Gossip

Generally, "gossip" is defined as unconstrained chatter about others involving unconfirmed facts. The relationship that most have with it is mixed at best. At the very least, we are aware of its existence but refuse to either participate in it or add to it. On the other end of the spectrum, we cannot get enough of it to the extent we add to it and/or do not hesitate to share it with others. For myself, I confess to falling somewhere in the middle of those two ends. I will not necessarily close my ears to a juicy tidbit but at the same time I draw the line at spreading it. Given that, I am not sure if that makes me a gossip hound or not.

Gossip is a tool that some in the communication "game" use to promote various ideas they wish to plant in the public trough. For instance, a publicist representing an actor/actress may casually mention to a reporter or two that they heard two executives discussing the possibility of a particular person being considered for a juicy role in an upcoming motion picture. The reporters eagerly print the tip because it is "hot," not suspecting that the tip is totally made-up. In a more serious vain, a top executive in The White House may float to a reporter the notion that a certain policy is about to be announced by a top official. After the "tip" is printed and aired, the executive assesses the public reaction to help them decide whether nor not to actually push forward with the proposed policy.

No question, such strategies can often be effective. They enable sources to launch trial balloons under the veil of anonymity while also giving themselves the option of either confirming or denying a tip's veracity when they are approached to comment "on the record." Clever indeed. Still, does this represent the best of public relations, a field of communication that is supposed to ride on the wings of truth? The answer, of course, is "no." Yet it exists and is used quite often in all fields, not just show business or politics. As one dives deeper into the public relations well, practitioners must decide if such a game is one they wish to include in their arsenal.

Anxious Times

I was reading an article the other day about childhood and how it is such an anxious time for kids as they navigate their way through the early years of life. Let's be honest, even as we so-called adults often look back on those times as the "good old days," the fact is none of those years are easy. For children, they enter into each of their days feeling inadequate on some level and, consequently, at least a little afraid. (Do those deep feelings ever completely go away for any of us?) Despite that, the great majority of youngsters not only make it into adulthood, but they actually turnout to be pretty decent people. Whew.

But just because they are adults, it does not mean their lives are free of anxiety. If anything, reasons for anxious feelings become deeper because, in part, as adults more people are affected by our behavior - good or bad. We deal with others on the job, in our neighborhoods, within our families, and, indirectly, within society itself. Each day, every adult carries a lot on their shoulders just as they did when they were young. Thus, the question, from a communication standpoint, is how communicating can be carried out in a way that best eases the anxiety that all of us share.

The first part of the answer to such a fundamental question is that no matter how well one does communicate, feelings of anxiousness will never go away. All of us will never stop having moments of self-doubt or inadequacy. This is why the primary component parts of communicating must be honesty and compassion. Whether we are on the receiving end of an act of communicating or the one who is doing the communicating, for communication to be most effective it is essential that no purposeful deception occur and that the circumstance of others be taken into consideration. As all of us are insecure, we need all the help we can get if we are to successful interact with others. And that help must come from each of us.

Pivot

The other day I came across a great word that, to me, perfectly captures what an effective communicator must be able and, most importantly, willing to do at any given moment: pivot. While "pivot" has several meanings, in the context of how I mean it speaks to one's ability to pivot or change direction at a moment's notice when the situation calls for it. For instance, these days business men and women have been forced to change how they interact with clients or customers in this time of the coronavirus. Ones who are able to do this are successful, thus allowing them to maintain some degree of solvency and loyalty from those who use their services. Those who cannot ultimately cease to exist.

Going back as far as the dinosaurs, one could say in the face of their ever-changing environment, they were unable to pivot. Consequently, we only see dinosaurs any more in the movies or in books. Being able to pivot as well as recognizing the need to do so are vital to survival. This is true for any of us who rely upon how consistently well we interact with others for our own well being. Every day, people wrestle with their own set of challenges. In order to communicate effectively with them, each of us must be flexible and not so-locked into our own way of doing things that we are unable to make necessary adjustments.

Successful communication requires strategic thinking. Those who communicate well operate from specific plans or a good sense of direction. At the same time, they recognize that in order to achieve their goals, they must not be so tied to their strategies that they cannot makes changes in them. Thus, the word "pivot" comes into play. Prior to the virus, businesses, for instance, generally operated in a particular way. With the virus now upon us, they have been required to pivot or alter their way of doing things. Each day now, each of us need to assess how well we are pivoting when it comes to connecting with others and facing our own personal challenges.      

