How do you make your Public Relations transparent?

Before anything else, make sure your inner beliefs align with your mission. Support a cause that is consistent with your values and beliefs. To communicate honestly about the purpose you are serving, you must first deeply believe in it. Before advocating for brand and message authenticity, you should be authentic about your mission.

Let your values and mission run through the material. You don't have to shout out loud that you are for diversity, for example, but you can highlight how your work reflects those values and mission.

Honesty and accuracy sometimes means that you have to be silent. Sometimes silence for a short period of time while gathering data, fact checking, and consulting with your sources lead to reporting more accurate information. Your entire reputation depends on being honest and accurate - never forget that.

You just need to be honest and straight. Its always important to have a clear communication with your audiences. Its the best way to gain trust and respect.

Honesty is what makes PR radically different from Marketing. PR are not here to sell, they are here to engage, create link, turn it to a trust and implant a definitive positive trustworthy image into there collaborator's minds. However, PR need supports.. and when the company (or some departments) are not doing so well, never rush! Honesty is the key but how to communicate about it is even more important. Always be sure to have all the datas and supports fully reviewed before communicating of both the struggles AND the solutions!

An example of this in action is having the guts, in all earnestness, to say “I don’t have the information / sufficient information. Let me check, and I’ll come back to you”. And follow through. Being honest and accurate would mean learning the art of holding back and not giving a hasty response.

Fact-checking. If you are not ready to tell the full story, then you'll be better off not publishing. There is no such thing as half-truth when it comes to maintaining a good reputation.

In my experience, many people think that by listening they are engaging however, that is not always the case. We have to listen actively to comprehend what another individual is saying, to view their perspective, and to collaborate to the fullest extent. Active listening is an essential component to having transparency in PR.

The first lesson for all public relations professionals is to listen carefully before acting or even considering acting. Pay close attention to details and investigate previously unexplored aspects of a seemingly simple and straightforward story. They are never simple.

Proactive listening is important. But don't be afraid to ask stakeholders questions if you didn't understand something from their speech. Also, try to listen to as many experts as you can to collect a comprehensive opinion and to gain different viewpoints.

Including data in your material is crucial. It supports your thoughts and the existence of the problem you're discussing. But don't forget to include links to the sources you collected the data from. This may help the audience gain a better understanding and access more data related to what you're discussing

A PR strategy is never finite; by avoiding the temptation to force strategic pillars where they don't fit and by being open to change, your voice is more reflective of an authentic brand willing to collaborate with audiences and stakeholders. Transparency provides the space for this (and growth) to happen.