Earlier this week, I completed the second-to-last semester of my master’s program at NYU, with a group presentation of a strategic communications plan for the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). Beyond acclimating myself to working on group projects again, this semester’s assignment reminded me that as much as we as PR professionals may complain about the jargon thrown around by our clients, we in the PR world have our own jargon that we often forget about.
When presenting to a group of individuals who are not involved in PR, it’s too easy for us to use terms that we are used to hearing on a daily basis: media monitoring, live-Tweet, trends pitch, etc. How often do we stop to explain these terms, making sure that our clients understand what we plan to execute and the outcomes they can expect?
The first draft of our presentation, looking back, was crammed with PR jargon. After much tweaking, we presented the plan in layman’s terms. During the Q&A session it was obvious that we had gotten through to the UNGC. The light bulb had gone off and they understood the tactics they could implement to make their event successful.
This opportunity to present to a non-tech audience allowed me the opportunity to step back and understand that the basic element of PR is communication. We should not just aim to communicate with journalists and analysts, but with our clients as well. During this time of the year we are planning with our clients for 2010, and communications becomes more important than ever. As we develop our plans, we are not only planning on achieving our client’s business goals, but ensuring that they are also easily understood.
A former president of Yale University, Kingman Brewster, Jr. said that incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession. While we like to think here at Articulate that we are some of the leaders in our profession, PR jargon is one hallmark that we are happy to reject.
By Ashleigh Egan