You talk for a living, so speak up.

10.06.08Posted by Margie in All posts, Productivity/Career, Public relations4 CommentsTags: Advertising and Marketing, Business, pr, Public relations

Well said!

Hat tip, Media Bistro/PRNewser

On the importance of candor, from Vegas firm Stern and Company‘s blog:

Whereas marketing and advertising groups must, by definition, be defenders of their specific products, the public relations department has no such mandated allegiance. Public relations should be the corporate conscience. An organization???s public relations professionals should enjoy enough autonomy to tell it to management ???like it is.??? If an idea doesn???t make sense, if a product is flawed, if the general institutional wisdom is wrong, it is the duty of the public relations professional to challenge the consensus. And, in absolute candor, if your company???s PR function isn???t saying ???no??? with great vigor from time to time, you???re probably not being well served and could well be headed for problems.

Who among us hasn’t thought (or maybe even said aloud), “this whole PR viewpoint/opinion thing, it’s what you are paying me for.  If you want a yes man, clearly I’m not the flack for you.”

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4 Responses to “You talk for a living, so speak up.”

1. Steve Stern says:

   October 20, 2008 at 2:10 pm

   Thank you. I recognize that it challenging to say “no” to a client, especially in this environment. And I recognize that that essay may sound a bit like a pontification. However, I can also say that acting with this sort of candor can provide greater dividends later, even in this economic environment.
2. Margie says:

   October 20, 2008 at 2:14 pm

   Amen, brother. I very much appreciate candor. Thanks for visiting!
3. Are you the mystery guest at the conference table? (Or: Be a contributor) | Flackrabbit: PR Flack / Writer / Geek says:

   March 1, 2009 at 8:47 pm

   [...] You talk for a living so speak up (www.flackrabbit.com) [...]
4. For Tweet's Sake, Why Bother? | | Flackrabbit: PR Flack / Writer / Geek says:

   July 12, 2009 at 6:27 pm

   [...] See, the social media skeptics and/or any business person worth their salt want you to be able to tell them how much bang they’ll get for their social networking buck. “What’s my return?” they’ll ask. Five times. You should always answer, “It depends on what your goal is and how engaged you are.” That’s not an answer they particularly enjoy hearing, but it’s the truth. And they didn’t hire a yes-man, so speak up. [...]