“You only learn to be a better writer by actually writing.” Doris Lessing
In addition to traditional writing assignments (news releases, feature stories, etc.) in our PR Writing course, all students in my PRCA 3330 classes at Georgia Southern University and COMM 4333 class at Southeastern University will also create and maintain a blog as part of the course. This post explains the types of content I expect you to write about in your blog for PRCA 3330 or COMM 4333. (For information on how to start your blog, see Getting Started with WordPress.)
Please add a category for each type (listed below), and make sure each post is categorized appropriately. Each post for this class must have the category of “PRCA 3330″ or “COMM 4333″ along with at least one additional category. (If you do not categorize your posts with the name of the class, it will be much more difficult for me to find them, and you cannot earn full credit.)
1. Reading notes – brief notes or key ideas from the reading assigned for that week’s class. Jot down 3-5 ideas that you believe are the most important & wish to remember. Be very brief, but write enough so someone who can’t read your mind understands what you mean and I am convinced that you actually did the readings. Remember to cite your source(s) when you paraphrase or quote materials from the readings; use a hyperlink to the book (either at the publisher’s site or at a bookseller like Amazon.com). Though these weekly assignments are due Saturday at 11:59pm, many students prefer to do their Reading Notes before they take their weekly RATS (Readiness Assessment Tests).
2. Topic of the Week - Starting the second week of class, you will have a specific topic related to public relations writing to write about. You will have about 15 of these before the end of the semester. See our TOW list for your class.
3. PR Connections – commentary, reflections and opinions about PR issues/examples that were not addressed in class. These can be responses to other PR blogs you read, links to interesting posts or articles, embedded YouTube videos, etc. You will write at least ten of these during the semester.
4. Blog comments – whenever you comment on someone’s PR blog (whether it’s a PR professional or a PR student), add the comment to ONE post that you update throughout the semester so I can assess your online participation. You will need 25 comments during fall semester. Do this only for PR-related blogs. See Tracking Your Blog Comments for Nixon’s Classes for more information, including specifics on the formatting.
5. Personal – optional category. Use it for any posts not related to public relations.
You may add other categories and sub-categories of your choice. Please keep in mind that when I evaluate your blog I will pay special attention to the categories listed above, but I will not ignore other posts. I will perform a wholistic evaluation of your blog, looking for:
- professionalism: Clear, correct, thoughtful writing
- frequency: Sufficient posts in categories 1-3, posted throughout the semester. There will be at least two blog checkpoints during the semester.
- linking: Identify other PR blogs (use PR Open Mic or my blogroll in my Delicious bookmarks as starting points) and link to them. Respond to others’ posts. Become a part of the blogosphere. Blogging should not be lonely.
- readability: brief & concise writing style, use of white space, bold characters, images, bullet points
SUPER-IMPORTANT: In order for you to get credit for your blog, I need to know where it is. Tell me your blog address by completing this Google Form; do this no later than the end of August.
Questions? Just let me know.
NOTE: Many thanks to Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu at Purdue University, who allowed me to use her blogging guidelines from her PRinciples class. They were so well-written that I made just a few tweaks for my own class. Dr. V knows that Blogs Matter.
"Antique Tow Truck, Oregon 2000" by CanadaGood
Fall 2010
In our PR Writing classes (PRCA 3330 at Georgia Southern University and COMM 4333 at Southeastern University), we’ll all blog about the same general topic each week during the semester. Your TOWs of 300 words or longer are due (should be posted on your own blog) by Saturday at 11:59 p.m. at the end of each week.
If a week has more than one topic listed, choose one of the available topics on those weeks.
Every time you refer to a website or another blog, be sure to hyperlink to the post. And consider inserting graphics or videos to add visual interest for your readers.
If you are unsure how to get started writing these TOWs, many times you can use this three-pronged approach:
- What did you learn?
- What surprised you?
- What do you want to know more about?
WEEK ONE
- Which types of social media you currently participate in (such as blogging, podcasting, social networking, etc.), which platforms you use, and why. [NOTE: Since you are creating your blog after after Week One, you will go back and add this post in.]
WEEK TWO
- Visit Mignon Fogarty’s Grammar Girl’s website. Either read one of her blog posts or listen to one of her podcasts on an area of grammar that is troublesome to you. Write about what you learned (using the three-pronged approach described toward the top of this blog post.)
