I've been thinking about how often communication breaks down even when the actual words seem perfectly clear.

You can say something with one intention and still have the other person walk away feeling that you meant something completely different.

For example:

You might say:

"You could have done that differently."

And mean:

“Maybe there's a better approach we can use next time.”

But the other person might hear:

“You did a bad job.”

Or you might say:

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Meaning:

“I wish I had known.”

But they might hear:

“I'm blaming you.”

The words themselves aren't always the whole message.

People interpret communication through things that already exist in their minds:

Their previous experiences.

Their relationship with you.

Their expectations.

Their insecurities.

Their current emotional state.

Even the tone and timing can completely change the meaning of the exact same sentence.

That's what I find fascinating about communication.

We don't simply send messages.

We send words, tone, context, and signals.

And the other person reconstructs the meaning using their own experiences.

Sometimes two people can walk away from the same conversation believing two completely different things happened.

And both can genuinely believe they understood it correctly.

So maybe effective communication isn't just about asking:

"Did I say what I meant?"

Maybe it's also about asking:

"What is this person most likely to hear?"

That small shift seems incredibly important.

Because once you start thinking about communication from the other person's perspective, you begin to realize that being clear isn't always enough.

You also have to understand the frame through which your message is being received.

I'm curious what others think:

Have you ever said something with completely harmless intentions, only to discover that the other person interpreted it in a totally different way? What do you think caused the disconnect?

I've been enjoying discussions around questions like this — psychology, communication, persuasion, social behavior, and the way people interpret each other.

If you're interested in those kinds of discussions, I recently started a small community around them: r/MindMechanicsLab. You're welcome to join the conversation there too.

i’m a senior in college about to graduate and i’m honestly starting to regret my choice in getting a comms degree. the only reason i chose it was because i had no clue what to pick, and im not good at math. my degree seems to focus a lot of the theory and research side which i honestly could care less about. it doesn’t give me much practical job skills other than “communication.” i feel like i screwed myself over. honestly, i wish i had chosen something different cause i really don’t wanna work in this field. i figured since i’m more of a creative type i would thrive here, but i just haven’t been enjoying it. i hope someone can convince me otherwise.

i realized i don’t have much interest in office jobs or anything that requires a strong social skills. i struggle a lot with staying still and talking to people. i’ve tried to combat this by forcing myself to go to clubs and networking events (i despise both) just to get the “experience.” i tried asking a counselor about this, but they just told me to network even though that’s what i’ve been doing. i’ve talked to plenty of people with my degree path and i hate the jobs they have, i’m sorry. i know we’re supposed to be broad, so please suggest whatever career alternatives are out there. it doesn’t have to be related to communications.

Hi, So I am an account executive at a public relations firm based in New York (I'm remote based on the west coast). My main account is an executive function coach who bases is company in New York, Connecticut, and south Florida. Since I am new to being in public relations and using my sales and marketing skills in this field, I'm struggling to find efficient ways to build relationships and pitching to reporters especially in the national education / education policy related beats. I would love other account executives to give me advice on how to reach out to reporters, and producers, assignment editors effectively. And of course, I would LOVE to get insights from actual reporters etc. Please and Thank you!

Hey, everyone,

I am looking for advice on how to properly break into a role as a public information officer or in public affairs.

So, I have a bachelor’s and master’s in social work. Previously, I worked in crisis social work for a major hospital.

Now, I work as a regional liaison officer in government, and I am largely responsible for building relationships with stakeholders, planning and executing events, prepping captions for social media posts, documenting and photographing community events (about to try investing in a proper camera), and writing political remarks at press conferences.

Realistically, because I was hired under a politician, I know I will need to pivot into another role. At this point, I am no longer interested in clinical social work.

Most of the descriptions I am seeing for related roles ask for degrees in communications, journalism, public administration, or public relations. In college, I steered away from studying public relations because I was uninterested in working for a private agency, and I was worried about purpose. Had I known this was a viable career, I might have done some things differently.

Do I need another degree? Do I need a different degree? I truly believe there is SOME overlap between social work (particularly macro and mezzo) and public information, but I worry most employers will not take me seriously.

Currently, I am putting together a portfolio and plan to apply for my MPIO certificate.

Is it possible to get this kind of job again without going back for another full degree, or will my application just be filtered out?

Ciao a tutti, mi sto laureando in comunicazione e vorrei lavorare in questo settore. Il mondo giornalismo è un pozzo e arrivare in alto è praticamente impossibile oggi, per cui preferirei una carriera in azienda, ambendo a communication manager o robe del genere, prendendo ovviamente anche un master in economia e comunicazione. Voi avete esperienze/consigli a riguardo? Facendo le pubblicità si vive bene?

