LAST week, I shared five things I learned from my stint in media that I continue to apply in my work as a corporate communicator and marketer. For those who missed that column, here are those five points:
- There’s a story in everyone and everything.
- Research, research, research.
- Create and nurture relationships.
- Serve your audience, not yourself.
- Show, don’t tell.
I’d like to share more of these not-so-basic learnings today, as I feel they can be helpful not only to public relations practitioners, but to anyone who’s building a career, growing a business, or just trying to live a good life as a human being. Some points apply more to specific groups of people, but they are all useful.
1. Write for a grade-school audience.
This is something that has been instilled in me since journalism school. Whenever you write any article, you should consider the average reader as someone who has limited knowledge of your story topic. As much as you can, avoid using jargons and too much industry-speak.
Of course, this still depends on your target audience. Specialized or niche articles, sections, or publications can get away with being more technical. However, your story should still be simple enough to be understood even by a layman—or a grade-school reader.
The same principle applies to your communication materials. Know your consumers enough to know how far you can go with the technical stuff. If you want to be understood, it is safer to stick to simple language.
2. Mind your spelling and your grammar.
This is basic, but I feel that I should still include this here. For the love of all things holy, bright, and beautiful—please, please, please be conscious of your spelling and grammar. Communication materials with spelling and grammar errors are off-putting. They reflect badly on your brand, so please take a lot of time and care in proofreading copy before releasing them into the wild.
Word processing applications like Microsoft Word have made the task easier for us, with built-in spelling and grammar checkers. Make use of these tools. Also, if you have not heard of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, please look it up. It can be your new best friend.
3. Never stop learning.
Your brain may not be a muscle (it is, in fact, an organ), but you still need to exercise it—regularly, consistently. Learning does not stop when you graduate and get your degree. It still goes on even after decades of working and enjoying success in your career. It continues well into retirement, and stops only when the life has gone out of you.
While a beat becomes easier to cover the longer you are in it, that does not mean that you will know everything about it and not miss anything. Even the most veteran of journalists can get out-scooped from time to time. It is the same for corporate communicators. Which is why it is important to study and do your homework without fail. The world is constantly changing. You will get left behind if you stop learning.
4. Don’t be afraid of change.
Death, taxes, and change itself are the only constants in this world. A journalist meets new people and encounters new stories on an almost daily basis. No day is exactly the same. Public relations practitioners also face numerous issues and concerns every day, interfacing with both internal and external stakeholders whose needs and demands are constantly evolving.
This pandemic has shown us that nothing is sacred and exempt from change. The things we used to know and do have either ceased to exist or have taken a 180-degree turn. You must be flexible and agile if you want to survive as a communicator. You should even welcome change. As many great artists and leaders have said: stagnant waters fester and die—even science agrees.
5. You are only as good as your last scoop
Don’t rest on your laurels. The world is dynamic. Targets change. Audiences change. The environment changes. Your record-breaking campaign today may not yield the same results tomorrow. The only way to survive and thrive is to acknowledge that your best work is always still ahead of you. This is not to say that successes should not be celebrated. On the contrary, each win deserves a celebration. But do not let the high of success get to your head. Do not ever think that you are invincible and infallible.
On the flipside, do not let failure get you down. Keep a growth mindset: view failure as a springboard for growth and improvement, both in your work life and in your personal life. Use each moment of failure as an opportunity to learn. You may surprise even yourself with your capacity to learn, bounce back, and come out even stronger than before. Just keep grinding.
When journalists leave the profession to do public relations work, they are said to be “crossing over to the dark side.” But, really, journalists and corporate communicators represent two sides of the same coin. We are all storytellers. We all aim to leave lasting impressions on and inspire an attitude or behavior change from our consumers. Neither side is light nor dark, and we can all learn from each other so we can do our best work.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Abigail L. Ho-Torres is AVP and head of Advocacy and Marketing of Maynilad Water Services Inc. She spent more than a decade as a business journalist before making the leap to the corporate world.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.