WEEK THREE
- Why are comments such an integral part of blogs? What advice would you offer on writing effective blog comments?
WEEK FOUR
- Last week, you took the NewsU Cleaning Your Copy course. There were four main topics in this course: Grammar, AP Style, Punctuation and Spelling. Using the three-pronged approach described at the top of this post, describe your reactions to this course. Remember to include a hyperlink to the course, too.
WEEK FIVE
- TBA
WEEK SIX
- What makes a story newsworthy?
WEEK SEVEN
- One Week of Twitter [Note: You will do the One Week of Twitter assignment during Week Six, and then write about it before the end of Week Seven.]
WEEK EIGHT
- Last week, you took the NewsU The Lead Lab course. Using the three-pronged approach described at the top of this post, describe your reactions to this course. Remember to include a hyperlink to the course, too.
WEEK NINE
- Create a profile at PR OpenMic, a social network developed by Auburn University’s Robert French. Connect with me there as a friend so that I know you have joined. Then for your topic of the week, describe what PR OpenMic has to offer to PR students and recent grads. Be sure to discuss at least three or four things you encounter at the site, and provide hyperlinks to the specific areas in the site for your readers.
WEEK TEN
- In WordPress, go into your Dashboard and take a look at your stats. What kinds of things does the Site Stats page tell you? How would PR practitioners benefit for monitoring their own or their company’s blog?
WEEK ELEVEN
- Address several of the following questions about infographics. What are they? How could one be useful in a story for your client? How do you go about creating one? Create one if you can, and embed it in your blog post this week.
WEEK 12
- Listen to at least one hour of PR/marketing podcasts (such as For Immediate Release, Inside PR, The Creative Career, Coming Up PR, Trafcom News or Marketing Over Coffee). Briefly summarize what you heard. Discuss how listening to PR podcasts can benefit PR students or new PR practitioners. Be sure to include a hyperlink to the podcast’s website/blog. (Optional: Also, write a short review of the podcast at iTunes.)
WEEK 13
- Working either alone or in a group of no more than three, create a list of at least 10 ways that PR people can sometimes drive journalists crazy. After each item on the list, indicate what the PR person could/should do instead. Hyperlink to sources as needed. (If you are working with others, each of you should post to his/her own blog, and note where else it is crossposted and who the co-authors are.)
WEEK 14
- During Week 14, you will take the Five Steps to MultiMedia Storytelling course at News University. Using the three-pronged approach described at the top of this post, describe your reactions to this course. Remember to include a hyperlink to the course, too.
WEEK 15
- Just what is a “Social Media News Release”? When should a PR practitioner use a SMNR rather than (or perhaps in addition to) a “regular” news release? Be sure to include links to at least three websites/blogs that discuss SMNRs.
WEEK 16
- What advice would you offer PR students who are new to blogging? Come up with your own Top 10 list.
For the most recent versions of all of my Fall 2010 syllabi, see where I’ve posted them at Scribd.
As our semester begins at Georgia Southern, students are asking me questions via e-mail about our online classes. Rather than responding individually (so only one student can benefit), I’ve created a list of FAQs so that all can benefit.
1. How do I find out when things are due? (And will you make us a calendar for all the due dates?)
The quickest, easiest way to find out due dates for assignments is to look at the Calendar feature in GeorgiaVIEW. You can also find due dates for Assignments on the Assignments tab and RATS/quizzes on the Assessments tab. [NOTE: Blog posts are the exception. Weekly blog posts are due in this class, and they will not appear on the GeorgiaVIEW Calendar.]
2. Why do we need a headset/mic? What kind should we buy?
For the times that we’re meeting online at the same time (synchronously), you will need to be able to hear what I am saying and occasionally respond by voice. You can find inexpensive ones at Amazon, OfficeMax or Walmart.
3. What’s expected in our blogs?
See the post I’ve written about blog content for your specific course:
- PRCA 3330: PR Writing (coming soon)
4. I will be out of town for a week. Will that impact my grade in this course?
Since our class is online, your engagement and participation will be evaluated by your continuous completion of assignments and blog posts. If you are out of town, just be sure that you are keeping up with due dates.
5. What’s the “Public Relations Matters” section on our GeorgiaVIEW home page for?
At the bottom of each page for our course in GeorgiaVIEW there is a section titled “Public Relations Matters.” What you will see there is an RSS feed of the last four blog posts that you find here on my blog. It’s just a quick and easy way for you to see what’s new on my blog.
6. When will we be meeting synchronously (online at the same time)?
We will meet on Mondays at 5 p.m. in the Wimba Live Classroom in GeorgiaVIEW. (NOTE: We will not meet EVERY Monday, but to start the semester, we will meet most of the Mondays.) If you cannot attend a session, you’ll have the opportunity to view the “archive” (replay) of the session at a later time. After the first week of class, when I schedule a synchronous session, I will always send a meeting notice to you via Google Calendar. Please either accept or decline the notice so I can know who will attend.
7. Can I use my Gmail (or other account) instead of my Georgia Southern account for e-mail?
For consistency and reliability, GeorgiaSouthern requires faculty members to use our university-provided e-mail accounts for communicating with students. What you may want to do is set up your Gmail to automatically fetch your GSU e-mail, so you’ll only have one place to look. (That’s what I do.)
8. How often should I check my e-mail?
Check your e-mail at least once a day, preferably more. For our class, I will not send you a same-day assignment; I don’t think that’s fair. But I do send occasional reminders or clarifications that could help you with assignments you are working on. I also typically will send a tweet (on Twitter) letting you know to check your e-mail.
9. How will you do your office hours?
You’ll be able to find me in a Wimba Live Classroom (found on your class’ GeorgiaVIEW home page) quite often throughout the week. My office hours are held in the room labeled Virtual Office for Prof. Nixon’s Virtual Office. When I am in there, you can ask questions via chat, audio or audio & video; I can respond using the same methods. Remind me which class you are in when you stop by my virtual office.
10. My other professors haven’t used GeorgiaVIEW as much as you are using it. Can you show me how to use it?
GeorgiaSouthern has created several tutorials on using GeorgiaVIEW. Spend some time reviewing these tutorials; it will be worth the time you invest. I also created a short overview of how I use it. It’s best to ask another classmate first, then come to me if you have further questions on GeorgiaVIEW.
Do you have other questions?
Image Credit: "photoshop practice again" by nats
This fall, I am working with a university to develop an online version of its traditional classroom First-Year Experience class for incoming freshmen. Even though as a parent of a college almost-senior and a college freshman I feel like I keep up with trends, it’s always good to check out Beloit College’s annual Mindset List to help understand some of the cultural references that are common to students entering college now.
And why is this type of list important for educators? It helps us to remember to keep the examples we use in class fresh and relevant. I recall the sounds of crickets chirping in the room a few years ago when I asked if anyone could relate to having an Arnold Horshack in the class with them. Don’t want that to happen to me again. Or to anyone else.
The complete list is at Beloit’s site; I’ve extracted a few of my favorites from the annual Mindset List below:
For these students, Martha Graham, Pan American Airways, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, The Dallas Times Herald, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead.
They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
Tattoos have always been very chic and highly visible.
They never saw the “Scud Stud” (but there have always been electromagnetic stud finders.)
Babies have always had a Social Security Number.
They have never had to “shake down” an oral thermometer.
American students have always lived anxiously with high-stakes educational testing.
There has always been a Cartoon Network.
We have always watched wars, coups, and police arrests unfold on television in real time.
Ozzy Osbourne has always been coming back.
There have always been flat screen televisions.
Everyone has always known what the evening news was before the Evening News came on.
They have never been Saved by the Bell.
Most communities have always had a mega-church.
Nobody has ever responded to “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”
There has always been blue Jell-O.
Photo Credit: "brinkley at dovedale" by Vicki Hughes
[8-31-2010 NEW: This post was featured by Lisa B. Marshall in her The Public Speaker podcast. Thanks, Lisa!]
When you’ve been invited to be a guest speaker for an organization’s luncheon or other meeting, you don’t want to be that speaker. And it can be terribly easy to be that speaker: You know, that high-maintenance one, or that boring/irrelevant one. You want to be the one who is memorable for positive reasons. Here’s a list of 14 ways to NOT suck.
