Part 1 of this post covered public speaking and preparedness skills that could benefit communications professionals in many roles. Here are some more skills we can learn from theater artists:
Keep the energy fresh
Engraving by Martin Droeshout. Public Domain.
Professional actors perform the same show as many as eight times a week. In college, I worked on shows that performed at 8 and 11 PM on Friday and Saturday nights, sometimes leaving the tech team and actors less than half an hour between the end of the first show and the beginning of the second. It’s exhausting. After a while, everyone involved in the show is tired of the story, no longer laughing at the jokes, no longer so moved by the drama.
But, no matter how many times the cast and crew have put on a show, it’s the first time most of the people in the audience have experienced it. The cast and crew owe each audience the best performance they can give. Similarly, as communications professionals we must remember that each journalist we contact or work with deserves our best. We must work to build relationships with members of the traditional media and bloggers just as actors must build rapport with each audience. When we respond to customers on social media or in traditional channels, we must offer each person the same courtesy and attention, even if we have answered the same question over and over.
Budget
While there are grand theaters with enormous budgets, a lot of directors and designers are working on a shoestring, and the best learn to work around their financial restrictions creatively. It can be tempting to throw money at the many possible communications solutions, but such an approach can easily create unmanageable costs. A strategic approach to communications includes an assessment of what is and is not a good investment for a given business. The best tools for one business are not the best tools for every business. Industry research can help communications professionals choose the best options in each case. Communications strategies should also respond to the results of each campaign and adapt future plans for the business.
Sales pros can teach us PR skills as well. In what other professions have you found skills that communications professionals could benefit from?
