Lessons In Modern PR From Ancient Teachers
Posted on Wed, Jun 15, 2011
By Rachel Sullivan
Thousands of years ago in Greece and Rome, thought leaders debated what made an ideal orator. Protagoras, Aristotle and Cicero were a few of the many who weighed in on how to best persuade an audience.
In PR, we spend the better part of our day persuading people – editors, awards committees, conference managers.
The teachings of ancient orators still apply to these efforts.
Here are some timeless lessons we apply to the practice of public relations writing and pitching:
Everyday, better: Greek teacher Protagoras coined the motto “everyday better.” He taught orators to react and capitalize on opportune moments, or as the Greeks called them, kairos. In PR, we recognize and create kairos for clients, celebrating successes and building on them so that every day’s work is better than the last.
Clarity and correctness: Aristotle’s “On Rhetoric” includes teachings on style and persuasion. He declared the first virtue of style to be clarity and the second to be grammatical correctness. Both are incredibly important in writing modern-day pitches, articles and speeches, which represent the expertise not only of the PR professional who promotes them, but also of the clients who trust her to do so.
Eloquence and wisdom: Cicero emphasized the relationship between eloquence and wisdom: one without the other is useless, he said. He believed it is more important to be wise in many areas in contrast to having deep knowledge in just one subject. PR professionals achieve this through conversation, research and constant consumption of industry news.