking at you and hearing you and seeing your facial expressions and understanding who you are, because we were able to do it virtually now because technology has reached us in that capacity.

So now we do business videos for. People who couldn't see themselves in the 

news. 

[00:12:27] Mike Koelzer, Host: Gotcha. They say, when you start a business, you find out where a need is and arguably maybe the better your business would be where greater or greatest need is. So let me ask you this, Michelle, you specialize in pharmacists as an industry.

Are we just terrible? I mean, is that where you saw the need? You saw the first of us pharmacists talking on the air and you said, oh my gosh, I'm going to be a millionaire. 

[00:12:59] Michelle Burdo: Oh, Mike, you know, I love you. And I just met you.

I think that what I'll say is I fell into pharmacy. Um, I started working, I had a. One of the speakers at an entrepreneurial event. Uh, there was a pharmacist there and after I talked about how to put together a video or a, and also how to pitch expertise to the media for free, uh, they, we started having conversations and what developed into a friendship.

And from there, it kind of just took off. I think that. What I respect most is how different our brains function. I mean, when we started off saying, you guys have your own language, you truly do. And I, if people can't see us on video right now, but what, what I'm doing with my hands is you guys talk at this high level.

Because you're so smart. 

[00:14:02] Mike Koelzer, Host: You are,

[00:14:06] Michelle Burdo: you can pat yourself on the back. Now, 

[00:14:09] Mike Koelzer, Host: Michelle, the reason this is called the business of pharmacy podcast is because we're not allowed to go anywhere that talks about drug names or science, because I'll just embarrass myself. So that's where it stops when you call me. That's as far as we go down the pharmacy aisle.

Well, 

[00:14:28] Michelle Burdo: I truly admire all those in your industry. You guys have such an expertise that needs to be unveiled to the general public, to be quite honest with you. I think that it's hidden and there is such an opportunity there to show. Well, you guys have been doing this for years, right? And to respect the schooling that you have all gone through.

Uh, so to answer your question, I think it's, it's fun to bring my world into your world and see the end result. 

[00:15:02] Mike Koelzer, Host: Pharmacists typically in their daily job have to be a hundred percent correct all the time. You know, they always have to be a hundred percent correct. Does that show up in an interview when you're trying to have a pharmacist, let's say be at the same level and I'm not saying up or down, but let's just stay at the same level of the viewer.

Is that psychology showing up at all ? Analytical and they have to be a hundred percent. And does that show up in a negative way that you have to overcome? I think 

[00:15:37] Michelle Burdo: that we have to pull back the information to remember who you're speaking to. Uh, so I think it's very easy to get into a space where I'm sure you get excited to talk about your own industry and the nuances of that, but is it falling flat and on deaf ears to people who don't live that long?

So it is a skill on how to structure your thoughts to have it in headline form. And I'll share with you two aspects of the way that that shows up. So when I am creating a script in regards to. Performance measures and how they're created and how they're calculated. I start off with having all of your details in there, and then I would work with the client, the pharmacist, and I share with them, okay, this is the initial piece of work.

Review it, and now I'm going to break it down so that it is clear, concise, and conversational. I want you to review that and they're shocked by how I have taken a thousand word quote, unquote. And shrunk it down to, I mean, I would drink it down to about 300 words. Right. And I think that there is an angst with so many people who say, well, this word needs to be this word because it needs to be accurate.

And my response is. I come from a journalism world where we live in black and white. And although no one is going to be physically harmed. If we have an error, we are trained to synthesize these huge ideas and bring them down into a 32nd script. I mean, that's what I did. It was my job day in and day out every single day as a journalist.

And now I do. But on the pharmacy side, I synthesize those big ideas to make sure that they're watchable on camera and that the words are married to visuals. So it is, it is an intricate process. That I really enjoy because it pulls on that creative creativity of, of writing that script down and then going through the process of editing it.

And then I get that teacher rush because I'm able to share where I'm going with it with the client, the party. 

[00:18:07] Mike Koelzer, Host: A couple of thoughts. One is that it seems that the pharmacist is a good community. The pharmacist might have a leg up on that because of work talking during the day to elderly people and maybe people that have just been out of the hospital and, you know, they don't need to hear a lot of information.

