Bee in the Hand

One of my favorite memories of my late father goes back to one summer day when he collected a bunch of us neighborhood kids in our backyard and had us gather around a small beehive. My father slowly extended one of his hands toward the hive until several of the bees landed on his open palm. All of us stared in amazement as until that moment we likened bees to crazed kamikaze fighters whose only purpose for existence was to sting people like us. While I do not remember exactly what my father said to all of us, I do recall walking away from that experience with a respect for those critters and appreciation for their existence.

It was a magical moment for me and one of several that convinced me my father had magical powers. Now that I am older, I recognize he did not. However, at the same time, there remains a small part of me that is not so sure. My point here is that sometimes what appears to be an act of magic is really little more than an act of intellect, patience, steadiness and respect. Those were qualities my father had, particularly at that moment, and ones one finds in successful acts of sustained communication. Professional communicators do not strive to establish a meaningful or lasting connection with another public in a haphazard manner. Instead, they produce strategies based on solid research and planning.

The fact is professional communicators need to exhibit and practice these qualities because they are not magicians either. Granted, putting together a comprehensive outreach program that helps generate greater profits for a company, record-breaking ticket sales, or increases in membership may seem magical, but it is not. More than anything, it involves an array of not-so-fun tasks, including sweating over how best to phrases various messages, determining what specific publics to approach, coordinating the efforts of a supportive team, and putting together an appropriate budget to pay for everything. Come to think of it, maybe being able to do those things well is a bit magical after all.