April 15, 2024
Language, Landmines And The Peril Now Facing PR Pros
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That Solo Life, Episode 244: Language, Landmines And The Peril Now Facing PR Pros
That Solo Life, a podcast dedicated to PR professionals, marketers, and individuals who work for themselves.
In this episode hosts, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro, and Michelle Kane from Voice Matters delve into the topic of avoiding generation gaps and cultural miscommunications.
In our discussion, we highlight how the emergence of a multigenerational workforce and multicultural society has made communication more complex. Together, we explore examples of misunderstood terminology, redefined norms, and quickly shifting cultural contexts. All of which could potentially influence the reception of our messages and client communications.
We also bring to the table the reality that not everyone has the same bank of references or base of knowledge. The universality of business references, iconic books, or even pop culture references is no longer a given. We navigate this landscape by encouraging PR professionals to provide context, or use universally understood language, thus facilitating clear and effective communication.
We also examine political influences, shedding light on how political parties or global events can assign new meanings to well-known terms, creating potential pitfalls for those unaware. We encourage communicators to be savvy, removing barriers, biases, and assumptions to truly connect with diverse audiences.
Closing the conversation, we impress upon our audience that everything communicates – the things we say and do (or don't do), often carry a message. PR professionals and communicators need to be involved in all sectors of an organization, as their insights could safeguard against reputation damage.
Episode Highlights:- The modern communicator’s conundrum. We can never assume that words have a universal meaning. It is important to check everything.
- Multi-generations and the mix-ups that can happen.Each generation has shaped language in their own way. PR Pros have to be careful to ensure that they are saying what they mean to say across all generations.
- The predicament of politics. How politics has influenced the way we communicate.
- Why PR needs a seat at the table. Why PR should never be siloed in companies.
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00:17 - Introduction
04:54 - Importance of Cultural Awareness
08:14 - Diverse References in Communication
09:34 - Influence of Politics on Communication
11:57 - Impact of Symbolism in Communication
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (00:03):
Welcome to this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with Voice Matters and my ever steady co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen, how are you today?
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (00:18):
Hi, Michelle. I'm doing great. How are you doing? I'm
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (00:21):
Doing great. We're rolling along right? This is what we do as comms pros. We just roll along with whatever is happening. So yeah, I'm just happy to be here to talk about our topic today, which the Princess Bride comes to mind of. I do not think that means what you think it needs.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (00:41):
Yeah. Isn't that the truth? We live in that era now where almost everything that you say has to be checked before you actually say
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (00:50):
It. Oh my goodness. So true. Yeah, and we're seeing this, especially as we are all living longer, so there are more and more generations, all of us coexisting together, and even in our day-to-Day conversations from as base as that, all the way up through our corporate communications, our client communications. It's really important. If you think you're touching on what is a cultural given
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (01:25):
To
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (01:25):
Check, check, double check, because it may not mean what you think it means. You had an example about what preppy means.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (01:37):
Oh, yeah. So preppy now is peppy. Apparently it's sparkly. It's very different than what older generations consider it to be preppy, and it's a cute little fun example, but it just shows that, and we know this, this has always been true. Every generation creates their own norms, and sometimes they take things from the past and they remake them, and that's supposed to happen, and that's normal. However, as you pointed out, Michelle, we live in this time where there are so many generations, and as communicators, we have multiple generations in the workforce, which really heightens the need for us to really check icons, symbols, colors, and references to ensure that we are communicating with clarity and without being offensive to any one of those generations. And I have to tell you, that's very difficult. When I think about being of a certain generation, an older generation, if I were not in communications, I would opt out of all of it and just blunder my way through, know what I know, but I'm not allowed to do that.