- Learn as much as you can about your audience before you speak. (This is a good tip for any public speaking situation.) Even if you don’t know much about the organization beforehand, you can learn a lot during the mealtime, if that’s part of your engagement with them. During the meal, listen more than you talk. When your presentation begins, weave in examples that you know are relevant to this group.
- Find out from your contact at the organization what the norms are for speaking engagements like this one. Will the audience members expect handouts? Is there usually a Q&A session? What’s the best way for you to share your contact information with every audience member?
- Let your contact know what your A/V needs are as far in advance as possible, and only request what is necessary. Avoid last minute surprises, as they often cannot be accommodated — and they turn you into that speaker.
- Plan your presentation so that you can expand it or contract it as needed. Even though you may have been told you have 45 minutes, you may discover that the business portion of the meeting has run long, and you end up with just 30 minutes. Make no mention of shortening your presentation to your audience; just do it. Gracefully.
- Allow extra time in travel to arrive at the meeting location, especially if you have never been there before. Some things to keep in mind: Is there construction along your route? Do you cross train tracks on the way? When do the trains typically stop traffic? Do you know how to get into the parking lot? How far is it from the exterior doors to your meeting room? And never trust your GPS 100% to get you to a new location.
- Know how to use the technology you will be using, inside and out. Practice hooking up all the cords and cables and know how long it will take you. Know how to easily blacken the screen during your presentation when the slides are not needed (in PowerPoint, simply press B to blacken the screen, and then any other key to bring the slide back up). Do you have something new with you? In front of your audience is not the place to learn how to use your new presentation remote.
- Plan for the technology to fail. Always have hard-copy notes for your presentation, just in case you cannot rely on a PowerPoint slide to jog your memory for what to say. Save your presentation as a PowerPoint and as a PDF, and store it on your computer and a USB drive. (Yes, it’s like wearing a belt with suspenders. Twice. And I’m okay with that.)
- Never let your audience see anything on your computer other than the slide deck or other information you intend for them to see. They don’t (or at least shouldn’t) have any interest in watching you boot up your computer, open your file and put it in presentation mode. Keep the projector screen blank until you have your opening slide up. (And never be that speaker who preps her presentation in full view of the whole room while someone else is still speaking; I find this terribly rude to the other speaker.)
- Don’t count on the Internet working 100% perfectly. If I plan to show a YouTube video clip, I always download the video to my computer and show it from there. (I’ve recently been using YouTube Downloader, a free app, and it works quickly and easily for me on my PC.) If I plan to demo a certain website, I’ll use Snag-It to take and save a few screen captures to show in case I cannot access the site during my presentation.
- Provide contact information on each slide or at the end. I like to have a detailed contact info slide as the last one in my slide deck, and I leave that slide up during the Q&A session.
- If you refer to websites or blogs in your presentation, create a set of social bookmarks for your audience so they can go to one URL to find all the links and not spend time during your presentation attempting to furiously scribble down all the addresses. I use Delicious for my social bookmarks. Let your audience know early in the presentation where they can find all the links.
- Upload your slides to SlideShare at least a day before your presentation if you want your audience (and others) to have access to them. You can choose to keep the slides private until just before or after the presentation, if you wish.
- The show must go on; be prepared to speak even if you don’t look quite perfect. For example, yesterday, I got caught in a deluge just as I opened my car door arriving at a speaking event. Even with an umbrella, I was drenched (kind of like the cute, wet puppy at the top of this post — at least in my mind). My shoes and blazer sleeves were literally dripping when I entered the venue. What did I do? Dashed into the restroom, grabbed some paper towels, mopped up what I could, and put a smile on my face.
- Arrive with your speaker’s toolkit in tip-top order. I think I almost got a hug from the conference room tech guy at my last speaking event because I had everything I needed, and more. What’s in mine? Here’s what I typically carry with me:
-
- Computer & power cord
- Power strip
- External speakers with their power cord (just in case there’s no sound system attached to the projector)
- 3.5mm cord to connect speakers to computer (even if I have my Bluetooth-enabled computer and speakers with me, I have the cord as a backup)
- Projector (only if I know that there is not one available for me onsite)
- Presentation remote
- Extra set of batteries for anything that uses batteries
- Hard candy or throat lozenges
- More business cards than I think I could possibly need
So in a large nutshell, these are my 14 best tips on how not to suck as a guest speaker for an organization. What additional tips would you offer?
