Within the posts of this blog we’ll share news and thoughts about the world of PR and marketing in this mega-digital age. You’ll also find news about the clients we have the privilege to work with and the things we’ve learned while meeting their challenges. And, no doubt, we’ll comment on other things we find interesting and thought provoking.

I’m Gayle Williams, President of Vision PR & Marketing. While I can’t ALWAYS promise it will be my voice on this blog – I’ll share the microphone – but most of the time you will be hearing from me.

Here’s an interesting and humbling thought – we often assume we know exactly what we are saying and what we sound like to our audiences. We also make assumptions about their responses.  Sometimes we are right. And other times we are dreadfully wrong!

Two recent experiences in the classical music world have brought this concept into focus for me and I suddenly got that it wasn’t always about the song, the music, the intonation.  I’m a classical music critic and my job is to evaluate what I hear from musicians on stage. Recently I had to write some delicate criticism of a revered master performer – a big name – who, with age, has difficulty with staying on pitch.  I’ll never fully understand what is happening for this gentleman, but do the ears lose their accuracy or do we hear what we want to hear to protect ourselves from some of the indignities of age?

Fast forward to an experience last night attending the show “Souvenir” at the Asolo Rep about Florence Foster Jenkins, a NYC society lady who sings wretchedly, but herself hears the voice of an angel and proceeds with concertizing all the way to Carnegie Hall.  While her audiences laugh themselves into convulsions, this singer sees them as moved by her artistry and hears their applause and love instead of the laughter.

While I can ponder some time about the nature of hearing and perception in terms of musical output, I can also switch this metaphor to what we do in our business.  When communicating with our public through all the various strategies, do we take the time to check the accuracy of our messages? What if we are simply inept? Are we great masters who lose sight of what we are actually putting out there?  Or do we hear what we want to hear and don’t get truly accurate feedback from our audience?

The lessons here are to check with your audience, ask for feedback and be willing to hear the truth.  Look for the quantifiable data that will measure the effectiveness of your communications.  Set up the “listening mechanisms” to track your results and progress.  You want to know that if you step out onto the stage at Carnegie Hall – you’ll get applause not laughter.

Now I’ll ask that hard question.  How about this blog?   Please feel free to tell me anytime what you think about any blog entry.  Question, challenge, comment… and yes, applause is also always welcome!