Five PR Basics: saying less is saying more

When you need to drop 2,000 words on "what PR Is not about," as a recent online opinion piece does, you're too much in love with the sound of your own words. And losing readers with every sentence.

By Joost J. Bakker (Flickr: Do The
Right Thing graffiti Amsterdam)
[CC BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Is this really a checklist? It feels like a rant -- a long-winded epistle about what PR is not about that strayed into TLDR* territory after 300 words. 

So, in the interest of brevity and casting PR in a less-defensive light, here's a much shorter list of what public relations is:

1. Public relations is about building trust between an organization and its stakeholders: customers, members, employees, investors, partners, and media. Do this by telling the truth. 

2. PR is about helping organizations and their leadership act and sound smart, innovative, and authentic. 

3. PR is about doing the right thing and getting recognition for it. (I always attribute this to David Culver at Boyd Tamney Cross, who's the smartest public relations leader I know.)

4. PR is writing and sharing an organization's best stories in ways that connect their people, products, and services with others. And building relationships. 

5. PR is one essential element in an integrated marketing communications strategy. Advertising, digital content, social media, and event marketing are a few others. They should work together.

You can lengthen this list if you like. But saying less is often saying more.

*Too Long, Didn't Read