Public Relations Tips: January 2010

Teleconference is a form of telecommunication and it is used much in the public relations world. It can be used for many great things. People use teleconferencing for different things. Teleconferencing is connecting to people or more using TV, radio or other means.

An example would be on the news when they bring in one man who is in one place reporting on the weather and they have other people inside the building reporting on other things and they can talk back and forth to each other.

Continue reading "Teleconference" »

Posted by DK at 09:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A spin could mean two different things. The first thing a spin could be is a biased portrayal of events in a person's own favor. They may be deceptive and manipulative to get what they want from the world and such.

There are people called spin-doctors that are hired to go about and try to shape peoples perceptions of political parties and such. They try to twist people's thinking to their way of thinking by using different tactics.

Continue reading "Spin" »

Posted by DK at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You should get in the habit of documenting everything. Every conversation whether it is in person, over the phone, or via email, should be noted. Jot down who you talked to and the nature of the conversations. If you ever get into a "he said-she said" that is work related, it is best that you know exactly what was said and that you have documented it. This will also help you stay organized and it will help you create your annual reports.

Continue reading "Cover Your Behind" »

Posted by DK at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Your scope or focus should be determined by the type of job that you have. If you work for a big public relations firm, you want to be as broad as possible. Working for a big firm you will be assigned to a variety of accounts.

Continue reading "How big is your scope?" »

Posted by DK at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You may or may no have taken a statistics course in college. If so, that experience probably taught you that there is a lot to statistics, much more than the average person can learn or even wants to learn from a couple of college classes.

Continue reading "Get yourself a statistician" »

Posted by DK at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The size of your public relations department is going to dictate many aspects of your job. When you are job hunting, you might consider if you feel more comfortable as a big fish in a small pond or a big fish in a big pond.

Continue reading "Big fish, small pond" »

Posted by DK at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A person fresh out of college with a shiny new degree in public relations might experience a little bit of desperation when entering the job market. Realize that not every job will be right for you. You may have to wait a little while to find the job that fits but being a little choosy will pay of in the end.

Continue reading "Find a good fit" »

Posted by DK at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Public relations is largely bridgework. You are the link between the company and the public and then back again. To be a bridge effectively, you need to be firmly planted on both shores.

Continue reading "Bridgework" »

Posted by DK at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is a catch-22 with politics in your profession. You want to avoid politics because of the polarizing effect that political issues have on the public. You certainly don't want to offend half the public and about half of us come down on either side of any debate. At the same time, you need to know what is going on in the world politically. To a large extent, he public pulse is driven by politics. So, as a public minded professional, your job is greatly determined by politics.

Continue reading "Politically speaking" »

Posted by DK at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The more interesting you are, the more people will want to get to know you. This starts a terrific cascade of professional benefits. When you have a speaking engagement, make sure they remember you. By being particularly interesting, listeners might even repeat what you said (think free advertising).

Continue reading "Liven up yourself" »

Posted by DK at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You make contact with a political activist at a cocktail party. She suggests that your company is the kind of company that she supports because of the way you handle your toxic waste. You thank the woman, enter her contact numbers into your blackberry and then what? Forget about it until you meet again? No!

Continue reading "Follow your leads" »

Posted by DK at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Your job is so closely related to journalism that you might already have a degree in journalism. If you haven't studied journalism formally, start an informal study now. A lot of your job is going to be writing for the press.

Continue reading "Write the way the writers write" »

Posted by DK at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HTML or the Hyper Text Markup Language is an extremely useful tool and what's more, it's easy to learn. You might spend about 5-10 hours mastering the basics of HTML and after you know the basics, you will know enough about how the code works that you will be able to teach yourself even more. You will also learn how to look at the source codes on different websites and replicate those effects.

Continue reading "Learn HTML" »

Posted by DK at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A good sense of humor goes far in the business world. Often, the only thing that will keep you from a tearful meltdown or a curse-laden rant is your sense of humor.