Old School-New School

I am not one to sit around and reminisce about the "good old days." As a rule, my preference is to talk about the hear-and-now with occasional references to days gone by primarily as a point of reference. But if I were to pull up a chair with others and discuss public relations, then my memories would be a mixed-bag. By that I mean I would not automatically claim things today are not as good as they used to be. To do so would be to ignore the reality of our technical advances and ability to connect with literally millions of others with well-timed and placed messages. As good as they may have been, pioneers like Edward Bernays and Ivy Lee could not do that.

Having said that, however, one regret I would express is how professional communicators seem to have moved away from the initial purpose of public relations. As the name suggests, public relations was designed to enhance connections between multiple publics; build and maintain bridges so that folks could move forward with a greater sense of shared purpose or harmony rather than view each other as a competitor or, worse, a group to manipulate or control. Such thinking, as I see it, is "old school." More and more, it has been replaced by a "new school" way of thinking designed to create division.

How the government is currently dealing with the coronavirus crisis illustrates the old school-new school conflict. On the one hand, the government is urging citizens to practice particular measures in order to remain healthy and help keep others that way, too. But on the other, overtures by the federal government are underway to sow division within the country. This includes blaming various state and local officials for decisions they are making when it comes to keeping their constituents safe. The result is a growing discontent among the populace. Not only are people unhappy with the virus, now they are increasingly unhappy with those responsibility for looking out for them. As a retired public relations practitioner, we could use more old school thinking and a lot less new school thinking.

In the Moment

To be a successful publicist, one needs to maintain two lines of thought at the same time: long term and in the moment. As the terms suggests, long term involves looking beyond the immediate and, instead, planning strategies that speak to, say, the next season or even following year. "In the moment," speaks to the present. The publicist and his or her team show up for work and strategize on what actions they can take that day to promote their client or organization. It is that aspect of the publicist's job that I wish to touch on in this entry.

Being in the moment involves what is dominating the attention of potential customers or clients and coming up with ways to piggyback on that. As I write this, obviously the big attention-getter is the coronavirus. Given that, an effective publicist should be trying to come up with ways to use the virus. An easy example would be a publicist who works at a university. This person should identify faculty members who might be able to speak to the economic ramifications of the virus and make their names available to the press for commentary. Also, they might identify faculty members who can offer tips to parents on how best to keep their children academically engaged while home from school and then, of course, make their names available to the press for interviews.

Being in the moment involves a level of professional nimbleness as well as an ability to move quickly. Such a reality is one aspect of the publicist's job that distinguishes them from other professional communicators. The publicist must not allow themselves to become complacent or locked into a routine. Their mind-set must be similar to a first-responder who has to be ready to spring into action when the circumstance calls for it. Today the coronavirus is the trigger.Tomorrow it will be something else. Whatever is around the corner, the effective publicist should be ready and, with practice, even able to anticipate what the next trigger might be.  

Using the Coronavirus

Because of the coronavirus, no question this is a challenging time for all of us. In fact, for me, I can honestly say it is a time like I have never known before in my lifetime. I bet many others can say the same. One group of folks for whom this has been particularly challenging are publicists - those men and women whose job it is to generate press coverage for their clients. For these professional communicators, getting their client's name in the paper or picture on television is their day-in and day-out mandate. Nowadays, of course, that challenge is taking a big backseat to the coronavirus. The focus of the media and general public is on the virus. Understandably so.   

Even though the coronavirus remains the dominating entity in our lives and is what is largely driving the attention of the media, the charge of the publicist remains very much on the table. Whether their client is a person such as a celebrity or candidate for office or an organization or business such as a university or retail outlet, the publicist still has work to do. What can they do to generate media interest in their client at a time when all eyes are on a specific issue - the virus? Here's the good news: The answer is easy. The difficult part is carrying out the answer.

These days, the only thing that is going to divert the media's attention from the coronavirus would be a Martian invasion. Given that, publicists should be devising ways to link their client to the virus. Example: If you work at a university, then perhaps you have faculty members who can assess the economic impact of the virus on their regional economy. If you work for a retail store, then perhaps the outlet can offer special hours for senior citizens. (Trader Joe's is one franchise that is currently doing this.) In other words, publicists should identify ways to ride on the coattails of the virus. There is nothing unethical about this. Taking advantage of whatever is "hot" is but one tool in the kit of all publicity agents.    

