Get it, got it, good.

WASHINGTON-- "I see media as generally an opportunity," a public relations experts in Washington says, "You have to give good to get good."

The vice-president of Fleishman-Hillard International Communications, Jeffrey Weintraub says that civility is key in a time when many frown at the media butting its nose into their business.

At Fleishman-Hillard, a leading public relations firm in Washington, D.C., Weintraub helps a variety of clients communicate their messages to the public and press.

He says his role is to shed "light on a point of view that happens to be our client's." To do so, Weintraub outlines strategies he uses to make the media "work" for his clients. The most important of these, he says, is to maintain a civil, interactive relationship with the press.

"Always keep your cool," he said, "I don't recommend handling [the media] in a hostile way, or an adversarial way."

Once relations have been established with the media, Weintraub uses a variety of tools to get his clients' messages across to them. To this end, he says the importance of basic writing principles cannot be underestimated.

"The simple solution is to ask myself- okay, what am I trying to say in this sentence, and to break that up into simpler sentences," he said.

In addition to simple sentences, Weintraub advocates the use of jargon-free words, clear metaphors and concise messages.

Writing succinct press releases and placing well-written opinion editorials in newspapers are just parts of his public relations strategy. With the focus today being on the power of multimedia, Weintraub suggests presenting the press with an "integrated campaign" of text, visuals and sound.

Weintraub is currently working on a public relations campaign aimed at publicizing a Saudi university's efforts to build the world's fastest and most powerful supercomputer.

Photo courtesy of Jeff's blog, "So it goes."