You want to kind of give them the, just the nuts and bolts and, and stuff. So I imagine some of that. Hetty talk takes off possibly from pharmacists that are not dealing with. You know, little old ladies all day. And secondly I would hate to be a teacher, like you said, teach. And I, I think you're teaching, but I think you're also coaching and coaching.

I like, I'm not a coach, but coaching, I would like better because you're always dealing. It seems like something different, but I think I would be a bad teacher. Do you teach them? Did any of the junior colleges or anything 

[00:19:08] Michelle Burdo: like that? I do. I do. I teach journalism as a matter of fact, how do you like that 

[00:19:12] Mike Koelzer, Host: versus working with an individual?

It seems like it'd be boring. Your job as a journalist, certainly was something different all the time. Do you get bored? No. 

[00:19:23] Michelle Burdo: Well, because first of all, I see teaching and coaching to be similar capacities because I view my job. And my role as a, as an instructor or as a professor to go well beyond the semester, 

[00:19:37] Mike Koelzer, Host: I probably have put teaching into a bad position there because a good teacher is not just regurgitating information.

So I've kind of used a bad definition, but I don't like to just regurgitate that information. I always 

[00:19:53] Michelle Burdo: cater everything that I do. To the audience that I'm in front of. So 

[00:19:59] Mike Koelzer, Host: yes, I'm sure you do. And you've always 

[00:20:01] Michelle Burdo: had to correct because the audience is always different. So what do I mean by that? The curriculum that I have put together for journalism students.

I tweak it so that I am forcing the level of the class to move forward. And every level of the class is different by semester. Likewise, with pharmacy clients, the way that they naturally communicate. Is different for every person. So that's where the coaching comes in. Um, I, I ha there are basic skill sets, but they all have to be tweaked to meet your specific needs.

I have people who literally, this is a true story. They have a little index card in their pocket. To refer to their notes on how to communicate basic ideas about, for instance, diabetes, to a patient that walks into their pharmacy because they are so uncomfortable and rattled with that person to person interaction.

So that client is going to be different on camera than for instance, somebody like yourself who thrives off of communicating. I 

[00:21:13] Mike Koelzer, Host: was dead wrong in my assessment that the average community pharmacist enjoys that conversation. That seems odd to me that somebody would be in that much of a stress to talk to someone in a community pharmacy, but you 

[00:21:30] Michelle Burdo: see it.

Okay. I see it. So I live it. Um, and that's why I think that. Everybody has to be honest with themselves, their own things that they Excel at and what they don't Excel at and really improve themselves. We could all be better at something. Right. So, and, and what are you doing to improve your weaknesses? I mean, I'm sure we all could benefit from a coach in some aspect of life, right?

Whether it's a physical trainer or a communication coach, 

[00:22:02] Mike Koelzer, Host: et cetera. I know that my colloquial talk is sometimes just a mask of no. Remembering or knowing the more scientific terms behind things, because I can mask it. And as someone says, oh, you mean you're talking about such and such a big scientific word.

It's like, oh yeah, but I'm just trying to, I'm just trying to be approachable and keeping it everybody's level. It's kind of a mask, but I enjoy the mask. Okay, Michelle, you're going to paint this pretty picture of what we're supposed to do. And I want to bring out like the 11:00 PM Michelle, after she's had a couple of shots of tequila and I want to find out where do we really screw up on the news?

Give me an example of the worst things that we could do, 

[00:22:50] Michelle Burdo: answers 

That is too long. It goes back to that, being a perfectionist and very nuanced with the accuracy of your answer, and you could dovetail into many different tangents and that does not work for business videos or for broadcast live broadcast.

If you're using social media in your own pharmacy, um, people need to hear. Headline information specifically on, in broadcast form when you're talking about the biggest errors in news. Um, and, but likewise, that really does bleed into the content that you produce on a daily basis for yourself, you know, and I think that you could easily lose people when.

The answer has become a little too intricate. Now with that said, it depends on who your audience is. Um, but there are always ways to, no matter who you're talking to, to have clear, concise, and conversational language in there so that you continue to have engagement, because that's the other thing you could talk about.

