If I can’t send you an email, how can I talk to you?

A recent post by John Dodd gives a good insight into how the art of persuasion works best in good PR.

“In the past, clients expected PR to give them coverage – that’s no longer good enough. If you want to have a conversation with a commercial undercurrent, it would help if you think about the nature of conversations that you enjoy and try to replicate them.

The technology has changed but the issue remains the same. You’re trying to gain interest rather than attention. Attention is dead – it’s interruptive. Any unwanted interruption of my or your time is unwelcome.

The analogy for me is obvious. If you’re in a bar chatting with a group of friends or colleagues, it is entirely possible for a complete stranger to interpose into that conversation and be welcomed. But if they wander over unannounced and say let me tell you about this thing that is wonderful regardless of what you’re talking about, the reaction they get will be very different.

A remark from someone with whom you’ve developed a rapport and mutual respect over a period of time is part of a conversation.”