Why I Love Being a Communicator
No matter how long you’ve been in communication, I’m sure you’ve had days like these. Days when you ask…
Why does no one here get what I do? Why won’t they just listen to me? Is my communication career stuck in limbo? Should I have gone into ___________ instead? Should I have listened to my parents?
Eventually you realize you don’t like the answers to those questions so you start asking better ones until you’re back to loving it all again. The challenge of communication. The art & science of communication. The potential power and impact of communication. The arguments over serial commas and spacing after punctuation.
You take a deep breath and feel proud of yourself and your field, and grateful that you chose it. Ahhh-mazing.
I wrote and designed my first newsletter in 6th grade, the Glumbo Gazette, affectionately named after my favorite teacher, Mr. Glumbowski, who gave me my only full year of straight A’s.
I took my first picture as a kid and developed my first roll of film as a teen. Watching my black & white photograph gradually appear under dim amber light on a white sheet of paper in a tray of Kodak Dektol developer was magical. Although even in today’s digital world I’m still not sure how a camera with a round lens takes rectangular pictures.
What do I love about communication? On a good day, it could be anything...
Quickly helping colleagues with simple requests over email, like sending them the correct version of a logo.
Making the seventeenth final edit to a flyer.
Learning that a sister organization wants to emulate our website design in their next refresh.
Trying something new with AI.
Seeing something big entering my communication radar airspace, like a new initiative being rolled out next month that needs a communication plan to help ensure it’s done right.
Noticing on my calendar that my favorite communication event is coming up again and we need to take to the next level.
Being asked for advice before someone’s big presentation or interview.
Finding out that a former employee just got another promotion.
Hearing about how well a friend did in a podcast interview or seeing a coworker give the best presentation of her career.
Being told by a mom that my talk nudged her to keep her family safer around the water by insisting they wear lifejackets.
Honestly, on most days, I love it all.
Communication is the lifeblood of any organization.
Communication is the secret sauce of great leadership.
Communication is the key to success in every area of your life.
Everything communicates, even not communicating. Whoa.
Best of all, I know that I am meant for more. That I have further to fly. And so do you.
What do you love about communication? How are you serving others through communication? How will you change the world with communication?
