Diplomacy and public relations

Bong R. Osorio, businessmirror.com.ph

Image from article, with caption: Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright displays her characteristic wit and wisdom in an open forum as she answers questions during the ANC Leadership Forum on Global Governance and World Economy, held recently in Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel.

Excerpt:

FORMER US Secretary of State Dr. Madeleine Albright delivered a stimulating talk and sharply answered questions in an open forum in the hugely successful ANC Leadership Forum on Global Governance and World Economy, held recently in Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel. ...

Come to think of it: Public diplomacy and public relations have commonalities. Both use communication that convinces. Both tap information and persuasion to influence the opinions and positions of their defined publics or stakeholders, and both build proper pressure on the policy-makers to influence the decisions and activities certain groups in accordance with identified goals and interests. And important, both activities are meant for the advancement of expressed interests, pushed by our persuasive abilities. ...

Brooches make statements. Albright has a renowned practice of wearing symbolic pins and brooches to portend her dispositions and opinions on certain issues or on world leaders of the same stature as hers that she will sit in a table with. It’s a PR gesture. In 1993 when she was the US ambassador to the UN, Albright wore an antique snake brooch in answer to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein who described her “an unparalleled serpent”. Whenever she delivered a speech about the Middle East, she would wear a peace-dove ornament. For the ANC forum, she wore a brooch shaped like the sun and made of Philippine indigenous materials. “To show my respect”, she averred. She would wear a pin of a “very active man with a loud speaker” if she gets to meet President Duterte. ...

Albright told her Philippine audience that she’s “an optimist who worries a lot”. Indeed, both diplomacy and PR use the art and science of optimism. Diplomats and PR professionals can’t always have power over what the universe brings their way; they’re free to direct their ideas and dispositions. This gives them the opportunity to rise above trials and tribulations. They live with a shifting assortment of experiences, things that run from good to bad to uncertain.

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the UK-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Bong R. Osorio is a communications consultant of ABS-CBN Corp., SkyCable, Dentsu-Aegis Network and government projects, among others, after retiring as vice president and head of the corporate Communications Division of ABS-CBN.