5 communication missteps that may affect your public image

Public image isn’t built by your biggest campaign. It’s built by your everyday conversations.

Every email you send. Every meeting you facilitate. Every difficult conversation you avoid. Every announcement you make.

We asked Vina Vidal Vicente, subject matter expert on communication and leadership of Inquirer Academy, her thoughts on how communication affects the public image of a person or organization.

“Communication isn’t just about getting information across. It’s about shaping how people experience you. And that experience becomes your reputation,” said Vicente.

Here are five common missteps to avoid, and suggestions on how to resolve them:

1. Communicating before listening

We love solving problems. We love explaining. We especially love replying. But sometimes the best communication strategy is to stop talking.

I’ve facilitated enough workshops to know that people don’t always need a better message. They need to feel heard first. Once people feel understood, they’re far more willing to understand you.

Listening isn’t the warm-up to communication.

It is communication.

2. Confusing information with clarity

Just because you’ve explained everything doesn’t mean people understood anything.

We’ve all sat through presentations with 72 slides, five frameworks and 17 bullet points that somehow left us more confused than when we started.

More isn’t clearer.

Clarity comes from helping people answer three simple questions:

What does this mean?

Why should I care?

What do you want me to do next?

If your audience can answer those three questions, you’ve probably communicated well.

3. Forgetting there’s a human on the other side

Not everyone receives the same message the same way.

The finance team hears risk. Marketing hears opportunity. HR hears people. Operations hear process. Leaders hear strategy. Employees hear, “So … how does this affect me?”

The message may stay consistent.

The conversation shouldn’t.

Good communicators don’t change the truth. They change the doorway into the truth.

4. Treating communication like an event

Many organizations communicate only when there’s an announcement, a crisis, or a deadline.

But trust doesn’t work that way.

Trust is built in the spaces between the big moments.

It’s built in regular updates. Honest check-ins. Following through on promises. Saying “I don’t know yet” instead of pretending you do.

Communication isn’t a launch.

It’s a relationship.

5. Forgetting that people

believe what you do more than what you say

Here’s the uncomfortable truth.

Your culture is louder than your communications.

You can publish beautiful values, launch inspiring campaigns and write heartfelt messages.

But if people’s everyday experience tells a different story, they’ll believe the experience every single time.

Communication isn’t just the words coming out of your mouth.

It’s your behavior, decisions, consistency, follow-through.

Your reputation is simply the story people tell when you’re not in the room.

One last thought

As someone who spends a lot of time helping leaders communicate, I’ve learned that the best communicators aren’t necessarily the most eloquent.

They’re the most intentional.

They listen before they speak. They make complicated things simple. They remember that every audience is made up of actual people. They show up consistently. And they understand that credibility is earned long before the microphone is turned on.

Communication isn’t about sounding smart.

It’s about making other people feel informed, respected and included.

That’s what people remember. And that’s what builds a public image worth having.

Vicente will facilitate a training program titled Strategic Communication Planning: Designing Campaigns that Inform, Influence, and Inspire Action on Aug. 28 in Makati City, organized by Inquirer Academy.

This one-day workshop equips participants with practical tools and frameworks for developing strategic communication plans and translating them into actionable communication campaigns for both internal and external audiences. This training program can also be customized to meet the specific needs of your organization.

For more information, write to ask@ inquireracademy.com, or send an SMS to 0919-3428667 and 0998-9641731.

For your other learning needs, Inquirer Academy can assist you in designing and facilitating a training program for your organization.

Glenn San Luis is the Executive Director of Inquirer Academy.