You could talk for a minute, but if you're not engaging in that minute, no one's listening and hearing you. Uh, so those are certain skills that you need to be aware of when you're trying to do business videos or a podcast. For instance, I once 

[00:24:12] Mike Koelzer, Host: heard that journalists that are writing a story, you. What is the upside down triangle or right side up triangle or something like that, where unlike a pyramid inverted pyramid, that's it.

That's it. If you want to get all technical about it,

where. In case the editor wants to cut off the story. You've told the most important part first, and then you bring it down with more detail. And by the bottom you're talking about, you know, the guy's shoe size and things like that. And then if the editor cuts it halfway, you haven't lost the story, like a speech because you have this beginning and that huge ending and so on.

Is the news, anything like that, and as the clear, concise and conversational part, is that anything like that or is it different in speech? 

[00:25:09] Michelle Burdo: I think it's different in speech and here's why in traditional newscasts engagement is measured by ratings. We all get daily ratings from, for the newscast and. The realm in which you're using business videos, the measure is by engagement.

So there are different ways to engage and you have to do so in the first three seconds of being on video, the first three seconds, what are you going to say? What are the words out of your mouth? The very first words that are going to engage your audience and have them say, Hey. I want to stop scrolling or, Hey, I want to listen to the rest of whatever this guy has to say, right?

Yeah. So whether that's video for social media or whether that's video that you're hosting on your website, or whether that's video that you're producing for internal use in an educational series, no matter what it is. Why are you doing it? And why are you spending so much money to do it? If no, one's going to listen to you.

So the very first aspect is always having that engagement and, and you can, you could see that amongst all of the pharmacy videos that I put together, the formula, if you will, is to have engagement, then introduce your content. Then the meat and potatoes of your content, and then to reiterate the headline of the content and then leaving people with a way to, with, you know, what we say, call to action.

If they need something else. Um, that in and of itself, just those five steps is a great exercise on how to synthesize your thoughts to make them as clear, concise, and conversational as possible because you put it into that paradigm. And then from there, then you edit it to make sure you're truly talking to your audience.

Who is your audience? Are they male? Are they female? Are they a certain age group? Um, are there certain patients that are only taking. Medication for diabetes or are we talking about immunization? So all of those things are the next layer of how you would edit that content together. 

[00:27:23] Mike Koelzer, Host: The three-second pazazz then, then you're going into a, an introduction, an 

[00:27:32] Michelle Burdo: introduction of some sort of a, what are we talking about?

Over the next three minutes or so, whatever your video 

[00:27:38] Mike Koelzer, Host: is not hitting the three points for example, but just saying what they're about the number three is hitting the three points or whatever. Number four is a summary similar to that. Number two step introduction and number five is not so much pazazz again, but it's a call to action.

[00:28:01] Michelle Burdo: Correct? And if people, if there's anything that I could leave your audience with, it's that structure of how to really use that paradigm to get their thoughts on paper before a podcast, before a video, um, or before some more highly produced content that may use animation or, or 

[00:28:27] Mike Koelzer, Host: footage where I fail. Well, I haven't thought about it that much, but you start to think that things are different.

Well, like this is an internal video when people are on my website, so I can, I can just get into something and not do all the steps, you know, skip, maybe step one and maybe skip step five or, you know, this is a corporate setting. And so I don't want to do this. I'm going to do this, but it sounds like. You always do this, is that right?

I have 

[00:28:55] Michelle Burdo: written speeches for CEOs of companies. I have trained the highest C-suite level people in several industries, and I. Emphasis on always give the same structure and they are always amazed at how quickly they can get through their content using this structure, even though it's in front of people who that are going to say, Michelle, I, they already know I'm the CEO of the company and I'm talking to the employees.

I don't need to introduce myself again. And I said, you're right. You don't need to say your name, but you do need to say why you're on stage. Right, right, right. I mean, for me, the way I explain it is you're telling a story 

[00:29:41] Mike Koelzer, Host: that would be like step two, sort 

[00:29:43] Michelle Burdo: of correct. Okay. So they're still gonna go through with their engagement.

They're still gonna go through an introduction. They're still going to go through meat and potatoes. They're still going to go through that conclusion that wraps it all up for a third time. And they're still going to tell people why they are there for them and how they can get in contact with them.

