Learning How to Be a Good Communication Expert at Tech Media Talk

Once again showing a commitment to developing the students’ communication skill and organizing seminar, BINUS INTERNATIONAL Communication Programme’s Tech Media Talk was back on stage on Tuesday (9/6).

Routinely held on a Tuesday, the talk featured on its latest edition a speker with the best capacity. This time, Ramdani Sirait, a writer-cum-sustainable-partnership-specialist, was invited to provide a description of his profession as well as to motivate his audience which was predominantly students.

On this occasion, Dani, so the speaker is nicknamed, gave a presentation on “How to Become Most Wanted Corporate Communication Specialist” before a number of audience. Here Dani revealed his years-long experience of being engaged in the world of communication, starting 1999 when he decided a journalistic career for himself at Antara, Indonesia’s national news agency.

Dani had joined the journalistic profession for dozens of years. He had reported from various work terrain. East Timor battlefield, the state palace, to the UN’s headquarter in New York hadall been his reporting fields by that time.

Follwing a rich expression in the journalistic field, Dani decided to throw himself into a desk job as Freeport Indonesia Deputy to Head of Communications and Spokesperson. In this position, Dani is responsible for preparing and managing the company’s both external and internal communication strategy.

Dani has held the position for 7 years. He admitted, working as a company’s communication expert is very unexpected, particularly in a company that easily draws the national and international public. He had to face great challenge. However, Dani could successfully complete his job, helping his company go through crises.

“On an occasion, on of our employees had an accident. Before long, the news had spread out, reaching overseas countries. My responsibility as the company’s spokesman was to neutralize the then condition, providing accurate information so that it did not went to the wrong direction,” Dani explained.

To become a communication expert for a company, a person has to thoroughly understand the roles of internal and external communication, and how it can support the company. Therefore, as Dani put it, a corporate communication expert must master mandatory 3 skills: networking, lobbying and stakeholders engagement, as well as public speaking. Beside the 3 skills, the ability to analyse a case or condition is very recommended. “Analytical thinking is very important,” Dani asserted.

Lastly, Dani explained the career path for a corporate communication expert which, according to him, has equal opportunity to other position holders in a firm. Becoming a corporate communication expert does not eliminate any possibility that someone can go up to the top level in the firm. “It usually starts with becoming a staff, the next is head of communication, manager, director, even up to a CEO,” he mentioned.

TMT’s latest edition was a means of gaining as much knowledge for students from a completely experiential speaker from the industry which will be possibly their next work field. Many questions were raised on this occasion. Even after the talk was ended,  a continuous flow of students came towards Dani to ask more questions about the professional world of communication.