When you blog, you become a part of a community. And as a member of a community, you’re responsible for encouraging conversation. Commenting on others’ blogs is a great way to further conversations.
In addition to writing your own blog posts, you will also comment on others’ blogs; these comments will count as 25% of your grade on your blog. Aim to comment on two blog posts each week; you will need 25 comments before the end of fall semester.
Aim to include a variety of blogs that you comment on, ranging from your classmates’ blogs to those of PR professionals. (For a great way to find new and interesting PR blog posts to comment on, subscribe to Ragan’s PR Daily. Or, visit my social bookmarks for PR blogs.)
To track your comments so that I can easily find them, create (and keep adding to) one blog post that you will title “Blog Comments,” and where you will include:
- Comment # (keep a running list)
- Title of blog post you commented on, followed by the author’s name
- Hyperlink to the blog post
- Date of your comment
- Your complete comment (copy and paste)
See Lisa McLaughlin’s blog and Marie Walker Ervin’s blog for some great examples of how to track your comments.
NOTE 1: In order for the comment to “count” as part of your grade for this course, it needs to be at least 100 words long. You are welcome (and even encouraged) to write comments of varying lengths, but for class credit, 100 words is the shortest I’ll accept.
NOTE 2: Do not post each of your blog comments as separate blog entries; make ONE page and keep editing/adding to it.
And whatever you do, make sure your blog comments aren’t whack.
"there is nothing wrong in this whole wide apartment" by tizzie
If you’re looking to get a jumpstart on my classes at this fall, here are the books that I will be using. I’ve linked to many of them at Amazon.com, but of course you can purchase them from anywhere you like. I recommend you try the Facebook Marketplace first, so you can get a good deal AND help a fellow student.
For all my classes
- Have reliable Internet access
- Subscribe to Ragan Communications’ PR Daily (for all classes except for COMM 3333.)
Public Relations Applications (COMM 2322)
- Wilcox, D.L., & Cameron, G.T. (2009). Public relations: Strategies and tactics (9th Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Public Relations Writing (PRCA 3330 & COMM 4333)
- Wilcox, D. (2009). Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques (6th Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
- A recent The Associated Press Stylebook, preferably 2010 edition – or its online equivalent or iPhone app
Introduction to Journalism (COMM 3333)
- Rich, C. Writing & reporting news (6th Ed.). (2010) Boston: Wadsworth.
- A recent copy of The Associated Press Stylebook, preferably 2010 edition – or its online equivalent or iPhone app
Corporate Public Relations (COMM 4363)
- No textbook needed
Questions? As always,
(PS: Syllabi for my classes will be posted in early August.)
One day in February, not long after my husband Kevin and I went to the Pothole Daytona 500, I tweeted that one of the things on my bucket list was to ride in a pace car during a NASCAR race.
I wrote it not thinking I’d get much of a response other than maybe a “me, too” from another NASCAR fan. But was I ever surprised when Brandon Mudd, the Public Relations and Media Manager for Gateway Raceway, replied to me a few minutes later.
My first reaction was, “Yeah, right.” Then after a few Twitter, LinkedIn and e-mail interchanges, I realized that this was actually going to happen. All I had to do was get myself (and my hubby) to St. Louis the weekend of July 16 & 17.
Gateway Raceway provided my husband Kevin and me with Hot Pit / Garage / Media Center passes, along with passes to Victory Circle, and even Infield Parking. If you’re not a NASCAR fan this is what it means:
- Hot Pit Passes: We were able to stay in the pit area (where the car & truck teams are during the race) before and through the entire race, meeting as many drivers and teams as we wanted to. We just had to be sure to stay out of their way when they were working.
- Garage: We could see what the teams were doing to get the cars & trucks set up for the races.
- Media Center: We had a place to cool off and relax a bit. The temps were into the 100s, and it was 135 for a while on pit road.
- Victory Circle: Before and after the races, we stood in the Victory Circle area. I was able to get a lot of great pictures of drivers chatting with each other before the driver intros, and I was right there as Kevin Harvick drove up his winning truck for the CampingWorld.com 200 race. We even got to see the infamous Hat Dance.
