Safeguarding Relationships

Under pretty much any circumstances, writing is a challenge. Specifically, I am talking about good writing as opposed to some quick note on a post-it or something you scribble-down and leave for your spouse or roommate on the kitchen table on your way out of the door. (In all fairness, even those communiques need to be understandable so they do require some level of thought.) Communiques such as letters, press releases, copy for a brochure, emails, etc. are of a higher order and therefore require greater attention and word-smithing. But what makes them so particularly challenging is not making sure they are well written but rather paying attention to the context in which they are composed.


Folks working in public relations are charged with more than simply generating greater positive visibility for clients. These professional communicators are relationship managers. As a result, everything they do is carried out with the idea of either establishing a connection between a client and a particular public or enhancing a connection that may already exist. Therefore, whatever a public relations worker may write, they must do so with the idea of feeding a relationship. This is a great deal different than simply trying to write something well. For a public relations professional, then, writing a note on a post-it becomes more than slapping down a brief message. Instead, that message must be written in a way that adds to an existing relationship.


Does that reality add pressure to the work of those in public relations? You bet. It also points to the notion that the work those in PR do is extremely important. For all of us, there are few things in our lives more important or fundamental to our well being than our relationships. Public relations workers strive to safe guard those ties. It is these men and women who commit themselves to helping ensure the connections those in business, community service and, generally, the public arena have remain viable and secure. That is why whenever they sit down in front a computer screen to compose copy, it is no small thing.