Stream of Communication Thoughts

Communication is an act. An action. Any kind of behavior or verbal pronouncement not only transmits a message, but it also triggers some kind of reaction. People on the receiving end of another's statement or action either initiate some kind of physical reaction or response of their own or, at the very least, draw an opinion. As a result, with the act of communicating comes power. Take an office supervisor, for instance. If this person has a a casual relationship with the truth, then you can bet that kind of communicating will directly influence how they are perceived by their staff. On the other hand, if the supervisor demonstrates a deep commitment to being honesty, then the reaction it ignites will be a whole lot better not only for them but for the entire organization. The bottom line: those in-charge need to use their power carefully and communicate responsibility.

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Recently, I had the pleasure of listening to one of the giants of public relations, Thomas Hoog, talk to a group of budding communication students. One observation he shared was the great revolution our society has seen over the past several decades in terms of technological advancements. This revolution, he said, would not have happened without communication. He's absolutely correct. It would not be possible for me and thousands of others to blog, for instance. Additionally, being diagnosed with cancer is no longer akin to being given an automatic death sentence thanks to many hard working scientists as well as to those communicators who worked equally hard at helping those medical researchers advance their findings. Hoog's point was that the communication industry continues to play a vital role in the world. This role, he said, will continue to expand.

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Words matter. A man who lived that credo in a very public and honorable way recently passed away. I speak of William Safire, speech writer, New York Times columnist, and author. Safire was a warrior when it came to defending the English language. More often than not I did not agree with his politics, but I always greatly respected his great reverence for the beauty of our language. In many ways, he was one the English language's finest cheerleaders. Given the rise of public officials and personalities who do not seem to be all that articulate, I can only hope Safire's work will be carried on by others.

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I have been writing this blog now for approximately 14 months; nearly 130 entries. The comments I have received have been underwhelming. But I love doing this and will continue. If nothing else, it provides me with a great outlet to write about about a subject and field I love. At the same time, I welcome any one who might be reading this from time to time or might happen to stumble upon it, to share your thoughts with me and others. There is nothing I would like better than to include ongoing exchanges with readers in my blog.