Top 10 Things I Learned in Corporate PR

Wow, this year has flown by! It’s hard to imagine that we are at the very end of the semester already. My Corporate PR was a lot of fun this year. I was able to experience, learn, and participate in so much more than I would have originally thought. For the record, it was a good thing. I hope to share some of the thing I learned during class this year.

1. What Corporate PR  is made up of multiple areas all of which are an integral part of corporate pr such as corporate responsibility, reputation management, and investor relations.
2. Podcasts are very helpful. Podcasts keep you up to date on current events in the world as well as in pr. There is something out there for everyone’s taste, it’s just a matter of finding the right one for you.
3. Reading other writer’s blogs is very beneficial. By reading other blogs, you are able to learn a lot about pr. It’s also a great way to make connections with other’s in the industry.
4. PR in general is unpredictable  for the most part. After my interview with Kristin Knoll I found that there really isn’t a typical day for a pr practitioner. Things are always changing and you have to stay on your toes.
5. It’s important to have a plan in place dealing with crisis communication and it’s also important to know what a crisis is.  A crisis is a non-routine event that risks undesired visibility that in turn threatens significant reputational damage.
6. Based on the book, pr is facing some challenges such as globalization, the media, building trust and survival. It’s important to keep an eye on these and be aware of what’s going on.
7. Ethics seems to be hazy for some corporations at times and what’s its actual definition is because it’s not morality,legality,etiquette, or aesthetics.
8. Planning a campaign is difficult. We were given the task to put together a mini-campaign and there is a lot more that goes into it than what I originally expected. There is so much more that goes into researching a company and promoting a company. Sometimes you have to do it even if you don’t use the product or care for what they are doing, you still need to do your job to the best of your ability.
9. Based on my groups Sprint Project, I learned that it’s important for companies to be honest and transparent. Also, it’s important to market to the right demographics and present your company well to the public.
10. This last one may not apply to anyone else or even count as one, but I learned something about myself during this semester of Corporate PR. Honestly, I learned that I’m not cut out for the corporate world. Not yet anyways. I think it would be an amazing job and the work that I would be able to do would be incredible, and all the opportunities would be great; but it’s just not me. I’m so glad I took the class though because it helped me learn a lot about myself and more about the corporate pr world. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about this class and everything I learned.

Who’s Supposed To Take Responsibility…in the Corporate World?

My professor asked our class to write end of the year reviews of what we’ve learned from the chapters to help everyone prepare for the final exam. I chose corporate responsibility because this was one topic that really fascinated me and made me want to learn more about it. So here are something that I learned:

• Corporate responsibility means meeting the expectations of stakeholders; it goes beyond philanthropy and legal compliance.

• Corporate responsibility means meeting the expectations of stakeholders; it goes beyond philanthropy and legal compliance.
• “Demonstrating corporate responsibility is a key challenge for business leaders, and effective communication is a central element of every successful corporate responsibility program. “
• There are several audiences which include traditional stakeholders: customers, employees, and investors. It can also include the media, investment analysts, regulators, policymakers, international organizations, and NGOs.
• The most interesting thing I read was in the best practices and it said “define the company’s “sphere of influence.”

• As you do more research on corporate responsibility and look up certain companies, you will be shocked to find certain companies who have done very well with corporate responsibility and others who have fallen every short of the bar.

“The Social Media Revolution”

Social Media is everywhere in todays world. You can’t walk down a street or pass someone in the grocery store without the ever present world of social media. I have a difficult time even at my young age remembering when I didn’t have social media by my side. Our social media outlets have been growing at incredible rates that one has to wonder what they will think of next. I chose the video Social Media Revolution because since social media is a huge thing today, it’s important to look back and look ahead at everything that is social media. It’s grown faster than most media outlets and doesn’t show signs of stopping anytime soon. I am fascinated by social media and the power that it has to transform and grow, which is another reason for us to take a hard look at it.  I know I would be completely lost without today, which I am sadden to say. Do you ever wonder what we would do without it? If it just disappeared from the face of the earth, never to be heard from again?  It’s scary to think about. After watching this video, I now have a better grasp on the realities of social media. As a fellow social media user, I hope that it doesn’t go anywhere in the near future.

 

Why Read PR Blogs? by Whitney Gonzalez

I traded posts with Whitney Gonzalez. I have had the pleasure of getting to know Whitney over the past few years and she is going to take the PR world by storm when she graduates in May.

This week we were asked to post someone else’s blog post on our own blogs and vice versa. Seeing how we were doing this with out blogs, I thought it was only fitting to post her writing about reading blogs. So without further adieu Whitney’s blog post:

Why Read PR Blogs?

11 Oct

I explored a blog called Culpwrit “guiding the career in public relations” where Ron Culp from Chicago, Illinois provides career guidance for those in the Public Relations field. Culp posts several Question and Answer posts which provide answers to those who submit questions. I find those very helpful because it displays different situations in the PR field.

Public relations students can benefit from reading public relations blogs in several different ways, such as:

• Finding advice for career searches
• Reading about the lifestyle of someone already in the field
• Receiving encouragement

Some of the things that I learned about were staying professional during virtual meetings, tips on searching for jobs, interviewing, and tips for while actually on the job.

Public Relations students that stay informed on the world of public relations, such as new technologies, techniques, etc., will likely be competitive in their job search and obtain the best job available for them.

Another thing that reading PR blogs can help with is knowing if you have chosen the right field or what you want to do with your degree. By reading PR blogs you can learn about the things that PR professionals actually do and decide if those are things that you would enjoy doing. If you know PR is for you and are unsure whether you want to work with non-profits, corporations, etc., you can subscribe to bloggers that are involved in those different areas and find which you would enjoy doing most.

