Written by Tina Cisneros

On the afternoon of May 18, the Speech 137 TFE class conducted Yanig: Bringing Innovative Change through Groundbreaking Communication via Zoom. Yanig centered around groundbreaking communication and how it can engender revolutionary changes and breakthroughs within oneself and the world. Yanig was a four-part event that tackled communication in the areas of business, politics, journalism, and health. The conference was hosted by Precious Principe and Bea Balonzo.

To officially start the program, Andres Manuel, the conference director, gave his opening remarks. He thanked everyone for attending despite their busy schedules. He emphasized our need to reach out to and communicate with more Filipinos, especially those that are not within our echo chambers. He hopes that the event would enable every attendee to become groundbreakers in their respective communities.

Session 1 – Your Journey to Success: Driving Your Business with Steadfast Communication

The speaker for the first session was Ms. Lou Ortiz, Unilever Philippines’ corporate communications manager.

Ms. Lou gave insights into what communications professionals do to make sustainable business possible. Practitioners derive insights by communicating and listening to the consumers, to what they support and advocate for. She recognized that with time changing, so does how people communicate with other people as communication is dynamic. Secondly, she puts primacy on being advocates of one’s purpose, be it the business’ or one’s self. By being advocates, campaigns are amplified, allowing people to scale up and strengthen their businesses.

Session 2 – Answering Uncertainty: Winning an Election through Cohesive and Powerful Communication

President and CEO of Blueprint PH, Mr. Rosini Brillantes, was the speaker for session two.

Before Sir Rosini delved into the main topic, he first shared his surprise at how principles of organizational communication can be applied to executing political campaigns. Afterward, he identified the role a campaign manager plays in orchestrating advocacy programs and the characteristics that a campaign manager should possess. Among the list of the characteristics, two involve communication. 

He said that a manager should understand the value of communication in campaigns. He mentioned how powerful communication can be for it can trigger the emotions of the target audiences towards a certain behavioral objective. Lastly, he said that managers should be able to recognize the value of behavioral change or how communication can be turned into a movement.

Session 3 – Improving Narrations: Truth-telling with Compelling and Headstrong Communication

Ms. Karmina Constantino, one of ANC’s news anchors, was the third session’s speaker.  

For her opening, she put a heavy emphasis that at this point in time, as Filipinos, communication has never been as crucial and truth-telling has never been as essential.

She said that one person’s truth is different from another’s, and there is no problem with that. Facts, on the other hand, should be immovable. She then hinted that should history be revised and attacked, people should be ready to defend it.

When communicating truth, she suggested that we discern whose truth we are conveying, for whom we are doing it, and why we speak that truth. When we tell the truth, it is vital that we tell why we do so. But more than knowing how pressing it is that we tell the truth, we must communicate as well, she stated. We must listen and understand too. 

Ms. Karmina ended her talk with a reminder to everyone present. She said, “Do not despair. We are here precisely because the events have shown we should keep on communicating – not just by truth-telling, but by listening to other truths as well”.

Session 4 – Growth and Rejuvenation: Changing Minds, Healing Lives with Influential Health Communication

For Yanig’s last session, they had Dr. Winlove Mojica, a clinical associate professor with the Department of Dermatology – Philippine General Hospital, as a speaker.

Dr. Mojica shared that in his many years as a health professional, he can testify to how communication is pivotal in health as it is an instrument that helps prevent the spread of disease and establish trust among stakeholders.

Since the pandemic, he has been involved in two health communication campaigns that have been successful. He then continued to share what made those campaigns a success.

To lead a successful campaign, we must know who our audience is, and who we are speaking to. When we are aware of who they are, we can communicate our message to them and we are guaranteed that they are received by the right people. He also explained the importance of creating useful and truthful content. Lastly, by receiving feedback to refine our messages and accepting them constructively, we communicate a more improved and clearer message to our target audience.

To wrap up his talk, Dr. Win encouraged the attendees to “say something”. He also said that we should not be afraid to defend science in an era where disinformation proliferates. He left a question for everyone to ponder: “If not us, who will defend the truth against disinformation?”

The conference formally concluded with a brief closing speech from Joaquim Sison, the conference’s program committee head. 

To watch the full conference, click this link: