It felt like a lifetime, but when I checked the progress of our journey to Bali on my screen, we still hadn’t crossed the Australian border near Darwin. “Australia is such a big country”, I thought to myself. But then in a flash, it was wheels down and we had arrived in Indonesia. The proximity caught me off guard. Australia is on the doorstep of the fastest growing region in the world. It might seem obvious, but in my day to day existence, I’d never given it too much thought. Now I can’t stop thinking about it. The potential for Australia to make a contribution in the region is unique and it’s big. Very big. I was in Bali to present the preliminary findings of our Australian National University research project (on content communication methodology) and to attend the first Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) PR conference, staged by the ASEAN PR network and the Global Alliance. In rather nice accommodation (the Trans Hotel, I highly recommend it), about 30 minutes from the airport, communication and public relations professionals from across Asia and around the world gathered to discuss the challenge of “Communicating ASEAN’s global competitiveness”. At the end of the three days, I’m not sure this question was ever adequately addressed or answered. However, it’s clear that much more needs to be done at home before ASEAN can take on the world. There was widespread acceptance that while ASEAN has been a remarkably effective force to construct peace and prosperity, it has, at least so far, failed to capture the hearts and minds of 650 million people who call the region home. There was discussion about how best to turn this around. How can the ASEAN community share the unique qualities and diversity of the individual ASEAN...
The post Two ears, one mouth: How taking an Asian perspective will improve your communication appeared first on contentgroup.