(02:55):
So you're constantly sifting through your head like, okay, what does that emoji mean today? What does that word mean today? I can remember years ago when I bumped into this, when I thought that Netflix and Chill still meant to watch a movie and hang out on the couch, and a really good friend messaged me and said, it doesn't mean that anymore. So things that are accepted can change overnight. They can change with a singer putting out a song and assigning new meaning to it, or just a generation deciding to use language in a different way. And it's really important for us to be aware.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (03:40):
It really is. It really is. I mean, so there's a good that comes of this, right? Because we are all striving to be, well, most of us striving to be more socially aware of everyone's experiences that are both common and specific to either how you grew up, where you grew up, what people group you might belong to, or be native to, religions, beliefs, trying to be cognizant of everyone in our large, I won't want to say multicultural in our large society. And so you do have to view everything through the lens. And I am already hearing the people out there going, oh, everybody's so sensitive. It's not about being sensitive. It's about being kind and considerate. There's nothing weak about being considerate of others and what company wants their message to be received poorly? Nobody.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (04:42):
Absolutely.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (04:42):
So it's really an important fail safe, whether it is saying Netflix and chill in the wrong with without the full connotation or something heavier. It's so important for us as communicators, as the gatekeepers of the message to just make sure that, and look, you don't have to have it all in your head, but with every initiative, with everything we put out, just make sure, okay, is there anything in pop culture going on that could make this go a certain way? Is there anything in the news that's happening, God forbid, that could shed negative light on whatever it is that we're launching or doing or speaking about? And hey, and sometimes that could bring an opportunity to weigh in on a situation and show your thought leadership. There are always opportunities, but just to make sure that we pop our heads up. I know we're all very busy, but to pop our heads up from time to time and just say, okay, what's going on out there in the world? What do I need to be aware of? What might we need to change? I mean, oh goodness, I saw, I forget what show it was on, so I wish I could give it credit, but it was, things have not aged well, and I know I'm showing my generation now, but before the A IDS AIDS epidemic, there was an appetite suppressant called AIDS A YDS,
(06:10):
And they kind of bumped up against each other. The appetite suppressant was there first, but then as time went on, you thought, oh, this is not going to work. This is not, we need to retool this. I don't know what they did if they went out of business or if they retooled into,
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (06:26):
I think that they did actually go out of business. They were these little chocolate squares. Yeah, I remember those. I did not, it was parents' generation, but I do remember them, and I've thought about those over the years from time to time. It's interesting because you make a great point that it's not just call or pop culture. It also goes to references that we believe, we make this assumption that everyone knows it. So for example, a lot of business people make the assumption that everyone is familiar with Malcolm Gladwell or Daniel Pink or Good to Great the book and references from business books that are iconic. That's no longer true. You have younger generations that may have never read those books. Maybe they're still used in business school, but not everybody goes to business school. And so it means that when we pull references and we talk about things like Blue Ocean Theory or Flywheel, that we need to make sure that for the audience that we're communicating with, that we either explain those terms, point them back to the actual original reference, or use a term that is universally understood.
(07:51):
Because again, it's really about communicating with clarity. We want people to understand us. And I think that that means to remove biases, to remove those barriers to people. It means not assuming, you can't make an assumption like, oh, well, everybody knows that. No, they don't. Everyone does not know that. Everyone does not know Star Wars references. Everyone does not know Harry Potter references. Everyone has not read the same books. And so it's okay to use those references, but make sure that you do it with a context that invites people to or embraces diverse understandings and a diverse knowledge base where some people may be coming to this for the first time.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (08:39):
Yeah, that's very true. It's funny, what just popped into my mind is the insurance commercials where they're teaching homeowners not to turn into their parents. And well, my mother, she goes, I don't get it. I said, that's because it's you. I said, oh, it's funny. It's funny.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (09:00):
Commercials know their audience and they're communicating to their audience. So again, it doesn't mean that sometimes you're using references that everyone doesn't get because everyone is never your audience. But it's really important to deep dive on your Publix and understand that for a lot of people, Publix are multi-generational. And so you want to make sure that you're not isolating a portion of your republics.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (09:27):
And that's so, so true. And so again, again, it's communications 1 0 1, right? Know your audience, figure out who they are because you're not just throwing this against the wall and just hoping to hit everyone.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (09:46):
And I have to say that in addition to just culture, politics also has made communications really tricky as different political parties and ideologies have co-opted language, and they've taken language and assigned a different meaning to it. And so you could say something that is the original meaning and what it should mean, and it is a political hot topic that is used by one or another of the parties. And so we want to protect our clients, and we want to protect reputations. And unless your client is speaking to one of those specific audiences that's worthy to make sure that you're not using a term that's used by someone in a derogatory manner from any political party or ideology. And for global companies, that's quite important as well, because there's different things happening around the globe that we don't always talk about in the United States that also could be problematic.