Doesn't matter who you are. Doesn't matter what stage you're on. That is the paradigm, even when I write scripts and I, and depending on how we're going to tell a story, I still use that to have engagement in the video. The keyword is always engagement 

[00:30:17] Mike Koelzer, Host: or go to some of these. Dog and pony shows that the wholesalers that they have for the annual something or other, and these executives, are terrible.

These people are terrible. I mean, they suck big time and I'm not saying I do any better in the lights and all that stuff. Why are they so terrible? They're awful. A marketing executive for this big industrial thing. And they sock, you know, they're up there and they're dating at this teleprompter. And then, and then they'd go right and stare at this one and they've got these bad moves and they're just.

Terrible. And I'm wondering if they give any advice to them. And like I say, I'd probably do the same thing with the, with the lights coming down. I'm not putting myself on a higher level. I'm just saying they suck, 

[00:31:08] Michelle Burdo: listen. That's why I have a job.

That's why I love this. Well, you gotta get out more, listen, I will give all my contact information at the end of this. No. I firmly believe that if you have just a little bit of coaching prior to these appearances, that it makes all the difference in the world. And that's why we started off saying in this conversation that we could all be better at something.

And when you realize what that something is instead of sitting on your laurels, go after it and, and be better. Right. I mean, I know one of my weaknesses is technology. And so now I have people who help me with technology, you know? So it's about, it's about learning. Yourself and who you are as a person and doing better.

It's like 

[00:32:00] Mike Koelzer, Host: they interview these people and they know that once a year, or let's say four times a year, they're going to be up on stage. It seems like that should be part of the interview process for the job to see if they have stage 

[00:32:13] Michelle Burdo: presence. I absolutely agree with you. And a lot of chief marketing officers have never had to do it.

A training session where they're put to the task and they're put on the spot to do some public speaking, but I always offer this as a challenge. If you are thinking about the idea of going through a communication course or thinking about doing business videos, et cetera, what I always say is you, you may not need someone to help you.

Sculpt your ideas to the best of your ability. And you may already have that skill and not know it. So I always say. Pull up your phone, press record, have no delay. And in 30 seconds or less, can you clearly concisely and conversationally express your ideas with engagement that introduce the meat and potatoes, and then the exit and B and then press.

Look at it and see your facial expressions. Are you saying the words I like more than others all throughout that? Are you, uh, halting your ideas? So you do your own assessment and if you don't like what you 

[00:33:22] Mike Koelzer, Host: see, what does that mean? Halting ideas. 

[00:33:25] Michelle Burdo: Well, if you're pausing too much to the point where you're losing your audience, why do 

[00:33:30] Mike Koelzer, Host: that all the time, but I can cut all that out.

Well, 

[00:33:33] Michelle Burdo: That's the beauty of editing, but we don't live in that world anymore. My friend, it is a living world. 

[00:33:40] Mike Koelzer, Host: If you're the top banana of one of these huge companies, do you let your executive loose on stage and let them free-form talk freely? Outlines or is it all red? Because you've got 5,000 people out there and you'll be damned if they're going to say something wrong and screw up something.

[00:34:05] Michelle Burdo: So to answer that it's by the. Right. And how much trust that executive has with their employee on stage. Um, and I think that that falls back on that person's onstage his or her experience with speaking to a large group, because it is very easy to get up there thinking I'm going to rock this and you get up there and the lights go on, and then you do not, you forget the sequence or the outline of what you're going to say.

And you. So I think that there are different fail safe, so you could put in place to help that speaker along. 

[00:34:43] Mike Koelzer, Host: Oh, that's a good idea to fail safely. No one knows what they're going to do. It's like putting our hero soldiers, you know, out in the field and they think they're going to be able to do this, but they freeze, but you never get to really experience it.

And that's like speaking, you don't get to test it unless you could build an audience from 10, a hundred, 1 5300 and move up, but you don't get that. You go from three people and your imagination, confidence to all of a sudden 5,000, but that's where that fail safe comes through. 

[00:35:15] Michelle Burdo: Right. Right. And, and the training, I mean, there are plenty of people who.

I have guided their CEOs to get, Hey, you know, maybe we should just call Michelle and come in for a little bit. And that's their way of giving them a little bit of training without saying to their boss, Hey, you need a little bit of training. Right. 