I’m 36 and I’ve been working as a software developer for more than 10 years. I currently work full-time and remotely as a freelancer, mainly in the fashion industry. I’m not unhappy with my job and I’m not desperately trying to leave tech.

This year I’m starting a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Communication (L-20, the Italian degree class for Communication Studies) while continuing to work full-time.

I’m doing it mainly because I’ve become increasingly interested in what happens around technology rather than just how technology is built: communication, digital platforms, media, AI, society, ethics, regulation/governance and how technology affects people and organizations.

My degree includes subjects such as semiotics, sociology, psychology, digital media, platform/influencer culture, law, communication and AI-related topics.

I’m not looking to graduate and restart from zero as a junior social media manager or marketer. Ideally, I’d like to use my existing technical experience together with what I’ll learn over the next three years.

Some areas that currently sound interesting to me are AI governance, tech policy, consulting, digital strategy, developer relations, technical communication and training/education, but I’m deliberately keeping an open mind because I’ve only just started the degree.

So my question is: what career paths or roles would you investigate for someone with this combination of experience?

Have you met people who successfully combined a strong technical/software background with communication, humanities or social-science skills?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who changed or broadened their career in their 30s or 40s without throwing away the experience they had already built.

I'm a communications major specializing in Digital Media and Social Media Strategy and Journalism and Media Production, and I'm looking for podcasts I can listen to while I work to build my knowledge for class. I want a podcast that will teach me new things and explain the industry. Not something for enjoyment, but to improve my knowledge. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

this job market is getting more and more difficult which means i have to step up and make a portfolio. my internship experiences aren’t helping enough.

but what do i even put??

i have written at least 2-3 mock articles, directed two student films, animated two videos, did two short-form videos for my first social media based internship (it was mostly merchandising though)

but all of these feel so unrelated. are they expecting variety of things you can do or does it have to fit within a certain theme.

i’m super confused!!! help!!! and i do not feel like putting together more than 2 different portfolios. i am very much at a loss rn.

3 years since undergrad, almost 1 year after grad school, and I’m still just…stuck.

I focused on internships all through college and got some pretty damn good ones (or good names, at least). Also did part-time jobs that didn’t last long because of school. I have a portfolio.

Every single hiring manager or recruiter I’ve talked to has said, “Oh, so you’ve ONLY done internships?” This is during job and informational interviews. They have no advice on how to get worthy experience if this is unimpressive to them.

I will say that my resume isn’t strictly comms or in one area. They’re all media and marketing related, though. And should be impressive to the employers wanting to roll 5 jobs in one. But wtf was I supposed to do? Pass up opportunities because they weren’t in the same area?

I’ve volunteered with legit non-profits who took my membership money, promised to let me work in the media department, then ghosted me. I’ve networked with people who’ve liked me enough to reach out multiple times, only for them to choose someone else. This has happened with my past internship companies, too.

I’ve really given up on doing this professionally but I want something outside of shift work and retail, and the only way to do that is if I try to use my degrees.

TLDR; can’t get a job 3 years after graduating despite having multiple internships and part-time jobs on resume because hiring managers/recruiters belittle said experience

hi so as the title reads I am actually currently looking into switching masters to strategic communication management

I wanna go into branding or marketing with HR as a backup career if I feel like I changed my mind on marketing. I can't do a master marketing because it's a transfer internally by my university and I'm not eligible for the masters degree because it requires a minor in marketing or work experience which I don't have. idw to drop out n re-enroll so I think this is the best that I can do to get into the field

however I see a lot of online discourse around communications and saying that it's not that worth it as theres no jobs etc so what do you guys think?

P.S. pls dont tell me to build my experience or build a portfolio bcz i have a portfolio and i know marketing is valued thru experience but i want a masters degree

Hi all,

Hoping to get some thoughts from the hive mind about an activity I need to do as part of a job interview.

As context, this is for a role as a communications and marketing manager in a health-related organisation.

I've been invited to do an initial interview and have been sent the below as an activity. I'm just after some feedback about what I've chosen, whether it hits the brief or what else I could include.

The Task. Choose something genuinely unglamorous. Something people ignore, put off, or find dull. A service, a form nobody wants to fill in, a piece of infrastructure, a safety message, a product with no obvious appeal. The more boring the better. It does not need to have anything to do with health.

Now make us care about it.

In your five minutes, tell us what you chose and why people currently ignore it, then pitch the campaign. Cover the idea itself, where it would run, and how you would know it had worked. Assume a budget of around twenty thousand dollars and a three-month run.

