The Art Of Communication Is Balancing Who You Are And What You Believe With The Expectations Of The Audience. By Thomas J. Roach Nothing is more naïve than dismissing communication by saying, “it’s only rhetoric,” or “it’s just political correctness.” The first and most important lesson about communication is that it is strategic. The world we live in after we…
Read MoreCategory: Community Relations
The Human Side of the Equation
My Fullest Understanding Of Who I Am And What I Am About Has Everything To Do With How I Treated Others And How They Treated Me. By Thomas J. Roach Many years ago, a supervisor of mine told me that he almost choked to death at a dinner meeting with corporate executives. One of the men at the table performed…
Read MoreHow Will AI Effect PR?
Will PR Professionals Be Replaced By AI-Driven PR Software Programs? By Thomas J. Roach Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is currently developing the ability to perform basic public relations tasks like generating media releases and mission statements. Results are pretty basic right now, but they will improve. Media releases and mission statements are very formulaic, and AI is all about formula…
Read MoreCulture is Communication
The Business Environment Can Be Analyzed And Managed If It Is Seen As A Network Of Communication Processes. By Thomas J. Roach Businesses are social institutions. Anyone who thinks a company is a clockwork mechanism driven by employees carrying out orders from managers is delusional. No matter where someone appears on the organization chart, their performance is governed mainly by…
Read MoreKeeping a Notebook
The Need To Keep Lists Is Obvious To Most Of Us, But Have You Ever Considered Making Notes To Help Manage How You Communicate? By Thomas J. Roach Everyone should keep a notebook. Imagine Sherlock Holmes on the moor peering down at a clue. The gloomy fog wafts around his ear-flapped cloth cap. He reaches into his tweed coat and…
Read MoreTiming is Everything
Whether Giving A Speech Or Just Speaking One-On-One, The Timing Of What We Say Is As Important As The Words We Choose. By Thomas J. Roach Timing is everything. Haven’t we all made what should have been a welcome comment, but it turned out to be unwelcome because of when we said it? And haven’t we all discovered rare moments…
Read MoreRefuting the Fallacies
People Will Usually Try To Be Objective If They Are Asked To Be Objective. By Thomas J. Roach There are occasions when one needs to refute an argument. It might be a workgroup meeting, a presentation to a zoning commission or a press conference. When plans or perspectives are at odds, it sometimes becomes necessary not just to make your…
Read MoreHaving Something to Say
If You Don’t Have Something To Say, You Are Wasting People’s Time, And They Will Know It Immediately. By Thomas J. Roach Public communication comes with requirements. When speaking or writing to a group we contend with different expectations than when we speak privately. We are supposed to be organized, to use more formal language and to have information that…
Read MoreThe Art of the Apology
Here Are Suggestions On How To Navigate This Sometimes Public And Sometimes Interpersonal Exchange. By Thomas J. Roach Apology is a communication genre that is as old as civilization. When people live and work together, they have tacit expectations and needs that are met and gratified by others. When one party violates those expectations or fails to meet the other…
Read MoreLeadership and Participation
While The Principle Of Delegation Is Clear, The Means Of Carrying It Out Are Often Not. Thomas J. Roach Most managers understand that a work environment of participative decision-making is preferable to one where only supervisors make decisions and subordinates unquestioningly carry them out. However, while the principle of delegation is clear, the means of carrying it out are often…
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