Three Communication PRunks

Mr. PR Blogger, Stephen Davies, was kind enough to tag me in a blog meme around an up-and-coming event called New Wave PR. Organised by Andy Wake from event management company, Don’t Panic, the meme was started as:

“a fun way to create some buzz, identify potential speakers and find out who you feel the visionaries, mavericks and pioneers of PR really are.

The idea’s simple. We’re asking you to list the three communicators living or dead who have most influenced your way of thinking professionally and perhaps personally too. Who do you think the real innovators are? Who’s been most responsible for kicking the industry forward? And just who are the communication PRunks?”

Andy’s listed his three (Malcolm McLaren, Bill Drummond, and Banksy) and Stephen listed his (Muhammad Ali, Richard Branson, and the PR blogosphere). Although I still don't quite understand what a "PRunk" is (a play on PR and punk? Or PR hunks?), here's my three top communicators:

Winston Churchill - apart from bering the inspiration for the mascot of a car insurance company (Ooooooh yes), Churchill was known chiefly for his leadership during World War II. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was a noted orator (despite having a speech impediment) and was also a Nobel Prize-winning writer, penning a whole host of weighty tomes. To see how truly great a communicator Churchill was, watch this video, listen to the weight of his words, then go and find out some more about him.

Seth Godin - Seth is a renowned speaker. He was recently chosen as one of 21 Speakers for the Next Century by Successful Meetings and is consistently rated among the very best speakers by the audiences he addresses. Godin is author of ten books that have been bestsellers around the world. His most recent titles include The Dip and Meatball Sundae. Free Prize Inside was published in early May, 2004 and All Marketers Are Liars was published in 2005. His books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change and work. Permission Marketing was an Amazon.com Top 100 bestseller for a year, a Fortune Best Business Book and it spent four months on the Business Week bestseller list. Read his blog - his brevity, clarity and insight blows me (and hundreds of thousands of other readers) every time he posts.

Nelson Mandela - As the world's most famous prisoner, a former President of South Africa and the first to be elected in fully representative democratic elections, Mandela exemplifies and communicates a moral integrity that shines far beyond South Africa. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress and its armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. He spent 27 years in prison, much of it on Robben Island, on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he spearheaded the struggle against apartheid. His book, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, is an awe-inspirng insight into one of the wrold's greatest political thinkers. Asked to comment on the BBC's unflattering verdict on his performance as a leader, Mandela said with a smile, "It helps to make you human."

That's my three done. I tag Watson, Whitehurst and McInnes.