The Five Rights

There is no sure-fire way to reach a particular public. In communication and, more specifically, public relations, nothing is guaranteed. That, of course, is what makes the profession such a continuous challenge. Practitioners do their research, try to come up with the best messages they can, present them in appealing and timely ways, and send them out to specific audiences. What happens after that is unknown until something happens. Such a level of uncertainty is the nature of the public relations beast. The challenge for practitioners is to come up with strategies that help reduce the degree to which specific results are unknown.

There are specific keys to successful public relations, however, that can serve as general guidelines for effective outreach efforts. I have grouped them into what I term "the five rights." They are: right people, right channels, right time, right message and right words. Collectively, they refer to the timing, content, wording, intended audience and vehicles of the communication effort. For a plan to be most effective, they should be carried out with as much coordination as possible, nor should these elements be implemented in a vacuum.

Public relations is a team sport. In the case of "the five rights," practitioners can and should think of them much like a basketball team in that each member or part has a specific strength and role to play. Like a basketball team, the members rise and fall as one. The communicator needs to know the right audience to approach, but in order to do so they need the right message being sent out via the right channel at a time that is most right for the targeted public. One "weak" or flawed member of this so-called team and their ability to succeed is compromised.