You can read more posts written by Whitney by going to her website
http://whitness07.wordpress.com/

Challenges and Opportunities

Chapter 15:

• Edward Bernay’s said that public relations is “the vocation of the social scientist who advises clients on social attitudes and on the actions to take to win support of the public upon whom the viability of the client depends.”
• He also came up with several different descriptions of PR: Recognized that group behave in predictable, if shifting, ways, and it focuses on how those who matter to a company think and feel and how to get them to think and feel differently
• The book said that Public relations will be among the 10 fastest growing professions in the U.S. through 2016.
• Several challenges that PR is facing today are globalization, the media, building trust and survival.

Dashboard Confessions

Before being told to look at it, I’ve never thought about reviewing my stats on my wordpress blog. Sadly, I do not receive that many hits on my regular posts. Several of my posts received more views on certain days than others. My most active post was of my interview with Eden Gordon which I conducted last year. I can understand where that would be more interesting to read since it’s a human interest type of post. It was my most searched, which is also beneficial for Eden because it makes people look at her and see what she is all about.

I think pr practitioners would benefit greatly from viewing their own stats and/or their companies stats because it acts as a great tool. It gives them the ability to see what posts people like, what they don’t like, and what they should possibly put more of on their blog. It is also helpful since it tells you which month,week, or day the viewing occurred. This allows the blogger to possibly change what day they are blogging on or what week would get them the most views.

Another benefit of viewing stats is that it just helps you keep track and stay on top of things. It’s nice to know when you’re posting and if people appreciate what you have to say. I would encourage anyone who is going to blog or continue blogging to view their site stats regularly. It can’t hurt you, but only help you get the most out of blogging and produce the best blog you can.

Let’s do some consulting shall we?!

Chapter 14:

• “The book says Public relations consultants work in firms that offer communication advice and services to clients – for a fee. Consultants must balance the interests of clients, employees and the firm‟s owners.”
• The “triple squeeze” involves the clients, employees, and the owners.
• The public relations industry began in the early 1900s, and dominated by individual counselors.
• The books also gave ways of knowing when relationships are strained with your client: they don’t return your calls, there is tension in the air, conversations feel strained, and sarcasm creeps into their dialog.

How to do your best at Public Speaking!!!

My throat is dry, my hands are sweaty, and my legs are ready to give out; it’s presentation day. Everyone, I’m sure, has experienced these symptoms at some point or another while preparing and giving a speech. While some jitters come with the territory, fear and dread don’t have to be a problem by learning some tips which will help you give a great presentation. I found a website which gave some good tips on presentation giving:

1. Know your audience: Before getting up to speak, know who you are speaking to. It’s important to put your information into their language which will make for effective communicating.

2. Body language is important! If you’re standing in front of everyone fidgeting, fumbling with your words, shifting back and forth it will reflect badly on you. Appropriate movement and hand gestures are fine to do during a presentation as long as they don’t become too obsessive.

3. Don’t read from notes: By reading from notes you can lose contact with the audience and it doesn’t look very professional. Glance at your notes for reference points as needed. While speaking, speak loudly and clearly to the audience as well.

4. Eye Contact: We’ve all heard it’s important to maintain eye contact with the audience while speaking, and it is. It’s recommended to make eye contact for 3 seconds at a time. By looking at everyone in the audience periodically, everyone stays involved.

5. When speaking to the audience, listen to their questions and if needed adjust.

6. Pausing if okay! Taking a pause in between points can be a helpful thing. It allows you to take a minute to collect yourself and not rush through your presentation.

7. Humor is not a bad thing: I’ve heard using humor is both positive terms and negative. using appropriate humor can be beneficial in your presentation because it keeps the audiences attention.

8. Stop before you hurt yourself: It’s important to not over-talk. If you’ve made your point, then it’s better to close your presentation.

9. Visual aids are very helpful: Visual aids can enhance presentations. Keep fonts simple and easy to read.

10. If using any video or audio, make sure you set it before presenting. This prevents any awkward pausing or mishaps during your presentation.

Anyone heard of Corporate Responsibility lately?!?!

Corporate Responsibility has been in the news lately, but it seems like it’s always in the news. In  the past few months the biggest story on corporate responsibility has probably been the BP oil spill. At firs thought, I don’t think many would have thought that BP did a very good job at taking responsibility, however, they did.

After learning about what corporate responsibility is, I know it’s really important for companies to be transparent. In an article from April, a list was put out of the best companies with corporate responsibility and the worst companies. I was shocked to see some of the companies on that worst list.  I think it’s so important for corporations to be as transparent as they could be, because I feel if you are then when a problem arises people will be more likely to trust and accept your decision on things. Toyota is a good example of being transparent. I have a Toyota and they sent a letter explaining and what they were going to do to fix the problem.

Another example, even though it’s small, is Domino’s Pizza. They first had their fiasco with their employees misbehavior but then in their new commercials customers will send pictures in with messed up pizza’s  and the company was wanting to fix the problem. They didn’t hide the fact that they were messing things up, they took responsibility and were very transparent showing pictures; they owned up to their mess and wanted to make things right.

Corporate Responsibility is always going to be in the news, I hope that when it does show up that it’s about companies who are doing the right things instead of those who are messing up and needing to be called out on things.

Corporate Responsibility…Use some!

Ch. 13 Corporate Responsibility:

• Corporate responsibility means meeting the expectations of stakeholders; it goes beyond philanthropy and legal compliance.
• “Demonstrating corporate responsibility is a key challenge for business leaders, and effective communication is a central element of every successful corporate responsibility program. “
• There are several audiences which include traditional stakeholders: customers, employees, and investors. It can also include the media, investment analysts, regulators, policymakers, international organizations, and NGOs.
• The most interesting thing I read was in the best practices and it said “define the company’s “sphere of influence.”