Public relations and communications professionals have many skills in our toolboxes that we develop and refine over our careers. One of the most important\u2014and one of the least discussed\u2014is the power of empathy. It could be called a skill sharpener because it can make every other tool we deploy more effective.<\/p>\n
Seeing the world from the point of view of others, even those we passionately disagree with, is essential to every aspect of communications: writing, editing, working with media, crisis communications, and even collaborating with our colleagues and supporting our clients.<\/p>\n
Writing and editing<\/strong> require us to put ourselves in the position of the reader. As we write, it is essential to think about how words will look, sound, and feel to someone else. Is the writing clear and readable, even for someone who isn\u2019t familiar with the subject? Does it set the right tone and pace for what you want to accomplish? Good writing comes not just from picking the right words and structure, but from stepping back and reacting to the words as a reader coming to it the first time. It requires checking your own reactions as you read, write, and review from a place of empathy.<\/p>\n Media pitching<\/strong> can be much more effective if you have an in-depth understanding of the journalist\u2019s viewpoint, including insight into how news organizations work. Thinking about your audience for pitching can be like a funhouse mirror because you must consider the reporter\u2019s point of view as well as the viewpoint of their audience and the perspective of the editors that the journalist certainly has in mind in deciding what to cover\u2014or not. When planning a pitch, keep in mind what it\u2019s like for a reporter to be on the receiving end of dozens or even hundreds of pitches a day. Empathy and some research into the reporter\u2019s beat can help you highlight what\u2019s in your organization\u2019s or your client\u2019s interest that is valuable to the reporter and their readers.<\/p>\n Crisis communications<\/strong> should start with putting yourself in the shoes of the intended audience. A wise communicator once told me that in a crisis you should remember words attributed to Teddy Roosevelt, \u201cNo one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.\u201d The first step in communicating in a crisis is understanding and acknowledging the pain or difficulty that other people are experiencing due to the crisis. (Recall, for example, the BP oil company CEO who memorably complained, \u201cI want my life back,\u201d in the aftermath of the massive 2010 oil spill that killed 11 workers and destroyed the livelihoods of countless Louisianans\u2019 who relied on tourism and fishing for a living.) Without that first attempt at empathy, no one cares what you have to say.<\/p>\n Empathy also makes you a better colleague, consultant, and client<\/strong>. It is easier to understand the views of people you work with if you\u2019ve been on multiple sides of these relationships. Even if you haven\u2019t experienced it all, it is important to ask sensitive questions and listen carefully to the answers. Remembering what it was like to be new to a job or just learning a field, or trying to understand the pressures your colleagues or bosses are under, can go a long way in building relationships. Recognizing others\u2019 desires to be recognized and understanding the full scope of all the demands that your clients face make everyone happier and more effective.<\/p>\n Developing empathy takes self-awareness and an effort to deliberately seek and understand other viewpoints. Watching and reading news that presents opinions opposing your own can be disconcerting, uncomfortable, and even painful. Persuasion theory, and our experience in the current pandemic, tells us that bombarding people with facts doesn\u2019t change minds. Asking questions, listening, and sharing are the more effective first steps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Public relations and communications professionals have many skills in our toolboxes that we develop and refine over our careers. One of the most important\u2014and one of the least discussed\u2014is the power of empathy. It could be called a skill sharpener because it can make every other tool we deploy more effective. Seeing the world from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":6615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[58,70,38,11],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6612"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6613,"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6612\/revisions\/6613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thereisgroup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}