(10:56):
I think of the recent example of Ralph Lauren who, not his, not that company's first time being in hot water for being unaware, but they created these shirts according to an article that I read, and I didn't take a deep dive into this, so please, we don't want to be a source of misinformation, so check this out for yourself. But the article that I read had shirts, and it had a watermelon symbol on it, and the watermelon symbol. And again, in context of I think if you were presenting a food spread of summer fruits, no one is going to call you out for having a watermelon as part of the spread, but having a watermelon on a shirt is a symbol of the Palestinian freedom movement. Nothing wrong with that, but of course, it also conversely communicates antisemitism. And so if that's where he really meant to go, then you have to be ready to stand for that and show why you're standing for that. But it wasn't intended as that unless it really was, and they thought that they could get away with it. I don't know. I don't know the motivations behind that, but it was problematic. And so again, for many people, that was their first understanding, although that symbolism is not new to 2024, but for many, it was the first time that they were aware, like, oh, wow. Did not know that. But there were groups of people to which this is really important, and it caused a firestorm.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (12:38):
Yeah, my guess is a brand as large as that wouldn't intend to offend a great population.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (12:47):
I mean, you wonder because it's happened before. And I do not want to blame the PR people because so often PR people are blamed and we call it PR failures, and I want to believe knowing our profession that people spoke and other people didn't listen. Yeah.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (13:08):
And those situations, certainly, how many times as PR professionals are we playing with the hand we're dealt
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (13:15):
For sure. I mean, it's also likely that PR was never at the table when they were thinking about this new brand because
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (13:24):
To say you can't do that because
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (13:26):
Companies have a way of separating and being so siloed that you don't have the PR people involved in those decisions because you're thinking of it as a design decision and not a PR decision. So good note to companies that it's worth it to work cross-functionally across your organization. Those silos can get you into trouble and cause reputation damage.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (13:54):
Yes, yes. You should always make sure that you're pulling anyone from your comms teams together just to weigh in. Everyone should be part of the process. And it goes back to the adage of everything communicates everything, things you say, things you do, things you don't do, things you emit. It all communicates. So,
(14:26):
Hey, well, with that, we hope we've given you some good things to chew on this week, and we thank you for tuning in. And please do check us out@soloprpro.com. Hit us up with the topics you want us to cover. Please share this around if you found value in this, because that would be so meaningful to us and so helpful to us. And I believe membership at Solo PR Pro is still open. Karen, anything. Hey, so please check it out. It's a wonderful community of peers where no question is too silly. It's a wonderful, supportive group of fellow communicators. So check that out at solopro.com. And until next time, thanks for joining us on That Solo Life.
Welcome to this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with Voice Matters and my ever steady co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen, how are you today?
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (00:18):
Hi, Michelle. I'm doing great. How are you doing? I'm
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (00:21):
Doing great. We're rolling along right? This is what we do as comms pros. We just roll along with whatever is happening. So yeah, I'm just happy to be here to talk about our topic today, which the Princess Bride comes to mind of. I do not think that means what you think it needs.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (00:41):
Yeah. Isn't that the truth? We live in that era now where almost everything that you say has to be checked before you actually say
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (00:50):
It. Oh my goodness. So true. Yeah, and we're seeing this, especially as we are all living longer, so there are more and more generations, all of us coexisting together, and even in our day-to-Day conversations from as base as that, all the way up through our corporate communications, our client communications. It's really important. If you think you're touching on what is a cultural given
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (01:25):
To
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (01:25):
Check, check, double check, because it may not mean what you think it means. You had an example about what preppy means.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (01:37):
Oh, yeah. So preppy now is peppy. Apparently it's sparkly. It's very different than what older generations consider it to be preppy, and it's a cute little fun example, but it just shows that, and we know this, this has always been true. Every generation creates their own norms, and sometimes they take things from the past and they remake them, and that's supposed to happen, and that's normal. However, as you pointed out, Michelle, we live in this time where there are so many generations, and as communicators, we have multiple generations in the workforce, which really heightens the need for us to really check icons, symbols, colors, and references to ensure that we are communicating with clarity and without being offensive to any one of those generations. And I have to tell you, that's very difficult. When I think about being of a certain generation, an older generation, if I were not in communications, I would opt out of all of it and just blunder my way through, know what I know, but I'm not allowed to do that.
