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Communicating What You Do
posted by Bruce Freeman on Jul 27, 2009 | Comments (31) | Permalink | Trackback URL
Every one understands what a doctor, lawyer or teacher does. However there are many service providers who need to clarify what they do so that potential customers know what they are getting. Terms like consultant, business coach and yes what I do for a living —-public relations need some further clarification..
When people ask me what I do and when I tell them public relations, I usually talk about promotion and increased media exposure. When I get done, the other person usually squints and says—-so, exactly what do you do.
To illustrate what public relations is, I want to share a story with you that I heard Alan King tell. I am sure you have heard of the great historical event — the “parting of the Red Sea”. The enemy is advancing on Moses and his people. Moses is now standing at the edge of the Red Sea and standing next to him his public relations manager. I’ll bet you didn’t know that Moses had a PR manager. Moses turns to his PR manager and says,“the boats, did you get the boats?”. The PR manager looks up at Moses and says, “Oh Moses, I am so sorry, I got backed up on projects and deadlines, the server was down…I’ll make it up to you but I forgot the boats.”
Moses, in anger turns to his PR guy and says, “Well, what the hell do you expect me to do now, part the Red Sea, move my thousands of people across and close it up again so the enemy doesn’t kill us.“The PR guy looks up at Moses and says, “Moses, you do that and I’ll get you two pages in the Old Testament.”
Moral of the story…what is basic to you may not be basic to others. Find a few understandable ways to explain what you do and show value.
FILED IN: Branding, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, New Thinking, Marketing, Operations, Podcast, Public Relations, Productivity, Sales, Starting Your Business
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Well, what the hell do you expect me to do now, part the Red Sea, move my thousands of people across and close it up again so the enemy doesn¡¯t kill us
Communication is essential in selling yourself to potential clients. Having them fully understand what it is that you do is important. “What is basic to you, may not be basic to others.” Sometimes people do not realize or see the importance of your job or career because it is not known to them. That is why breaking it down in terms to their understanding is beneficial.
That’s funny! After reading the story of Moses and his PR manger it made me think that you want something done do it yourself. I know that if I want something done I do it myself. I understand in your own business sometimes there is too much for just two hands to do. That’s why you hire employees that you can trust to get the work done cause if you did it yourself.
After reading the story, it made me realize that I need to better develop my communication skills. I want to be able to reach people from different backgrounds. I want to be diverse in whatever I decide to do.
Communication is an important key in life, no matter what you do. For job purposes, having great communication will get your further in life. You need to be able to communicate with others in different things that you do, but not all jobs need communication. Professor Bruce had a good story here about Moses and his moral was to explain what you do and show some value for it.
Communication is not that easy as it seems and speaking is only one of the elements that it consists of. I think nowadays, communication skills are not only the key to a good business but also a key to a good living. When people are thinking of opening their own small business, and they know that their communication skills are not that great, they go for communication training that will help improve their skills. Communication is one of the most important aspects of business, not only within your office but all the way down to what your customers and clients are communicating about you.
Communication is crucial in business regardless of what it is being communicated. In big corporations the communication amongst departments is crucial for their success. The marketing department needs to communicate with all other departments such as the R&D department, and even the sales department. In smaller businesses communication amongst employees and managers is crucial as well. No matter at what angle, how big or small, how important or minute communication is the key to success in business. Like the moral says, what is basic to you may not be basic to others so communicate it and reduce the room for error.
Communication in life is key whether it be at work, with friends, or in a relationship. It is important to be able to express your opinion, socialize with others and articulate your ideas. Communication is critical in jobs and to lack communicative skills could affect your success.
Communication is the most important thing in life and business. When someone becomes an entrepreneur, they should be able to communicate efficiently with perspective clients and consumers. If they are not able to do so, they can take a course that helps them learn how to effectively communicate. It is important to be able to express your opinions and ideas.
Communication is KEY in any product life. Without communication, people would never get things done. The story about Moses made me laugh because its true. That is the job of a PR guy, to make their clients famous. I think about my job as a contractor and find that communication helps me so much. I give people ideas for their kitchens and bathrooms. The way you communicate is key. You can’t be to strong or people may fear you but you also can’t be to light. Being friendly with the customers has got me many more jobs and referrals. Communication is KEY.
