In the world of Public Relations, a huge cornerstone is building and maintaining strong relationships. A big way to be successful in building those relationships is mastering how to communicate effectively. When in Public Relations no matter if you are meeting a random stranger on the street or talking to large stakeholders, you need to be able to convey yourself in a similar manner that is clear, concise, and accurate. How you portray yourself is make it or break it in the world of PR. Let’s jump into some skills that can enhance your communication.
Active Listening
Being an active listener is huge. You need to hear where your speaker is coming from and get into what they are saying and feeling, rather than listening to respond. Use feedback and engagement to let them know you value their words and welcome open dialogue.
Understanding your Audience
This skill goes hand in hand with active listening. Understand your audience and communicate accordingly. Being well-versed in who you are speaking to and your audience will best prepare you for every upcoming situation or conversation. In PR, one of our main focuses is to resonate with our audience and the best way to do this is to see your audience and what matters most to them.
Build Authentic Relationships
There are two main factors that you need to consider when building relationships: trust and mutual respect. Every day there is the opportunity to build relationships whether that be with clients, stakeholders, co-workers, or in life outside of the office. Take your time and get to know and connect with these people. You can never have too many relationships and networking opportunities. The more people you know and that know you in a positive way the better. So attend events, meet people, get yourself out there and reach out to the ones you have already created that connection with. Remember to be authentic to yourself and that will bring more loyalty in others.
Engage your Audience
When speaking to your audience use clear and concise words to avoid abbreviations and jargon that might lose them in your speech. You want your message to be clear and to the point so you don’t lose them. A great tool for engaging your audience is storytelling. It paints a picture of what you are saying and they can follow along, this can also make your message more memorable.
Digital Tools
We have so many devices and platforms at the tips of our fingers, we can find some ways to put them to use for our benefit. We can now connect with a larger audience thanks to social media and being able to share content quickly and on a large platform but also engage in conversation. There are ways to track engagement to figure out what resonates with our audiences and what does not in order to manage those relationships. Remember to be consistent on all platforms to build your credibility and reputation. Digital tools make our lives easier in the sense where we can easily respond and act on issues but also stay relevant.
Our Final Tips
Now that we have thrown our best tips at you, I think we are ready to start communicating and build those relationships. It is going to take some time to get to where we want to be in our careers but by starting now we can get the ball rolling and get our best foot in the door for a career of effective communication and strong relationships.
Thank you for joining us!
Lauren Roby and Rylie Todd