On a press tour to drum up attention for his new book on Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first 100 days as President, Jonathan Alter, a senior editor at Newsweek, realized he learned a great deal about the art of media relations from his own subject.

Among the PR lessons learned by writing “The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope,” Alter emphasizes the importance of speaking plainly. In particular, Roosevelt’s fireside chats were unprecedented because it allowed the President to engage people directly. It was the first time average citizens saw a person in power use a conversational tone to speak to the people. He didn’t talk down to people. Through his conversational manner, he was able to convince the majority that he sincerely identified with their concerns and was one of them. Furthermore, the focus on being brief in his remarks ensured that he wouldn’t overstay his welcome and bore his audience. Plus, FDR knew there was something to “always leaving your audience wanting more.”

And when it came to handling the press, FDR knew that it pays to be accessible to the press. Alter notes in his book that the President often had up to four press conferences a week – more than most recent Presidents have held in a year.

Why is access to the press so important? By avoiding the press, it forces them to go elsewhere for the information they need. The press can go around you. One reason FDR was so successful was that he fed so much information to reporters, they had less time to go around snooping to find other things. Access kept them busy reporting on what he said and on what he did.