Sunday, December 16, 2012

Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About


As we are all aware, communication is one of the main aspects of public relations. As the technology age continues to grow, our interpersonal communication skills start to diminish. Interpersonal relations, which are the communication skills or relationships between people, are key in the public relations industry. Relationships are built off of the communication exchanges people have. 

Because of the new dependence on technology, people see less reason to have direction conversations with each other. Meetings, conferences and just day-to-day discussion can take place through email, which makes talking to someone directly on the phone less important. Emailing can be seen as a haven for those who fear direct conversations; responses are delayed, which give people an opportunity to ponder their response rather than being put on the spot for an immediate answer. 

Technology is a fairly recent phenomenon and people have certainly jumped on the bandwagon. The appeal comes from the convenience factor. People can juggle a million other things while sending emails, participating in teleconferences, or even sending a text message.  

The reliance on text messaging also greatly affects the communication skills that are so important. Text messaging allows people to be informal in their conversations, which becomes a habit that translates into everyday life. Text messages require little to no grammar and abbreviations of words; these habits cannot be reflected into our professional life. Thinking before writing and not incorporating social text with professional writing will result in the best respect.  

It’s important to remember that when dealing with clients and professional workers, keeping your writing professional will serve you well. People want to see you as a credible professional and the first start is through your writing. Although technology is an instrumental part of our everyday lives, we must use it rather than abuse it and not rely solely on its powers for our ways of communication. 

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