- Infield Parking: This made it easy for us to go back to our car as needed to cool off and get refreshments. For a while, we even turned the car around so it was facing the track, and watched parts both races from the air-conditioned comfort of our cars.
On Friday afternoon, we arrived at the track and milled around in the pits and garage area for a few hours before the scheduled start of the CampingWorld.com 200 NASCAR Truck race. As it came time for the pre-race festivities to start, I noticed some pulled-aside conversations going on in Victory Circle. The power had just gone out (momentarily, we thought). It was still daylight, and the loudspeakers worked via generator, so most of the pre-race could happen planned, while we waited for the power to kick back on.
They did the driver intros, which was fun to watch from behind the scenes as the drivers chatted with and teased each other as they waited their turn to be introduced in qualifying order.
Then it was time for the National Anthem. Lincoln Brewster, lead singer and guitarist for a Christian band, prepared to play the song. But there was no power for his electric guitar. He was urged to just sing it a capella, like it’s usually done . . . but he admitted he didn’t know all the words! Yikes. So then it was time to watch Brandon and his team scramble around to find someone who — with no notice or practice — could and would sing the National Anthem before a NASCAR race, on national television. (I would have volunteered, but I think my hubby of almost 25 years would have walked out on me if I did. And if you heard my singing voice, you’d have turned the channel quickly, too!)
All of a sudden, NASCAR’s Jimmy Small volunteered to sing it. Whew! Crisis avoided. Jimmy approached the stage . . . then the power came back on enough for Lincoln Brewster to go ahead with his Jimi Hendrix-inspired rendition of the National Anthem.
And the power stayed off. As it turns out, there was a major power problem offsite. Brandon wrote and distributed a news release from the Media Center with the details. I just happened to peek through the window as he was writing.
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| From Our NASCAR Weekend at Gateway Raceway |
The truck race was delayed until Saturday at 12:30 . . . which meant that the nice, coolish evening race we had planned for was now going to be a part of a LONG double-header day of racing on Saturday.
We went back to the hotel to cool down, then headed back to the track on Saturday morning after a fantastic breakfast of the best corned beef hash I’ve ever had at Crepes, Etc. We made a quick stop for supplies, including some Baskin and Robins hard candy for Tati Papis, who had recently lamented on Twitter that the ice cream lady at the track was nowhere to be found.
Our first stop when we got back to the track was at Max Papis‘ hauler. I think I surprised Max when I introduced myself to him (trying not to sound like a fangirl!), but then asked for him to see if his wife Tati would come out. I gave the ice cream candies to a laughing Tati. Then Tati, Max and his crew chief Bootie Barker posed for a photo with me. Nice folks, all of them!
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| From Our NASCAR Weekend at Gateway Raceway |
Here’s some video I took with my Flip camera of the CampingWorld.com 200 race (before, during and after), including the Hat Dance by race winner Kevin Harvick and his team. This short video includes the command “Drivers start your engines,” trucks rolling off pit road, racing to green, a few pit stops, then the post-race in Victory Circle.
For the next few hours, we milled around in the pits, the garage and the media center. I took about 250 pictures that day. You can see the best of them in my Picasa web album.
Finally it was time for what I (thought I) had come to the track for: my ride in a pace car during a race, the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 to be exact. The National Anthem was sung without a hitch, then Brandon walked me down pit road for my ride in the car. I took video with my Flip camera (from the back seat) throughout the two laps I had on the track.
The Bottom Line: I was able to cross one item off my Bucket List. The ride was fun, and I came away with even more. Throughout the weekend at Gateway Raceway, I was constantly amazed by how approachable the drivers are and how much access the fans have to them. What other sport lets you up so close, not just before a game, but during?
Many, many thanks to Brandon Mudd for responding to my tweet that I thought would go unanswered.
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| From Our NASCAR Weekend at Gateway Raceway |
(PS: A Confession :: We didn’t stay until the end of the Nationwide race to see Carl Edwards win. We were exhausted and drained from the 100+ temps, even though we’re Floridians now and drank more than a gallon water each during the day. We listened to the race on MRN radio in the car on the way back to our hotel, then watched the final 50 or so laps from our air-conditioned room with our feet up — and lots of great memories of the day.)