[00:35:37] Mike Koelzer, Host: How do you do that? That's like someone coming to me and saying, Hey, I want you to meet this dietitian.

[00:35:44] Michelle Burdo: That is a very good comparison. Um, because immediately you're saying I've been doing this for 30 years. Why do I need XYZ to come and talk to me about something I've been doing? Um, so that's why I, I humbly talk to those clients and say, You do XYZ industry, you do it every single day. I'm not here to tell you how to do that.

Here's what I do. I've done it every single day. So we're going to combine our worlds right now and learn from each other. 

[00:36:16] Mike Koelzer, Host: People don't fall for that. They know that they know that someone's sick you on them. 

[00:36:21] Michelle Burdo: Yeah. But then they're probably thinking why. Um, wow. Maybe I do need a little bit of distance and Hey, she's already in my office.

We already paid her. So I might've, 

[00:36:36] Mike Koelzer, Host: it might just, you might as well, you might as well do it, right. It's like an intervention. 

[00:36:41] Michelle Burdo: It is a little bit like an intervention that'd be 

[00:36:43] Mike Koelzer, Host: sitting there. And all of a sudden I was on you're sitting on my couch 

[00:36:48] Michelle Burdo: once they know that they don't, they're not responsible for putting together the words that they're going to say.

They feel the load lifted off their shoulders. So they're like, oh, you're going to tell me exactly what I need to say and how I'm going to say it. Give me an hour of your time. And here you go. Everything's, 

[00:37:10] Mike Koelzer, Host: you're not just coming in and telling them to like, do better. And then it's like, oh, now I gotta remember all that stuff.

You're like, 

[00:37:16] Michelle Burdo: right. I mean, I'm literally creating the content. The words that they say, and then teaching them how to say it, to be that engagement factor for the 

[00:37:26] Mike Koelzer, Host: correct. Would there ever be a really a case like that where someone calls you in, I can see the CEO calling you in for anybody else, but are there actually times when you've been called in like secretly and then for the CEO.

[00:37:42] Michelle Burdo: The, I mean, the quick answer is absolutely 100%, a hundred percent. 

[00:37:49] Mike Koelzer, Host: Like what executive, like the marketing department brings you in. And, and, and you're going to have a meeting 

[00:37:53] Michelle Burdo: absolutely the global communications director will call me in and say, and now think about that. This is a person who is in charge of a global company who after 30 years of being in the business, Needs a reboot of how they go about speaking in front of the public.

It is not an easy thing to step in front of a live camera to step in front of a live audience or to be with you right now, because we live in a society where we need to be able to produce our ideas. And I keep saying it clearly, concisely and conversationally and at a moment's notice. And if you're not able to do that in an engaging way, you're in trouble.

Yeah. 

[00:38:37] Mike Koelzer, Host: One of the reasons I said that I had tried to have a relationship with the local news besides being fun and also being good for business is one of my thoughts has always been that I've had the times where reporters have come in and tried to shove the microphone on your face about either pricing or something.

And how do you in a sound bite get across something like. PBMs owning discount cards and forcing you to a gag closet, all that kind of stuff. So you've kind of at their mercy. So one of the reasons that I've tried to have a relationship with the news and tried to be a source for them is so they don't bite the hand.

That feeds them, me being the. What am I? I guess that occasionally I give them stories or I'm in there for their quick sound bite or something like that, that they'll know that if they come with any kind of those stories that they may not have access to me so much in the future, is that.

[00:39:39] Michelle Burdo: Absolutely. It's a great strategy to have a relationship with a health reporter who may need to come and talk to you about flu immunizations. I mean, that's not going to get controversial, but if you start talking about new policy changes that

 legislation is being considered that could become confrontational depending on your ideology.

Uh, so. I think that that's a great strategy. I think that it's an underused strategy for many independent pharmacists. I think that the idea of getting yourself out there as a thought leader in this capacity, they don't realize that it, I mean, it is free to be a part of the news, right? I mean, you don't get paid for those appearances, you know, and it's, uh, it, and, and likewise, you do not have to pay.

To have your voice heard. So it is, it is a very good avenue to be considered a thought leader in your space. I have done many training sessions with people who work on Capitol hill for, um, healthcare companies. And what they're trying to do is. Be able to do exactly what you just said of how you do in 30 seconds or less, and if you're doing a newscast, it has to be 10 seconds or less.

