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.