Our first-ever Pitchcraft phone call experiment only had two rules. First, show up. Second, no pitching.

For one hour on Friday, April 26, I gathered a group of publicists and writers — paired up according to focus areas and what I deemed a good match, personality wise — to see if a call could really foster deeper connection than other communication methods.

The instructions: 1) Jump on the Zoom link; 2) go off camera to make your call, following three specific prompts; 3) come back together as a group, cameras on, to discuss takeaways.

Here’s what we learned from the experiment.

A phone call is a first-choice communication method, after all.

Both writers and PRs on the call expressed that they found a phone call to be faster, more personal and valuable than an email, and lower pressure and less distracting than a video call.

Several celebrated the fact that phone calls can be taken in airports, on long car rides, on walks outdoors and anyplace that’s not behind a desk. This is not anything new, but the experiment offered refreshed, renewed perspective.

Takeaway: Ask for a meeting with a journalist via phone. You’ll be surprised by the outcome.

Don’t put the pitch first.

Participants in our experiment were given three prompts to focus on during the call: describing their ideal Saturday, sharing a few essential professional tools, and revealing current business pain points.

One pair learned they share a love for gardening. Another bonded over motherhood: One was a new mom, one was about to become one. An additional duo discovered they both like making things with their hands.

Exploring these questions provided common ground and helped them to discover uncommon commonalities among them, as well as useful resources to implement in their own business.

Takeaway: Borrow our questions or come up with a few of your own to ask during get-to-know-you calls.

We have more in common than we think.

Both PR and writers emphasized the difficulty of pitching and landing stories and acknowledged the increasingly competitive nature of the industry. They shared valuable insights with one another on tools that work (and don’t work) to help make their job easier.

Talking through pain points on a phone call brought some relief to both sides knowing they’re not alone.

Takeaway: PR teams aren’t writers’ antagonists. Great things happen when we collaborate.

Professional relationships are built in a phone call.

Every single participant agreed that they’d be willing to do this experiment again. Several writers mentioned that connecting with publicists on a personal level has been and will continue to be crucial for their professional success.

Publicists acknowledged that phone calls were less intimidating and more enjoyable than traditional business calls, and would be adding them into their workflow more often.

Everyone likes to to work with people they like, so get to know people better.

Takeaway: Build relationships, not lists, and see what happens.