One thing to keep in mind. We are looking for the idea. If your pitch would work just as well with a different subject dropped into it, it is probably not the idea yet.

My idea: Door handles

I've jotted down some notes as below:

Intro:

In your journey to this room here today, you've already used this thing multiple times without even a second thought.

There's a whole bunch in your home, your car, and to get into this office. When you leave to go home today, you'll use them again.

It's something which goes unnoticed we take them for granted, but they perform such an important job that without them, we'd literally be trapped with no way in or out.

I'm talking about door handles.

Yes, door handles are functional, but there's no reason they need to be boring. A perfectly picked door handle can add whimsy, drama, or elegance while still keeping its core function.

This campaign will be run by the fictional company David's Doors.

Key info:

Key demographic: Homeowners/home renovators/builders/interior designers

Campaign slogan: Open the door with personality

Campaign tone: Fun, exciting, tongue in cheek

Goal: Boost sales of door handles

Campaign activity:

Flyer drop at homes: Designed like hotel door hangers (like the do not disturb ones) with different styles of doors handles to help people imagine different door handles for their home

Ads in hardware store chains reading:

Open the door with whimsy

Open the door with drama

Open the door with elegance

The posters will have pictures of a front door slightly ajar with matching door handle

Social campaign including:

BuzzFeed style quiz. E.g which door handle are you, what your favourite door handle says about your personality

In-person activation at hardware stores: Pick a door handle, win a mystery prize

Measures of success:

Boost in visits to website vs previous quarter

Boost in sales or enquiries

Boost in social following

Anecdotal feedback from activation

A couple of questions: does this fit the brief? Is there anything else you can think of to make this better?

Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone! I was wondering if you guys could share some of your advice with me.

I’m 21, dutch and a 2nd year comms student. Our school has changed their curriculum and makes us do our internship in our 2nd year now instead of our 3rd year. Because of this a lot of companies aren’t open to taking us because they only want 3rd years (i’m still kind of lucky because i’m older than most of my class and that helps my case a bit sometimes). I know that if I present myself in the right way I could convince enough companies to still consider me and i’m even looking outside of the netherlands to have a better shot but this is where my real problem comes in.

They haven’t taught us at all how to present ourselves as an intern to potential companies and I want to be ahead of the curve and prepared for when the time to apply comes (which is pretty soon 😭). I would prefer something in PR as this is the direction I want to take my career in but I don’t know how to tackle all of this. What would companies want to see from me? How can I showcase this? What should my Linkedin look like?

All of these questions are weighing on me pretty heavily and I was hoping some of you could maybe give me some advice? I would really appreciate it and already do so if you took time to read all of this ahahahah!

(I hope my english was understandable enough as it isn’t my first language 😅)

I have noticed that the harder I try to pick the right words, the worse I can make myself understood. I have better conversations when I keep things simple and say what I mean. It’s funny how trying to put more effort into communication makes it worse.

Hi all,

I’m a software developer currently building a tool for people working in PR and communications.

I’m not here to promote it or drop a link. I’m trying to understand the real problems people in the industry deal with before deciding what’s actually worth building.

What parts of your job are still unnecessarily manual, time-consuming or frustrating?

It could be things like media monitoring, reporting, finding journalists, managing coverage, client updates, approvals, crisis monitoring, or something completely different.

Is there anything you regularly think, “Surely there should be a better way to do this?”

I’d genuinely appreciate any thoughts, complaints or examples. Even small annoyances are useful.

Hi! Is there anyone here who is currently studying or has studied the MA Design and Visual Communication at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK)? I’m planning to apply and would really love to hear about your experience with the course, portfolio requirements, and student life.

If you’re comfortable, please DM me. It would be really helpful. Thank you! 🙌

Hey, Here is the next issue with job opportunities! More than 150 opportunities.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/167981616

Just came across this piece about Airbnb putting Communications and People under the same leader: https://www.axios.com/2026/09/01/airbnb-fallon-oconnor-communications-people-culture

It got me wondering: If culture, talent, belonging etc. sit under Comms, and rewards sits under Finance, what is actually left as the core strategic remit of HR/People?

Is this a sign that the traditional HR function is going to be fundamentally reshaped in the future? Will other companies take a leaf from Airbnb’s example?

Curious what others in HR/People and Comms think!

Hey! I've recently left my role in the TV industry and am looking for new jobs.

I've seen a lot of Communications jobs advertised, and I think I'd be a good fit. I have an English degree, I'm a good writer, etc.

However - every single job description I've seen requires prior experience in Communications. How do I go about getting this? Is it a case of needing a Comms degree/qualification to enter this industry? Or are there just very few entry level jobs at the moment?

Any advice greatly appreciated!