Compassion

One of the primary goals of any public relations effort or plan is to trigger action on the part of a particular audience. We see this all the time. A candidates blasts the airwaves with a range of ads designed to get folks to vote for him or her. A department store urges potential consumers to take advantage of an upcoming weekend sale. A neighbor asks another neighbor for a ride to work because their own car is under repair. The list of examples is endless. Further, while they may not represent traditional public relations campaigns, each does illustrate an attempt by one to generate action on the part of another.

In doing this, what "button" is the initiator of a campaign trying to push? What inner trigger is the candidate, department store or even neighbor seeking to appeal to via their outreach? Plausible and even logical answers might range from empathy and intellect to kindness or even a sense of duty. All those are definitely factors when one appeals to another. But the bottom line "button" by far is compassion. Compassion goes beyond understanding or feelings of empathy. Those, while important,  denote a level of detachment. For instance, just because one understands how awful it might to be trapped inside a burning building or grasp the fear that that person be experiencing, does not suggest they are going to actually do anything about the person's predicament.

Compassion, on the other hand, does equate with action. This intense feeling or emotion is what drives one to do something about electing a person to office, taking advantage of a sale, or giving one a ride to work. Professional communicators should recognize that while instilling support within others for a cause is a positive thing, it is not nearly as powerful as motivating another to step forward and deminstrate that support. All of us carrying inside the ability to be compassionate. The constant challenge of the communicator is to make contact with it.