Continue reading "Maintain a sense of humor" »

Posted by DK at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is important in any business but it might be more important when you are in human relations. By screening your calls you are making good use of your time by not talking to people you don't want to talk to when you don't have time to talk. Get a good administrative assistant who is trained in call screening. If you don't have an administrative assistant you will have to use a device to screen your calls. Do make sure everybody that contacts you gets a response. Don't feel like every response needs to be a phone call from you. You might delegate the responses to staff or even handle them through email, voicemail, or snailmail.

Continue reading "Screen your calls" »

Posted by DK at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If your company has a website, you need to be very interested in it. If your company does not have a web page see that you get one (just about any kid 16 years-old or younger will be able to show you how). It is very important to have a website and it is even more important to have a good home page.

Continue reading "Work the home page" »

Posted by DK at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It doesn't matter if it is a written article, a speech, or an interview; get to the point as quickly as possible. Beating around the bush has a shady feel to it. Worse, you risk losing your audience if you don't get right to the point right away. You want to state the meat of what you are presenting within your first couple of sentences. You might try to catch the reader with a snazzy headline or you might soften a crowd with a joke but then state the point and make it clear. Something like, "I'm here to talk about the proposed development project in your neighborhood" is clear. Something like, "In the world of change that we live in, there are times when we must alter what is and replace it with what will be" is not clear.

Continue reading "Get to the point" »

Posted by DK at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You want to get press right? Well, you should get real familiar with the media sources in your community. See what gets printed in the papers and what angles are popular with what reporters. Listen to the radio and find out what stations might be sympathetic to your cause. The more you can learn about the media outlets that you want to work with, the more prepared you will be when the time comes. You will have really done your homework if you finally get your big interview and when the reporter comes you can say something like "Hi Holly, it's an honor to meet you, your column on the society page was a guilty pleasure of mine when you were writing it."

Continue reading "Become a media buff" »

Posted by DK at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you work for an organization with political interests you might find yourself in heated situations at times. Let the senators, lobbyists, and talk show hosts fight it out. As a public relations person, you should stay out of debates as much as possible.

Continue reading "No fighting" »

Posted by DK at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A neurologist friend once told me the best advice that he gave new interns was to practice saying the words "I don't know". I think the same is true for people in public relations. If you don't know, say so. Trying to spin a story when you don't have the facts can only make you look ignorant (at best) and dishonest (at worst), it's far better to just admit that you don't have the information. If you think that the information is important, you might offer to find the answers or even conduct a study. You can also direct the person asking the questions to some resource where they might be able to find the answers.

Continue reading "Three words-"I don't know"" »

Posted by DK at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sometimes a sincere apology that is well communicated really does make it all better. Sometimes "sorry" can fix it. If your company has somehow caused harm to anybody, apologize and try to fix it.

Continue reading "The art of apologies" »

Posted by DK at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You need to practice giving speeches. As a public relations specialist, you will eventually be asked to speak in front of people. When that time comes, you need to be ready. If you are nervous, practice in front of a video camera and get a look at yourself at the podium or behind the mic. This will really help your nerves.

Continue reading "Speech! Speech!" »

Posted by DK at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In this profession, there are plenty of opportunities for socializing. In most cases, the socializing usually includes a fair amount of drinking. By all means, enjoy yourself and enjoy a cocktail at the party but only if you are well trained. For some reason, responsible social drinking is usually learned through the school of hard knocks. Don't take your hard knocks at your companies expense. Watch how much you drink and also watch how strong the drinks are. You might be fine after drinking two beers but after drinking two long islands, you might be staggering. If you start to feel "buzzed" while you are drinking in public switch to water and eat some food. If it happens that you do get drunk (or even close) call a cab and get out of there.