The Challenge for Independents

The coronavirus continues to carry on. As a result, so, too, do the many challenges of small and independent entrepreneurs. A number of small businesses have had to close up shop and are now riding out the virus. Fortunately, the federal government is taking steps to helm them whether this storm. Still, when the day comes when the worst of the virus is behind us and a vaccine has been developed, those same small businesses will have a challenging time when it comes to restarting their engines and returning to where they once were. This will include attracting their same level of clientele they once had as well as returning to whatever profit margin they enjoyed. It won't be easy.

The same is true for independent entrepreneurs who do not store operate out of traditional store fronts or who employ many, if any, employees. Under normal times, these enterprising folks only have themselves to rely upon when it comes to promotional efforts, attracting customers, and doing the work they have been hired to do. Under the best of circumstances, all of this represents a formidable challenge. Nowadays, however, the challenge is even greater. Many independent professionals are either having to scramble like never before in order to attract clients or maintain the level of workload they require to remain solvent.

What communicate steps can these "independents" take to maintain some level of income during these times when people are either buying less or are reluctant to even leave their homes? Now more than ever independent professionals have to maintain a high level of visibility to combat the old axiom "out of sight and out of mind." What service they provide, whether it is dog walking or website design, has not vanished just because the virus has been flexing its poisonous muscles as of late. Creative use of social media can help these independent professionals remain in the minds of their customers. It can also be used to drum up new business. It is one big way of not letting the virus do any more harm then it already is.

Lead By Example

The world continues in its battle with the corona virus. Until an antidote is discovered, authorities are pushing hard the basic message that in order to combat this virus, all of us must alter our behavior. In other words, we must adjust to our changing-environment or risk our survival. Throughout history, we have seen countless examples of living creatures that failed to do that and, as a result, vanished. Case-in-point: dinosaurs. The instructions being set forth seem straight-forward enough: stay home as much as possible and, when out in public, maintain social distancing. Other steps we can take include washing our hands on a regular basis and wearing masks. Simple enough. Right?

These past weeks the times I have been out in public I have observed a great many folks of all ages who are not wearing masks that cover their mouths and noses. Since it remains unclear who exactly might be a carrier, doing so puts non-mask wearers at risk as well as those with whom they interact. At his most recent press conference, President Trump urged citizens to wear masks. But when he was asked if he would do the same, he responded with an emphatic "no." I remain greatly disappointed at his response. By wearing a mask and having his immediate family members do the same, The President would be providing a powerful message to all who look to him for guidance during this most challenging of times.

I am not suggesting President Trump should wear a mask all the time. But surely he and his communication handlers could organize various events where he is seen interacting with members of the public while wearing a protective mask. His wife and adult children could do the same. Doing so would signal citizens of all political persuasions that they should follow suit. It would set a new standard for leading by example. I do not believe for one second thousands, perhaps millions of citizens would not take The President's action to heart. Such a step would be a powerful and effective act of communication.

Hard Truth

By now, everyone knows James Bond prefers his martinis "shaken not stirred." In this time of the global pandemic known as the coronavirus, it is becoming more and more clear that people prefer the truth neither shaken nor stirred. Instead they prefer it straight and without any sugar-coating. Yesterday, at the most recent press conference at the White House on the virus, President Trump and his team put forward the very sobering projection that before this health crisis is over, it is projected that over 100,000 people may die from this disease. The prospect of this harsh reality, to say the least, is enough to give any one pause.

Generally, the overall reaction to such a prospect has not been one of anger or denial. Rather, people seem to be appreciating the candor put forth by the White House. For weeks now we have been told that the coronavirus is serious and not to be taken lightly. At the same time, such statements have been diluted by those, including President Trump, who have been saying that within a matter of weeks they will be getting the virus under control and, as a result, people will be able to resume to their normal lives. Up till now, their reassurances have been met with a great deal of skepticism. Since this new revelation, more and more doubters are being turned believers.

The transformation, which continues, demonstrates the power of the truth. This is a great real-life lesson to all professional communicators, including those who speak to the public on a regular basis as well as "regular folks" whose audience at any given time is within single digits. Not only do people dislike being showered with falsehoods, they actually prefer the truth regardless of how unpleasant it might be. The best kind of communicating is where there is no deviation from the truth. The worst kind is one that is as far removed from honesty as possible. Such a fundamental hard-truth should never be ignored by all communicators everywhere.