How do you talk clearly concisely conversationally? How do you get that idea across about PBMs, about everything that's going on regarding the changes of what is in store? For Americans. Uh, it's hard to understand. So you, so the answer to that is prep. You need to have, and I'm not saying a canned response by any means, but you need to have, uh, a skeleton of what your message is.

If you were to be asked that on the steps of any legislative, I mean, literally I was brought in. One time to train there, um, head of government affairs, uh, and her team on what to do if reporters were outside of, um, uh, a board room or whatever. And as soon as they exited, if a camera was thrown in their face with a microphone asking questions, that was the premise of the session.

And it's something that you really do need to be ready. 

[00:42:00] Mike Koelzer, Host: Being a source for the local news is really a nice opening that pharmacists have because there's a few reasons. One is that when the news wants a story, first of all, from the news side, I think they want something that. Timely. And so they want to be able to talk to someone maybe in an hour or two versus a day or two.

They usually want something that's local. They want to say, this is Mike from grand rapids versus, you know, Joe from wherever. Um, then they have very slim pickings on who they can use on the news. A few reasons. One is. The average pharmacist probably is busy and doesn't have the time they think for it to cause they don't trust the news.

Reporter three would be that sort of by definition, the pharmacist may not. Enjoy the news because we've talked about a hundred percent certainty and so on. They certainly don't get a hundred percent certainty being on the news. I found it very easily, especially being a community pharmacist, owning my own store.

Very, very easy to get on the news. If desired, 

[00:43:16] Michelle Burdo: there are 100% guaranteed sweets. For individuals like yourself that are pharmacy owners and pharmacists who do not have to report to anybody else. So I'm going to take it from the reporter's perspective. I already know if I have a story that I need to bell up as a day turn.

So I get the story at nine 30 and it needs to be a part of the noon. For the five to 6:00 PM newscast, I do not have time to go around in circles. Finally ended up in a PR department at CVS Rite aid, insert chain pharmacy. Here I am immediately looking for an independent pharmacist, a community pharmacist that owns their own shop.

That can speak to me on camera, not in three hours, not in two hours, maybe in the next 15 minutes. So. You absolutely have, um, geared in on something that is super useful as a, as a marketing tool, as an advertising tool for yourself, by being that thought leader and the go-to because once you're the go-to in a newsroom, Um, I'll give you some inside juice here.

Here's what happens in the newsroom when you are a guest on a newscast, or if you are in a taped interview, which we call a field interview after the newscast in our post-production meeting, literally it goes like this. The anchors are in that meeting the executive producer of the show, the show producer, the writers, everybody who is involved, the editors, sometimes the photographers, we all go around the table and we say, what'd you think?

Did Mike do well? Did he talk in sound soundbites? Engaging? What do you think? Do you like them? Yes. Do you like them? Yes. Do you like them now? Do you like them? Yes. Literally. You get voted on around the table. And if you have enough yeses, you go Indy yes. Pile. And that is true. Pile gives you access. For interviews for years to come, you go into a special folder that says, Hey, Mike is a pharmacist local.

He doesn't have to deal with any PR from a chain pharmacy, go to him with any healthcare question that you have when it comes to flu season, et cetera, et cetera, you go into a list that sits at the assignment desk and you are from that point on the go-to. Conversely, if you do not do well and you get more nos in that meeting than yeses, you will never be asked back again.

And I think after going through that experience on the broadcast side, it made me even more excited about the responsibility to teach people how to do a news interview, because it really is that simple. You're, it's a yes or it's a. And you only get one shot. One practice 

[00:46:20] Mike Koelzer, Host: I've been doing it lately because I'm ready.

Anytime the reporter comes into the store, it's a pain. I gotta, I gotta say, don't take a picture of that. And this person doesn't want to be on the news and my staff would duck down and things like that. And I have always thought that somebody in a studio looks cooler, like they've been invited into the studio, you know, they're top-notch and so on.

So what I tell the reporters now is, Hey, um, if it's okay with you, I'll swing by the studio. And I like doing it. Cause I think I look cool being there. Do you think that's good? 

