How to Make an Impact with Your Message

The public relations practitioner, as well as your typical journalist, must be well versed is how to be politically correct (whenever possible), and how to convey his/her message in a meaningful way, one that has impact. For instance, as a social media administrator, I could use the tactic of taking a "hot topic" and interjecting a little humor, while tagging it on Twitter.

An example? The Republican National Convention just ended, and it was a memorable one.
As I went to get my coffee this morning, I gazed across the street to the post office, and saw the flag was (still) at half mast - has been this whole week (sad state of affairs, both inside America and abroad - so much turmoil...sigh). The political satirist in me was saying...
"Huh, I wonder if the flag's at half mast because of Ted Cruz's speech the other day?"

Let's say I wanted to bring attention to something I thought was relevant, but not necessarily hard/breaking news. I was looking at the gasoline prices at the pump today, and saw it was down (again, decreasing all week) to $1.83 per gallon. Wow! I can't remember the last time it was a summer month and the gas was that low! Curiosity got the best of me, and I did some exploring...and this is my public relation "spin" on how low gas prices have gotten:
On July 7, 2008, WTI crude oil was $147 per barrel, average gasoline price at the pump: $4.11 per gallon
In July 2016, WTI crude oil is $44 per barrel right now, and I am staring at a gas station that reads $1.83 per gallon.
The price of gasoline is so much cheaper that it is less than half what it was eight years ago - perhaps as much as two-thirds less if you factor in inflation...the consumer price index figures indicate that the average cost of living has gone up (roughly) 10.2 percent from June 2008 to June 2016; using that gauge, gasoline should be about $4.53 on July 7, 2016
People, the price of gasoline is crazy low right now!
One little nugget of positivity during these trying times for the average American consumer.
Donald Trump gave a very long acceptance speech last night (Thursday July 21), informing Americans about everything he was going to change, if elected to office. One thing I am pretty sure wasn't on that list was knocking the oil companies for "socking it to us", because right now we are very blessed with what arguably is the cheapest (average) gasoline in a very long time, if not ever.

See how I put that message into a perspective that had more impact?
Numbers speak, so just saying the it is the cheapest gasoline ever will no resonate - a person will pay more attention when you put a "spin" on it, putting it into a perspective that "accents" or emphasizes the depth/significance of the change.
As I always tell my students, advice for up and coming professional communicator - if you are looking to become a journalist or PR practitioner, get away from the habit of using two words that the youngest generation tends to overuse:
Refrain from using "ever" and "never", or for that matter most all superlatives, unless you have solid evidence that they absolutely apply.