Public Relations and Business Communications Flashcards
good communication benefits business
-increases employment satisfaction
-creates business opportunities
-saves money and time
good communication skills benefit you
-find a job
-share ideas in the workplace
-earn more
costs of poor communication
-wasted time
-wasted effort
-lost goodwill
-legal problems
internal audience
subordinates
superiors
peers
external audience
customers
suppliers
distributers
unions
stockholders
associations
special interests
government agencies
general public
basic criteria for effective message
clear
complete
correct
saves time
builds goodwill
analyzing a communication scenario
-what is your purpose in communicating?
-who is your audience?
-how will the audience initially react to the message?
-what information must your message include?
-what benefits will your audience find convincing?
-how can you ensure that you communicate ethically?
purpose
what do you want your audience to do when they read your message?
-accept an idea?
-change their mind?
-complete a task?
-know something?
-remember something?
-other?
elements of professionalism
-be the best: pros strive to excel, and excelling at every level is how you build a great career
-be dependable: pros keep their promises, meet their commitments, learn from their mistakes, and take responsibility for their errors
-be a team player: pros know how to contribute to a larger cause and make others around them better
-be respectful: good business etiquette is a sign of respect for those around you; respecting others is not only good, it’s good for your career
-be clear: communication is the single most important business skill you can develop
-be ethical: responsible pros work to avoid ethical lapses and weigh their options carefully when facing ethical dilemmas
conveying an ethical message
-is the language clear to the audience?
-does it respect the audience?
-do the words balance the organization’s right to present its best case with its responsibility to present its message honestly?
-do graphics help the audience understand? or are graphics used to distract/confuse?
-does the design of the document make reading easy? does document design attempt to make readers skip key points?
qualities of an ethical message
-honest and sensitive: considers all stakeholders, interested parties gave input
-all information provided: context, details, evidence
-logical arguments: fair use of emotional appeals, no manipulation
-quality sources: honestly used, accurately documented
unethical communication
-plagiarizing ideas or products
-omitting essential information
-selectively misquoting
-misrepresenting numbers
-distorting visual displays
-risking privacy and security
public relations (PR)
an organizational activity involved in fostering goodwill between a company and its various publics (eg employees, suppliers, stockholders, governments, the public, labor, groups, citizen action groups, and consumers)
public relations activities and functions
-advice and counsel
-publications
-publicity
-relationships with other publics
-corporate image advertising
-public opinion research
-miscellaneous activities
marketing public relations PROACTIVE
-dictated by a company’s marketing objectives
-credibility accounts for the effectiveness
-offensively oriented and opportunity seeking
-can take the form of product releases, executive statement released, and feature articles
