E. Jakilaitis, Chairman of the Election Commission for Communicator of the Year: “A communication professional keeps a cool head even in a crisis situation”

2024-04-30

The winner of the “Communicator of the Year” will be announced during the final “PR Impact Awards” event this year.The winner will be determined by the jury’s evaluation, “Mediaskopas” media analysis and the results of the public voting. The deadline for submissions is 2nd of May. Edmundas Jakilaitis, journalist, producer and chairman of the commission, talks about what he considers a good communicator and his role in crisis management, as well as the importance of communication in organisations. 

The impression must be that everything is easy

Jakilaitis says that several qualities are very important for a good communicator, but first of all, he must be the kind of person who is calmed by stressful situations. In other words, calmness and the ability to think rationally and calculate.

“A good communicator is someone who gives the impression that everything happens by itself, very organically and naturally. He/she can be compared to a good journalist – both are not only about themselves, but also about others,” says the chairman of the “Communicator of the Year” election committee, adding that it is important for a communicator to be able to see his/her own ambition in the work of others and in the objectives of others.

Communication is a companion to action

When it comes to the importance of communication in organisations, Jakilaitis puts it second only to doing – “first we do, then we communicate”. 

“Communication is a constant companion to action, but it should not be the goal itself. The communicator makes existing actions, works, products, whatever the outcome, accessible to different audiences. He can make them attractive, interesting, make people think about certain topics, look at themselves from a different angle”, says the journalist. 

He goes on to say that a communicator can also encourage, warn, reassure, or sometimes, on the contrary, frighten or even confuse: “In any case, the communicator is probably as important as the one who creates what to talk about.”

For a long time, there has been a myth in society that communication is about black ties, but Jakilaitis does not believe it. 

“I don’t believe in conspiracy theories. Whether we are making rockets, biochemical products or creating communication content, everything requires professionalism, dedication and passion. I do not believe that success can be determined by ‘sub-climate’ arrangements. Unless for a very short time, because really, it’s as simple as that – things that are uninteresting are uninteresting, and vice versa. No matter how much you try to wrap a bad thing in glossy paper, it won’t be good,” the expert notes.

A communicator is not a miracle worker

Crisis situations are one of the most common challenges for communicators. However, according to E. Jakilaitis, they are not the people who solve problems. 

“If there are not more people around who are calmed by stress, then a communicator should be someone who is able to take a cold view of the situation and weigh the problems. But still, he is the one who helps the problem solvers, not does it himself. Above all, the people who caused the crisis must be involved in solving it. No communicator can solve a problem if there is no responsibility, leadership, integrity or professionalism,” says the expert, adding that it should also be remembered that a communicator is not a miracle worker, but simply one of a team of specialists.

The winner will be decided by a jury, media analysis and public voting

“The jury will judge the candidates on the basis of the most effective projects they have implemented in recent years, taking into account each organisation’s context, the resources it manages and the objectives it sets itself. Candidates will be allowed a maximum of 24 points for this part.

Candidates will also be evaluated on the basis of Mediascope’s media analysis data and their social media presence on LinkedIn, compared to the visibility of others in the sector over the last year. Candidates will be able to obtain a maximum of 6 points for this part. The jury’s assessment criteria can be found in more detail here

Once the jury has selected the 10 strongest finalists, the list will be put to a public vote on www.delfi.lt. The final winner will be determined by the jury members’ evaluation (50%) and the public vote (50%).

You can apply for the PR Impact Awards on the PR Impact Awards website until 23:59 on 2 May by filling in the easy form. At the time of application, the candidate must have been responsible for the organisation’s communication performance in the last year.

This year’s winner will be announced at the PR Impact Awards 2024 event on 7 June, with the theme “Crises hit on Fridays: the role of communication in a world of uncertainty”. The conference will bring together experts from a wide range of fields to discuss the year’s highlights, the importance of trust and reputation in a world of crises, the changing role of the communicator, and how new technologies and tools are transforming communication.

Tickets for the event are now available on the PR Impact Awards website.

The conference and the best communication projects awards “PR Impact Awards” are organised for the 11th time by the Lithuanian Communication Association (LTKA) together with the Communication Industry Association (KIA). The partners of the event are the media analysis company Mediaskopas, the marketing and communication news portal M360 and the sociological research company Spinter tyrimai.  For more information visit www.primpactawards.com

PR Impact Awards 2024