This is an important story I never gave this any thought. It wasn’t until I got to college and worked as a manger that I found out how important effective communication is. Communicating what you do is now the number one question for job interviewers. If you can answer this question and not stumble or beat around the bush you might leave a lasting impression or at least separate yourself from other candidates. So I think Professor Bruce nailed it again being able to clearly explain what you can do or what your want to achieve will get you the chance to prove yourself. So I say “Say what you can do but, be able to do what you say.” When you are honest with yourself it is easy to tell other what you can do to prove you are valuable, and this can lead to promotions or job security if that still exist
it is true that what is basic to you may not be basic to others, communication is a very important element for anything we do in our lives. we need to communicate well at all levels, not only in the business or in our jobs but even with friends and family members. a good communicator person always can do better than others.
Prof Bruce this is defiantly a very important aspect of business. If people don’t understand what you do they will be reluctant to ask for you services. You must be very clear about what you do, and it will open up many different opportunities for your business.
I think the moral should be never Judge a book by its cover. You never know what something may be or how important it is until you do the research and look into it more.
Communicating is very important in business because you have to be able to sell yourself. It can help you feel comfortable speaking in front of people. Communicating effectively can get you into a good job in the future.
Communication is fundamental in any product or company. It’s important your client knows what you can do and have to offer. What seems common knowledge to you may not be as clear to others. Especially these days when there are new titles and job opportunities out there, it’s not as easy to understand. Its always good to make your job description clear before doing any kind of work or favor.
I definitely think communication is important anywhere and any place you are. You have to be able to communicate what it is that you exactly do and the value behind it. Without communication you might be left out in the dark and not very successful. Professor Bruce has done it again very interesting and humorous story.
Communication in your business is very important, especially with clients. Sometime we’ve been doing our jobs for so long we forget that new clients don’t know exactly what we do for them. Its not good to assume that clients will know what they’re getting from you. Its always best to explain things clearly in the beginning so there is no confusion down the road.
Communication is key to any understanding of the business world. You can just say what your position is, but explain to potential customers or clients so they will know exactly what they are paying for. Noone who cares about their business will just dish out money to someone that they don’t even know what they do.
This by far is my favorite radio segment… This was a really clever way of explaining what is PR because i always wondered. Communication is the key, because if no one knows what you have to offer no one is interested. This is so true Professor Bruce
Funny story Professor Bruce, communication is extremely important. In all aspects of live you need to have good communication skills. To be able to succeed in live you need to be able to properly express what you are thinking, whether it is in your personal life or your professional life.
If one cannot communicate to people then one will have a hard time in the working world. You need to be able to communicate properly with others or else your view on things might go unnoticed simply because your boss or co works just don’t understand what you are trying to say. And if they don’t understand your views they may take it as though you do not care about the project you are to be working on. Which could lead to you no longer working with them.
Communication in whatever you do, whether its conducting business, or just performing everyday activities is very important. When you communicate in business information is usually goes through one department to another, and it is crucial that there is no misunderstandings
The first thing in developement should be what your product does. Frankly that should be the easiest part of the business. A business person should know the in and out of his/her business. Creatviity plays a big part in describing the business to many different groups of people. The description needs to play to the needs of that group.
This another one of my favorites. I never get tired of hearing it. If you as the business person value what you do, it is best to get the customer to know what it is that you do so that you both place the same value in it. A customer that values what you do, respects you and will bring other respectable customers to your business
This is a very strong aspect of business Professor Bruce, its true that communication is a very important roll that plays a part. so the best way to guarentee potential new business is to clearly explain what it is that he or she does and how it can benefit society. then it a sure way to generate new clients
Making sure people know what you do is extremely important. If what you do isn’t fully understood than not only are you losing potential clients but people wont even know what they’re missing out on. The better people understand what you do the more likely the will be to turn to you when they need your help.
Communication in your business is very important, especially with clients. Sometime we’ve been doing our jobs for so long we forget that new clients don’t know exactly what we do for them. Its not good to assume that clients will know what they’re getting from you. Its always best to explain things clearly in the beginning so there is no confusion down the road.
Communication is the most important aspect of running a successful business. Its only second to top notch customer service. Patience and knowledge of your product that you are attempting to sell is key as well.
With transferable skills that we posses, with downsizing companies, people do all kinds of different things at their jobs that are hard to define. However it is true that we should come up with an explanation, a universal definition of what we really do, to better communicate with the society. In order to avoid conflicts we need to be clear about what we are saying.
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