[00:46:54] Michelle Burdo: Absolutely. It's easier for them. Time-wise there's better lighting. It's a controlled studio atmosphere. The audio is going to be better.

Your name and the pharmacy name that pops up on camera. You know, everybody knows who you are and the pharmacy that you own. That's fantastic. Take that one appearance and think about how you could use it down the road for yourself and for the benefit of your pharmacy. You could now take that appearance and now sprinkle it across your social media platforms and, and, and pull your own sound bites from that one interview to show people, uh, maybe it feeds a month.

Worth of content for you as a thought leader in the 

[00:47:41] Mike Koelzer, Host: studio. Let me ask this, asking for a friend, how does someone ever crack into the national news, like to like, to have it be a talking head for CNN on let's say pharmacy, how does that, how does that ever happen? Sure. 

[00:47:58] Michelle Burdo: So there are bookers for each show.

Um, so for instance, CNN new day there, their morning program, there is a book or for that. So what I would tell you to do whomever, this is of your interest. Seriously, though. This is a great question though. So if you feel like you're at that level, because you have the local news experience, there are two things that you can do if you're doing this for yourself.

And one of those is to scour LinkedIn for. Titles that say, show Booker, show, Booker show scheduler, um, and connect with those people when you're connecting with those people. The second thing you'll need is a real, you need a real to show I've done this before. I know you're afraid I'm a new face. So here's what I look like and sound like on campus.

If you have not garnered local news experience, yet you could still put together that real with the business videos that you've done for yourself. However, they will take note of whether or not you've done it in a news capacity. Something that you are not in control of the parameters, because hello, we live in an editing space.

They don't want you to, they don't want to see the edited you, they want to see the real you. So, you need that real. I used to do a talk about how you could be a part of the news tomorrow for free. And part of that talk is just brainstorming different hot topics that are in current events right now.

And if you're wondering how to cultivate your own list, go on Twitter. See what's trending. I mean, it's not difficult nowadays and shocking. News producers are doing the same thing, right? That's how we get our story ideas to go into the editorial meetings, doing the same thing. And it is incumbent upon the journalists in those meetings to have new exclusive or breaking news stories to pitch every single.

It's a hard job. It's extremely difficult. So if you have someone like a pharmacist in the area, Mike, I wish that you were in the markets that I was working in because just knowing that I have access to you, I could call you up and be like, Hey, what's trending in your industry that I may not know about.

And maybe there's a way that I can build that into a story. 

[00:50:27] Mike Koelzer, Host: All right, Michelle, listen, there's two people listening to this. All right. There's a person that is fascinated. Like I am hearing your stories and engaging in this conversation, but they just want to learn more about you from the outside.

They want to appear in, maybe see some things, maybe in a newsletter, things like that. 

[00:50:48] Michelle Burdo: So go to my website. I'm Michelle berto.com. That's MICHELLE as in boy, U R, D as in David, O as in Oscar, Michelle, umberto.com. Um, and you could look at the stuff that I'm doing there. Also, I do a weekly LinkedIn live.

I've been blessed with being part of their beta group on their live videos. And I do a weekly video with. Alive. And we talk about the healthcare space. You'll find that on your website. Yes. And then I'll put that on my website and contact information. Hey, listen, pick up the phone and call me or text me because I am an open book.

[00:51:25] Mike Koelzer, Host: The second question, who is your best customer right now? What are you looking for? Who do you wish would call you? Today I said, I want to do business with you. I've 

[00:51:35] Michelle Burdo: stumbled upon the pharmacy world. And I really do enjoy it because of the need to synthesize these ideas, to make them clear and concise. And I think that it falls upon my journalism side.

I feel a sense of responsibility to clarify some of the language and the perception. Upon pharmacists in this day and age, it's such a, uh, an uncharted space. So to answer your question, pharmacy organizations. Pharmacy owners like yourself, a 

[00:52:09] Mike Koelzer, Host: single store owner are usually more like a 

[00:52:10] Michelle Burdo: chain. I mean, I do work with chains, but I love working with independent owners 

[00:52:15] Mike Koelzer, Host: too.

You have things in your business model that can help an individual that calls you and wants to improve something. Correct. 

[00:52:23] Michelle Burdo: Absolutely. Wonderful. Yeah. Thanks Michelle. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.