(02:55):
So you're constantly sifting through your head like, okay, what does that emoji mean today? What does that word mean today? I can remember years ago when I bumped into this, when I thought that Netflix and Chill still meant to watch a movie and hang out on the couch, and a really good friend messaged me and said, it doesn't mean that anymore. So things that are accepted can change overnight. They can change with a singer putting out a song and assigning new meaning to it, or just a generation deciding to use language in a different way. And it's really important for us to be aware.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (03:40):
It really is. It really is. I mean, so there's a good that comes of this, right? Because we are all striving to be, well, most of us striving to be more socially aware of everyone's experiences that are both common and specific to either how you grew up, where you grew up, what people group you might belong to, or be native to, religions, beliefs, trying to be cognizant of everyone in our large, I won't want to say multicultural in our large society. And so you do have to view everything through the lens. And I am already hearing the people out there going, oh, everybody's so sensitive. It's not about being sensitive. It's about being kind and considerate. There's nothing weak about being considerate of others and what company wants their message to be received poorly? Nobody.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (04:42):
Absolutely.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (04:42):
So it's really an important fail safe, whether it is saying Netflix and chill in the wrong with without the full connotation or something heavier. It's so important for us as communicators, as the gatekeepers of the message to just make sure that, and look, you don't have to have it all in your head, but with every initiative, with everything we put out, just make sure, okay, is there anything in pop culture going on that could make this go a certain way? Is there anything in the news that's happening, God forbid, that could shed negative light on whatever it is that we're launching or doing or speaking about? And hey, and sometimes that could bring an opportunity to weigh in on a situation and show your thought leadership. There are always opportunities, but just to make sure that we pop our heads up. I know we're all very busy, but to pop our heads up from time to time and just say, okay, what's going on out there in the world? What do I need to be aware of? What might we need to change? I mean, oh goodness, I saw, I forget what show it was on, so I wish I could give it credit, but it was, things have not aged well, and I know I'm showing my generation now, but before the A IDS AIDS epidemic, there was an appetite suppressant called AIDS A YDS,
(06:10):
And they kind of bumped up against each other. The appetite suppressant was there first, but then as time went on, you thought, oh, this is not going to work. This is not, we need to retool this. I don't know what they did if they went out of business or if they retooled into,
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (06:26):
I think that they did actually go out of business. They were these little chocolate squares. Yeah, I remember those. I did not, it was parents' generation, but I do remember them, and I've thought about those over the years from time to time. It's interesting because you make a great point that it's not just call or pop culture. It also goes to references that we believe, we make this assumption that everyone knows it. So for example, a lot of business people make the assumption that everyone is familiar with Malcolm Gladwell or Daniel Pink or Good to Great the book and references from business books that are iconic. That's no longer true. You have younger generations that may have never read those books. Maybe they're still used in business school, but not everybody goes to business school. And so it means that when we pull references and we talk about things like Blue Ocean Theory or Flywheel, that we need to make sure that for the audience that we're communicating with, that we either explain those terms, point them back to the actual original reference, or use a term that is universally understood.
