PR Word of the Week #22: My favourite PR Word – Communicate

For the past few months I have been sharing definitions of words used in public relations and communications to help communicators enrich their vocabulary, and in some cases, spark a little discussion on commonly debated definitions of certain PR and communications words.

This week, I thought I would share with you, my favourite PR word, as well as kick off an exciting “My favourite PR word” series.

It is not always easy to explain our industry. We are often behind the scenes of the big campaigns and big brand names. No one remembers the PR firm; they remember the event, the campaign, or the crisis.

My favourite PR word and the one word that helps me explain our industry and our job is…

Communicate

(kəˈmyo͞oniˌkāt)
verb

1. Share or exchange information, news, or ideas
2. Impart or pass on (information, news, or ideas)
3. Convey or transmit (an emotion or feeling) in a nonverbal way
4. Succeed in conveying one’s ideas or in evoking understanding in others
5. Be able to share and understand each other’s thoughts and feelings

Example

“To communicate” briefly explains everything we do in our industry. We help organizations communicate with their audiences. This includes:

• to communicate with journalists in order to increase an organizations profile in the public eye;
• to communicate with an organization’s employees to ensure employees are happy and productive;
• to communicate with government officials to encourage policy changes that will help an organization’s mission or vision; etc.

The act of communicating also comes in many forms: writing, broadcasting, social media, strategic planning, etc. All aspects included in the average day of a PR or communications professional.

So the next time someone asks you, what do you do? You can say: I help organizations communicate.

Stay tuned for the next month and a bit, where I will be asking other public relations and communications experts as well as young PR professionals to define their favourite PR word.

I would love to hear from you. What is your favourite PR word? Share your ideas and opinions by leaving me a comment below.