Advice for Young PR Pros from Richard Toth
I recently sat down with Richard Toth, APR, Fellow PRSA, and lecturer at the University of Maryland-College Park. For my first post, I thought I’d share some of the thoughts from one of my former public relations professors. Let’s jump right with some young pr pro questions…
What’s your advice for recent public relations graduates in terms of the some of the skills you find that young PR pros lack?
New PR pros and students need to demonstrate and follow through on basic curiosity about tactical and strategic communications — the classic five w’s and h on a broad and flexible range of topics. They need to absorb and sort lots of information, going beyond the superficial to ponder and position the “what if?” of situations. Beyond that philosophical big picture, I suggest students and new pros should:
- Read, listen, observe, ask, write, edit, practice more. In a variety of media — traditional, mainstream and otherwise.
- Take every opportunity for feedback and to explore and propose options.
- Take what I call positive risks. Dare to be different, positively.
- Network, collaborate, participate, mentor and be mentored. Getting started early in organizations — such as PRSSA, PRSA, IABC, their local chapters and members. Such activity can help with all of the recommendations above and below. Don’t forget personal, face-to-face interaction. Follow up with personal thank-you notes and updates. Add value to a contact and relationship as a deposit in the bank of goodwill — for both the giver and receiver.
- Keep a file of and leverage ideas, examples, stories, contacts, quotes, testimonials, results, successes, experiences, Web sites, blogs, etc. Then connect them to each new situation, challenge or opportunity.