"Use every opportunity to talk about your organization as well as about yourself," the expert Ludmila Andronic urged the workshop participants. She tested their communication skills right at the beginning of the training, looking at how each one presented themselves: "You should know how to introduce yourselves in 30 seconds and say things about yourselves or your organizations that will be remembered."

Promotion Is Not the Same as “Talking Well About Oneself”

“It is important to know how to talk about ourselves without too many adjectives, as promotion and visibility does not mean an agglomeration of adjectives. For the proper functioning of the communication system, both in organizations and in the media, give up the multitude of adjectives, move on to verbs. Communication about the activities of an organization must be expressed in words, in action: we do, we collect, we gather, we mobilize, etc. 

Who Is Your Audience, Whom Are You Addressing? ‘Everyone’ Does Not Exist!

"You should position yourselves correctly, find your audiences and then start the promotion; you should know exactly whom you are addressing. You cannot address everyone, as people have different ages, different interests, and so, we should see what common values they share. For non-governmental organizations, public relations is much more important than the advertising part, because it creates an immediate effect, while PR – a lasting one. Let us communicate about the problems we solve, about the current situation in that field, about how people can contribute to solving such problems. This is exactly explanatory communication, which aims to strengthen public relations," L. Andronic says.

All That Matters in Virtual Space Is Original Content

The training took place in a mixed format, and the journalists and representatives of civil society organizations present in the room, but also those connected online to the event – over 35 people – noted the new aspects of communication and visibility, which they learned during the workshop.
"It was an interesting and useful training; I felt free to ask anything. There were new things for me there, but also things that I knew and that were reinforced. I learned how to introduce myself, and I will do it exactly like that from now on. I reinforced it for myself that I understand the audience I write for. I understood that all that matters digitally is original content that is well targeted and for the benefit of the people," says Natalia Munteanu , reporter for Gazeta de Chișinău. Sergiu Niculiță is a producer at TV8 but also in charge of promotion on social networks. “An interesting thing I found out is the elevator shaft technique; I didn't think it was so important to present ourselves or the company we represent and to say something for the others to remember. Also very important – to speak about ourselves in the present tense. The third important aspect is how we address our audience and what communication tools we use," Sergiu explained. 

Natalia Mereuță, representative of the Civic Association for Sustainable Development "Millennium III" of Sângerei district said that it was more difficult for regional organizations to be noticed, and after the training, she would try to promote more actively the organization's activities on other networks, namely Instagram and LinkedIn.

The event was organized within the project "Empowering Citizens in the Republic of Moldova" (2019-2021), funded by the European Union and implemented by the Agency for International Cooperation of Germany (GIZ). The project partner for increasing the visibility potential and citizen engagement is the Association of Independent Press (API).