Living in New York City in 2020 was like living in a crystal ball. I felt like I could see future outcomes of the pandemic more clearly because we seemed to be constantly 60 days ahead of the rest of the country. At times this made my work extremely frustrating because I kept running into generally two different mindsets on how to execute normal business activities.

One mindset was dead set on returning things to the way we used to do them, but with a Band-Aid, or makeshift approach like social distancing, wearing a mask and avoiding hugs or handshakes. I found most people to be in this frame of mind.

The second mindset was seeking to simply reinvent whatever it was that we were doing before, accepting the current situation and moving on to change the future. I ran into fewer people thinking this way, but this is where my head was, and it served me well last year as I had several breakthrough innovations for both of my companies.

Before You Band-Aid it, Reinvent it

It can be really challenging working with a group of people who are split on this thought process of “wait it out” or “move on.” It’s even more challenging if you are the lone ranger trying to shift into a new reality with a group of people who are still holding out for a previous way of life. Whether we are talking about the coronavirus, or the next crisis or social shift, the question still remains: Do we flourish by embracing it, or working around it with Band-Aids and props?

Since I was a little girl, sci-fi movies have always captured my imagination and tapped into my creativity. When I watch these movies, I often think, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could do that in the future?” Maybe the future is here, but suddenly the space suit and isolation is scaring us instead of prompting us to think of innovative ways we can use it to connect.

Take your classic conference for example. Pre-pandemic, one of the main reasons we went to conferences was to network and connect with new people or old friends and colleagues. If you are in Band-Aid mode, you still go to the conference with a mask, hand sanitizer, gloves and commit to stay six feet away from everyone. It may seem like a success if you got your conference done this way, but what’s the likelihood that networking will authentically happen with all these obstacles? If no one cheats on the rules, I’m going to guess it’s highly unlikely.

But what if you are in reinvention mode? Maybe you can create a world-class virtual event that allows participants to network more effectively online, in small groups and one-on-one video chats. If you let go of the old way of doing things and commit to get into reinvention mode now, you’ll be far ahead of your peers and competitors, and completely equipped for the future.

One of the biggest challenges of the pandemic has been adjusting to our new communications reality. How can we embrace distance and isolation while reinventing the way we communicate for the better? Here are just a few strategies from my public relations crystal ball that will prove to be prosperous in the year ahead:

Set Up the Home Studio

As much as we have all complained about being “Zoomed-out” with videoconferences, the majority of professionals I have informally polled say they feel much more connected to their teams than ever before. Ironically, friends and family have said the same thing. In fact, my own mother told me that our Zoom Thanksgiving was one of her favorite Thanksgivings of all time, and my brother and I were not even physically there. Of course, I didn’t just hop on Zoom with mom and have dinner, but rather I made an event of it. I literally reinvented Thanksgiving virtually with different scheduled appointments throughout the day to connect in ways we would have done if we were together, like toasting with champagne at the start of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, having a cook-off in our respective kitchens and playing a family trivia game over desert. Many of us have wondered why we never tapped into this technology more before. It’s convenient, personal and quite literally brings people closer together, no matter the distance.

As with everything in life, balance is key. While I do not advocate that all meetings be by video, or that you load up your calendar with Zoom events, checking in on video occasionally with team members, clients and even family and friends, can more quickly build relationships and give you an advantage. This is a tool that I do not see going away anytime soon, even if things get safer and social distancing is not relevant anymore. The ease and versatility of video are less time consuming and more cost effective.

Considering this, it’s time to get serious about your studio set-up for these video meetings and events. You may have been able to get by in 2020 with horrible lighting, odd backdrops and unflattering framing, as most people were in “survival mode,” but this certainly will not fly in 2021. Find a set-up at your home and office that is your go-to set. It should look professional and reflect who you are as a person or what you do. Invest in a ring light. You can get quality ring lights for $25 or less and it makes a world of difference with your appearance and energy. Ring lights also save you the time of finding that perfect spot to do your video calls. You won’t have to worry about where the sun is at with a ring light that can change the look of any space instantly.