Continue reading "Stay out of the drink" »

Posted by DK at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sometimes the public relations game gets a little complex and you can kind of forget who your boss is. You might feel like you work for the public because that is the focus of your job. You might also feel like you work for the stakeholders because they are usually the ones holding the dollars for the company. Surprise! You don't work for either of these entities. Your loyalty should be to your company, not to the public or the stakeholders.

Continue reading "Who's the boss?" »

Posted by DK at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Press releases are statements prepared by publicists and/or public relations firms on behalf of their clients for distribution to the media. A press release's distribution may correspond with a new company, a company product, a merger, a special event, a new band, an author's book, or a number of occurrences that depend on the publicist or public relations firm's type of client. These press releases may be used by journalists and media personnel as the basis of a print story or article, or for a television story.

Many public relations specialists or firms mail press releases, some use fax machines, and many have turned to email. Publicists and public relations firms use email to distribute press releases because it is inexpensive, convenient, and fast. Journalists or media personnel frequently prefer to receive press releases through email for the same reasons.

Continue reading "Emailing press releases" »

Posted by DK at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Public relations is a high stress job with a lot of mental demands. It will help you do better at your job and also help you be a better employee if you pick up some "extracurricular" activities. Sports and hobbies are great places to focus all your work related angst. Sports will help by keeping you fit (which is great for your image) and by giving you a physical release everyday. Lifting paperweights doesn't count as a gym workout. Go to the gym, play racquetball, run, whatever it is you like to do, indulge in it vigorously several times a week. If you don't have any sports try a few out. Your company might have a softball team or maybe your spouse would enjoy bike rides in the evening.

Continue reading "Get a life" »

Posted by DK at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you happen to get an interview with any media source, get all the details as quickly as possible. Notice, that I said get all the details not give all the details. You will know much more about which details to give and which details you have time for if you ask some important questions up front. One thing you want to find out is how long the interview will last. If you are being interviewed on the radio and you spend the first four minutes telling an amusing story, you will want that time back if after the story you find that you ha only one minute left. On the other hand, you will want to tell a story and warm up the audience if you are going to be talking to them for 40 minutes.

Continue reading "Interview your interviewer" »

Posted by DK at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You have probably heard of the K.I.S.S. principle before. It is an acronym for Keep It Simple, Stupid and it should be one of your mantras when you are doing public relations. When you are making statements to the public, keep it simple! Even if you are giving a very long speech, people will not be able to remember more than three points so stick with that number. Even if you only give three points, you will still have to repeat the points several times to get them to stick.

Continue reading "K.I.S.S." »

Posted by DK at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In other words, get organized. In your profession, organization is a must. Hopefully, you have an administrative assistant who can handle most of the organizational aspects of your job. However, if work for a smaller company, you might have to act as your own secretary. If this is the case, you need to be fastidious in organization. Make sure that the items in your "in box" get finished and that they get finished on time. Make sure that the items in your "out box" get out. That means they are delivered to the right people and that deadlines are always met.

Continue reading "Keep your ducks in a row" »

Posted by DK at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seriously consider taking advantage of any professional development opportunities that come your way. If you can take a weekend course on using Microsoft Office tools, take it. The same is true for conferences and seminars. If your company is willing to pay for you to go to any sort of class or training, it is in your best interest to take advantage of that opportunity. Beside the content of the classes, you might find that you are able to learn a lot of practical stuff by association with fellow classmates and conference goers.

Continue reading "Have a little class" »

Posted by DK at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When you are interacting with anybody, including people both inside and outside of your company, try to foster friendly feelings. This does not mean that you want to be friends with these people. In fact, it is probably best to keep your personal life and your professional life separate. What is means is that you act friendly and you make personal connections.

Continue reading "Personally speaking" »

Posted by DK at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You should develop good relations with the heads other department heads. When you feel that something can be achieved through advertising, meet with the head of advertising and discuss with her your vision and what you will need from the department. You want to work with the whole team as much as possible.

Continue reading "Be a team player" »

Posted by DK at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)