Strategic Strikes

About Strategic Strikes

Communications isn’t a job—it’s a fight. And in a world where a single headline can tank a brand, destroy a career, or shift public sentiment overnight, your survival depends not on how well you follow the plan but how fast you adapt when the plan explodes.

In Strategic Strikes: Mastering Your Communications in the Cage Match of Public Opinion, veteran strategist and crisis comms expert Patrick Riccards takes you inside the ring—political campaigns, corporate implosions, high-stakes boardrooms, and national scandals—to teach you how real strategic communicators think, respond, and win.

This is not another “how to write a press release” manual. Riccards uses vivid storytelling and the brutal clarity of MMA combat to expose the flaws in traditional PR thinking. He shows you how to read opponents—whether they’re hostile media, online mobs, or clueless executives—and respond with timing, clarity, and impact. His case studies include:

• A nonprofit hospital system accused of covering up a poisoning death, and how brutal honesty ended the news cycle in twenty-four hours.
• Coca-Cola’s brush with paramilitary death squad allegations, and the beverage choice that saved a billion-dollar contract.
• A campaign misfire that almost sank a congressional re-election, and the punch that landed just in time to win.

You’ll learn how to craft quick-strike messaging, build audience trust through authenticity, and stop relying on outdated PR “tools” that fail in the modern arena. With a sharp eye for media strategy, Strategic Strikes teaches you to shift from defensive tactics to decisive communications leadership.

Perfect for PR professionals, crisis managers, political advisors, and corporate execs who understand that in today’s world, public opinion is the cage—and the only way out is through.