Recently I attended several workshops concerning recruiting and the job search process. One of the things the speaker stressed was the importance of having your “elevator speech” ready. It is coined an elevator speech because of the fact that we meet many poeple who could be instrumental to our career in an elevator and your speech needs to be short enough to deliver in the duration of an elevator ride while still being effective. This elevator speech is also called a positioning statement. It is basically the response you should have to the ever-popular request of “Tell me about yourself.” Your positioning statement or elevator speech should consist of the five or so things that you want that person to know about you and can also be used on the resume.
As I sat in that workshop, I figured this concept was basically common sense and I would just “wing it” if asked to tell about myself. However, the facilitator had us write out our elevator speeches and read them in front of our collegues. In composing mine, I realize that it can be a bit more difficult that one thinks. To “wing it” often results in your most important points not getting across. After I took the time to pick out those points I deemed most important and composed my elevator speech, I realized that this small time investment resulted in a better quality speech.
A discussion paper published by the UK’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations raises lots of questions about professional PR practice and social media.
Some of it is unsurprising (copyright’s an issue online and offline); some of it is just silly (I had thought the issue of deep linking had gone away years ago; if not, how come Google’s still in business?). But one of its questions is intriguing.
This concerns the role of the ghost writer - and the inevitable question of ethics and transparency. Once again, the issue is not new. It’s established practice for PR copywriters to draft quotations in news releases in the name of senior executives and to write bylined articles on their behalf. It’s common knowledge that presidents and prime ministers employ teams of speech writers.
In all these cases, the practice is accepted (and acceptable) because the senior executive or political leader takes responsibility for their words. In the case of the speech, they even stand there and deliver it.
The first steps in your career can often be the most difficult and confusing. This is part of the reason Forward was created – for young PR professionals to help each other move forward.
Luckily for us young PR pros, David Maister has just started a series of podcasts on career development. Maister is a former Harvard Business School professor and is one of the world’s leading business thinkers. In other words: Big Time!
Here’s the blurb from his latest ‘Business Masterclass’ in Career Development:
Careers, like all living things, evolve in response to opportunities and challenges. The Business Masterclass Career Development series explores the secrets of a successful and satisfying career: the willingness to adapt, respond and maintain the enthusiasm to keep trying.
And to give you a taste of the podcast, I’ll quote Maister from his most recent episode – Are you having fun yet?
Energy, ambition, drive and enthusiasm. So scarce are these qualities today that they are the dominant competitive advantage for both individual and organizations. Enthusiasm and involvement are the keys. The point of life is to be happy – all other goals: money, fame, status, responsibility, achievement are merely ways of making you happy. They’re worthless in themselves. If you’re not enjoying your work – then do something about it.
The series is three episodes in, and it’s well worth your while to have a listen to the episodes already posted and subscribe to the rest of the series. This is yet another example of social media allowing young people to learn from the best thinkers out there – for free!
I gave a short guest lecture on social media at one of my MBA classes this past week. I told the class I believe there is a positive linear correlation between the amount of PR elements offered to reporters and the quantity/quality of media coverage generated.
Assuming there is real news value with the announcement/release, PR pros will almost always see an increase in the quantity and quality of media coverage when more “elements” are offered to reporters. PR elements include a well-written press release, source interviews, pre-written quotes, images, audio, video, third-party expert interviews, etc. - all of which are easily accessible in a social media press release.
Forward Podcast 14 is the most significant to date as we interview the Co-Chairs of the Commission on Public Relations Education, Dean Kruckeberg and John Paluszek, on their soon to be released report - The Professional Bond.
The Commission on Public Relations Education plays an important role moving the PR industry closer to full professionalism by increasing the bond between practitioners and educators.
This report presents recommendations for public relations undergraduate and graduate education. It has been developed “to demonstrate, facilitate and encourage the kind of linking of public relations education and practice that is the hallmark of any profession.” It is a major work drawing on voluminous research and builds on the commissions influential 1999 report.
Dr Dean Kruckeberg is a fellow of the PRSA and a full Professor at the University of Nothern Iowa. John Paluszek is a PRSA fellow, Ambassador-at-Large for the Global Alliance on Public Relations and Senior Counsel at Ketchum. They are two of the pre-eminent members of our profession.