Buy Some Stationary

Here comes the balance part I was referring to before. If we are spending the majority of our time on screens to communicate, then that means handwritten cards and letters will be a welcome and appreciated form of communication in 2021.

If you can’t quite part with your digital greetings, it won’t be the end of the world, but the handwritten, traditionally mailed notes will find you more favor with professionals and loved ones. To be most effective with this communication strategy, invest in some good stationary that is branded to your company or your personality. Another option is to keep it fun and use it as a super creative form of communication by sending interesting and intricate cards that will wow your customers, clients and team members.

If you are the nostalgic type who has been wanting things “to get back to normal,” this is a communication strategy you will enjoy, as it will remind you of simpler times, when people took the time to say they care with handwritten notes and letters. Job seekers especially take note: A handwritten card promptly sent after your interview can get you bumped to the top of someone’s callback list, even if your interview was mediocre, because everyone who’s anyone knows that writing a thank you note is a classy touch.

Keep It Touchless

It’s still a little jarring to me to go to restaurants in New York City and have to scan a QR (quick response) code to see a menu on my phone. I’ve gotten in the habit of just memorizing what I want to eat so I don’t have to awkwardly scroll through my phone during a lunch date. But such is our reality of our new germophobic world, and regardless of a vaccine, touchless technology is here to stay.

This means you have to reinvent anything you were doing before that required contact. But there are communication benefits to keeping it hands-free. Voice technology has really been the leader in easing us into the touchless life. Voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, Hey Google and Bixby have made many common tasks easier, by simply allowing us to ask questions and fire off commands while multitasking during our busy day. By voicing our way through our needs, we strangely become dependent on these voice assistants, and as a result trust them with more and more responsibilities, like shopping, researching and scheduling, which could give savvy companies, embracing this technology, a huge advantage.

Going touchless can put you on a new and exciting path of connecting and establishing trust with your audience by deepening your communication through the power of voice. The possibilities are endless and by embracing touchless and voice technology, you will be sending a message to your customers that your company is poised for the future.

You Can’t Stop Change, But You Can Communicate Through it

No matter the challenges we face, remember the one constant in our lives is communication. It is impossible to live without communication. You can help alleviate a lot of stress among your team and customers by helping them adapt to shifts and changes in how we communicate with the goal to bring everyone into a closer relationship. Waiting for a magic pill doesn’t work for health ailments and it certainly doesn’t work for communication gaps. In the same way we help our bodies adapt to aging and changes through nutrition, we can help the people we interact with adapt to new forms of communicating.

It always makes me laugh when I hear someone say the newspaper industry is dying, or worse that one day we will not need traditional media. This will never happen. The media will always exist, because it is an important form of communication in our society that helps inform us and protects us through fact-finding, truth-seeking efforts. How the media delivers its news to us could certainly change, but it is a form of communication that will never become obsolete. Like everything else, savvy journalists will continue to evolve their communication strategies to meet us where we are and to avoid risking becoming obsolete. You and I can do the same.

In the movie series “Star Wars,” Shmi Skywalker said, “You can’t stop the change, any more than you can stop the suns from setting.” In other words, Shmi was saying to her son Anakin, the forces of destiny are already in motion. Maybe it’s time to let go of the past and propel toward the future and start figuring out how to have meaningful relationships there, because we will likely all be there soon. NIE

Amy Summers launched Pitch Publicity in 2003 in the face of a rapidly changing climate for communication and media relations. She has 20 years of experience working with major clients in the natural products industry to increase visibility and exposure to targeted audiences through national publicity exposure across all mass media outlets, high-level fundraising campaigns and developing key strategic communication strategies. She serves on the board of directors of the University of Florida Alumni Association and the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Public Relations Advisory Council. Pitch Publicity is based in New York, NY.