(07:51):
Because again, it's really about communicating with clarity. We want people to understand us. And I think that that means to remove biases, to remove those barriers to people. It means not assuming, you can't make an assumption like, oh, well, everybody knows that. No, they don't. Everyone does not know that. Everyone does not know Star Wars references. Everyone does not know Harry Potter references. Everyone has not read the same books. And so it's okay to use those references, but make sure that you do it with a context that invites people to or embraces diverse understandings and a diverse knowledge base where some people may be coming to this for the first time.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (08:39):
Yeah, that's very true. It's funny, what just popped into my mind is the insurance commercials where they're teaching homeowners not to turn into their parents. And well, my mother, she goes, I don't get it. I said, that's because it's you. I said, oh, it's funny. It's funny.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (09:00):
Commercials know their audience and they're communicating to their audience. So again, it doesn't mean that sometimes you're using references that everyone doesn't get because everyone is never your audience. But it's really important to deep dive on your Publix and understand that for a lot of people, Publix are multi-generational. And so you want to make sure that you're not isolating a portion of your republics.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (09:27):
And that's so, so true. And so again, again, it's communications 1 0 1, right? Know your audience, figure out who they are because you're not just throwing this against the wall and just hoping to hit everyone.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (09:46):
And I have to say that in addition to just culture, politics also has made communications really tricky as different political parties and ideologies have co-opted language, and they've taken language and assigned a different meaning to it. And so you could say something that is the original meaning and what it should mean, and it is a political hot topic that is used by one or another of the parties. And so we want to protect our clients, and we want to protect reputations. And unless your client is speaking to one of those specific audiences that's worthy to make sure that you're not using a term that's used by someone in a derogatory manner from any political party or ideology. And for global companies, that's quite important as well, because there's different things happening around the globe that we don't always talk about in the United States that also could be problematic.
(10:56):
I think of the recent example of Ralph Lauren who, not his, not that company's first time being in hot water for being unaware, but they created these shirts according to an article that I read, and I didn't take a deep dive into this, so please, we don't want to be a source of misinformation, so check this out for yourself. But the article that I read had shirts, and it had a watermelon symbol on it, and the watermelon symbol. And again, in context of I think if you were presenting a food spread of summer fruits, no one is going to call you out for having a watermelon as part of the spread, but having a watermelon on a shirt is a symbol of the Palestinian freedom movement. Nothing wrong with that, but of course, it also conversely communicates antisemitism. And so if that's where he really meant to go, then you have to be ready to stand for that and show why you're standing for that. But it wasn't intended as that unless it really was, and they thought that they could get away with it. I don't know. I don't know the motivations behind that, but it was problematic. And so again, for many people, that was their first understanding, although that symbolism is not new to 2024, but for many, it was the first time that they were aware, like, oh, wow. Did not know that. But there were groups of people to which this is really important, and it caused a firestorm.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (12:38):
Yeah, my guess is a brand as large as that wouldn't intend to offend a great population.
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (12:47):
I mean, you wonder because it's happened before. And I do not want to blame the PR people because so often PR people are blamed and we call it PR failures, and I want to believe knowing our profession that people spoke and other people didn't listen. Yeah.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (13:08):
And those situations, certainly, how many times as PR professionals are we playing with the hand we're dealt
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (13:15):
For sure. I mean, it's also likely that PR was never at the table when they were thinking about this new brand because
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (13:24):
To say you can't do that because
Karen Swim, APR, Solo PR Pro (13:26):
Companies have a way of separating and being so siloed that you don't have the PR people involved in those decisions because you're thinking of it as a design decision and not a PR decision. So good note to companies that it's worth it to work cross-functionally across your organization. Those silos can get you into trouble and cause reputation damage.
Michelle Kane, Voice Matters (13:54):
Yes, yes. You should always make sure that you're pulling anyone from your comms teams together just to weigh in. Everyone should be part of the process. And it goes back to the adage of everything communicates everything, things you say, things you do, things you don't do, things you emit. It all communicates. So,
(14:26):
Hey, well, with that, we hope we've given you some good things to chew on this week, and we thank you for tuning in. And please do check us out@soloprpro.com. Hit us up with the topics you want us to cover. Please share this around if you found value in this, because that would be so meaningful to us and so helpful to us. And I believe membership at Solo PR Pro is still open. Karen, anything. Hey, so please check it out. It's a wonderful community of peers where no question is too silly. It's a wonderful, supportive group of fellow communicators. So check that out at solopro.com. And until next time, thanks for joining us on That Solo Life.