In this podcast they introduce the report and outline some of its key points. They introduce and explain the signifigance of the report, discuss at length some of the key findings and finish by making a call to action. Everyone with an interest in the PR industry should read the full report, which will be available from the Commission on Public Relations Education’s website from November 30.
Finally, Forward owes a special thank you to Constantin Basturea for helping to organise this podcast.
The initial blog storm around the anti-astroturfing campaign has died down. Many bloggers have stated their support and there’s a great collection of resources at the campaign home page, but the question is - where is the next step from here?
The campaign has attracted mainstream media attention, blogosphere buzz and the support of some PR agencies (Jackson Wells Morris, Altyris, Flatiron Communications and Voce Communications take a bow) but no professional association or large PR agency has lent any meaningful support. Maybe it’s too difficult, maybe it’s because they lack courage.
Of course it is a complex issue full of nuance. Richard Bailey, one of the most upstanding PR practitioners you’ll come across, can only offer luke-warm support. It’s not black and white, it’s not the only ethical issue facing our profession, and it’s only a small part of the overall transparency debate we must confront in order to convince the public to allow us to perform our role in the new world online.
The difficulties in definition do not alter the fact that astroturfing is one of the most deplorable practices in our industry, and at the very least there are astroturfing activities that every communicator can oppose in every instance. It is an issue that an impressive collection of communicators see fit to oppose, and while it’s a difficult topic to confront – it doesn’t deserve the too-hard basket.
The thing that has struck me with the campaign so far has been the number of PR students and new practitioners who were blatantly unaware of the tactic and uncertain about why it is so wrong (this video is an example). I’ve been regularly discussing the issue with my peers for several months now and few have had cause to consider the ethical implications of their practice.
The vast majority of the industry are intelligent, ethical operators who will always avoid these dodgy tactics … but these are not the kind of people who will fall down with astroturf.
View video below. (I can’t get the embedded video to work right, so you’ll just have to watch it here.)
I swear I’m not on a feminist kick, I’ve just been meaning to write about this for a while. I originally saw it at Toby Bloomberg’s blog, and then I caught the PSA on TV the other night, which reminded me and ultimately prompted this post.
First of all, I’m highly impressed by this witty campaign. Put on by Women’s Voices. Women’s Votes., it’s a great case study of a very integrated and innovative effort — complete with YouTube videos, TV commercials, viral buttons, and apparently, blogger relations — designed to motivate young women to vote.
Secondly, I do encourage you to vote. In a conversation with Paull Young recently, he informed me that Australians can be fined for not voting — which is unfortunate in situations when none of the candidates are worthy of support. Granted, Americans aren’t forced to vote with threat of monetary consequences, but we still have the right – why not take advantage of that?!
Haha — I really have nothing to add. Just read, be amused — but most importantly — do not make these mistakes!
My favorite under things not to include:
“I am attending college to obtain two degrees and three certificates in the field of Computer Science. In my spare time I like to work on my computer and do various activities with my girlfriend.”
Forward Podcast 13 looks at online learning opportunities for young PR professionals. Paull interviews two of the PR blogosphere’s most geographically isolated communicators, Lee Hopkins and Karel McIntosh, about their learning experience online.
Karel McIntosh lives in Trinidad and Tobago and writes the Caribbean PR blog. Karel is a great example of a young PR professional taking advantage of online resources to learn from communicators around the world.
Recently I attended several workshops concerning recruiting and the job search process. One of the things the speaker stressed was the importance of having your “elevator speech” ready. It is coined an elevator speech because of the fact that we meet many poeple who could be instrumental to our career in an elevator and your speech needs to be short enough to deliver in the duration of an elevator ride while still being effective. This elevator speech is also called a positioning statement. It is basically the response you should have to the ever-popular request of “Tell me about yourself.” Your positioning statement or elevator speech should consist of the five or so things that you want that person to know about you and can also be used on the resume.
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The first steps in your career can often be the most difficult and confusing. This is part of the reason Forward was created – for young PR professionals to help each other move forward.
Forward Podcast 14 is the most significant to date as we interview the Co-Chairs of the Commission on Public Relations Education, 
