Get out your 2010 AP Stylebook, Post-It notes and a pen and get ready for a short bootcamp by Barbara Nixon. Learn what the five most important things to know about AP Style are, and even get a bonus at the end. Flag your book as you go along, pausing the Prezi below when you need to.
If you have the 2009 AP Stylebook, then see the Prezi I created earlier this year for the 2009 edition.
Want a PDF of the 5 Things and their page numbers that I refer to in the Prezi? Here you go:
Students in most of my classes have blogging as a component of their grades. Many of them have rarely even read blogs, no less written one of their own. In this post, I am combining many posts I’ve previously written to help them get started in WordPress.
Review the slides in my “Getting Started in WordPress” presentation below. In this presentation, you’ll learn
Watch some of the many FAQ screencasts provided by WordPress to help you with the step-by-step instructions. Here are a few of the best ones to help you get started on the right foot:
Read the blogging tips I’ve provided in various posts here at Public Relations Matters.
And though you may have a good handle on the technical aspects of blogging, remember that the technical side is only part of the blogging equation. Corinne Weisgerber, a professor at St. Edward’s University and fellow PROpenMic member, created this presentation for her Social Media for PR class. The emphasis? How blogging can help you create your personal brand online. Take a look. It’s worth the time.
Remember to let me know your blog address by completing this Google Form. If I can’t find your blog, I can’t grade it. Hint, hint.
“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:
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.
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:
For the most recent versions of all of my Fall 2010 syllabi, see where I’ve posted them at Scribd.
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:
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.
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
Public Relations Applications (COMM 2322)
Public Relations Writing (PRCA 3330 & COMM 4333)
Introduction to Journalism (COMM 3333)
Corporate Public Relations (COMM 4363)
Questions? As always,
(PS: Syllabi for my classes will be posted in early August.)
In my Introduction to Public Relations and Public Relations Writing classes at Georgia Southern this summer, a large portion of the students’ grades came from their blogs. Most of the students in this class had never even read a blog before the beginning of the summer, no less written one of their own. For their final Topic of the Week, I asked them to create a list of tips for PR students new to blogging. Here, I will share some of the best tips:
The first thing to remember about blogging is to have patience. At first you will not have many visitors to you page accept you teacher and maybe a few classmates but if you continue on, the readers will come.
Don’t Treat the Blog like Homework! I know since this is all for a class, some people dread working on these assignements. Take in consideration that the teacher is not doing it to torture you. This is part of your career!
Make sure to proofread often. I am not an avid blogger but when I would go to a person’s blog and see that every other word was misspelled or their grammar was poor I moved onto someone else’s blog. One advantage of using Word press is that it offers a proofreading section to make sure you do not have a ton of misspelled words on your blog.
Media. Despite my taste for traditional writing and structure in blogs I can tell you first hand that adding media such as images, videos, and other interactive applications is a great way to keep your blog fun and entertaining. Now this is subject to change depending on your target audience and the purpose of your blog. In general it is a great idea to give some visual content to your writing in any blog.
Post your blog on other websites you are part of such as Twitter and Facebook. By doing this you will have more followers and interaction with your blog.
Try to find videos and pictures that complement your post. Blog posts that are full of text can look bulky. Use pictures to break up long paragraphs or add a YouTube video that relates to your topic to add variety.
Be organized. Take note of the tips [Prof.] Nixon provides over adding widgets and hyperlinks, as well as her tips on keeping your blog looking clean.
Be creative with your headline. Your blog may be very good and interesting, however if the headline is boring then the viewer may not read past the headline.
Link. When blogging, it is important to let your readers know what the source of your information is, if you have one. Be sure to link certain parts of your post in order to guide readers in the direction of more information on what the post is about. This also gives credit where credit is due in order to avoid plagiarism.
Whenever you are given leverage to choose your own topic [like for your PR Connections], try to relate PR with something you are passionate about. If you have a strong opinion about a topic, you should have less trouble overcoming potential writer’s block.
Lastly, have fun! It may seem like a task at first, but there is a thrill in having people show interest in your thoughts. This experience helped me acquire clarity about several issues I once believed myself to be educated on. That’s it, remember to enjoy.
So that’s what my summer PR students had to say. What other recommendations do you have for PR students starting off with a new blog?
Let’s face it . . . whether you’re a PR student, practitioner or faculty member, we’re all busy. So how can you get (and stay) up to speed with the ever-changing world of public relations? Here’s a quick guide to how I stay current in public relations.
Some of my favorite podcasts are: For Immediate Release, Inside PR, The Creative Career, Trafcom News, Marketing Over Coffee and Coming Up PR. My favorite time to listen to podcasts is during my daily two-mile walks in this sweltering Florida heat. I also listen to them when I drive, work out and clean the house. Some people prefer to listen to podcasts on their computers; my preference is listening to them on my Palm Pre or iPod.
Here’s a short video on how to subscribe to and download podcasts using iTunes. If you’re not an iTunes person, you may want to visit Podcast Alley, where you can find thousands more podcasts. You can listen to the podcasts directly from the website.
My favorite PR newsletter is one that comes into my inbox daily from Ragan Communications: the PR Daily newsfeed. When I want to read the latest on PR, this is the newsletter I turn to first. Another helpful newsletter comes from Chris Brogan; Chris provides different content in the newsletter than he does on his blog, so it’s definitely worth subscribing.
Are you a public relations student (or recent grad) just getting started using Twitter? Try following some (or all) of these people or organizations in my Twitter Starter Pack for PR Students. They all have something in common: they tweet useful or interesting information for people involved in public relations.
There are hundreds of blogs about public relations. I’ve bookmarked many of them in Delicious for you. You can subscribe to them using your favorite RSS reader (such as Google Reader), or just read them on the web. Some of the most helpful blogs I’ve discovered recently include The Comms Corner and Karen Russell’s Week’s Best (which I just learned is on hiatus for the summer), as they aggregate current posts of interest to PR practitioners.
Yes, I said “watch the news on TV.” I mean on a real TV, with a complete newscast, not just bits and bobs that you catch online. I start off every day a steaming mug or three of chicory coffee and at least an hour of broadcast news, usually with 15 or so minutes of local news followed by the Today Show. By knowing what’s going on in the world, it helps frame the snippets of stories I read or hear online throughout the day. To be sure that I’m keeping up on the news, I also listen to the podcast version of NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me weekly news quiz. (I sometimes even play the Lightning Round of Wait Wait in class on Mondays to see how much my students know about what’s going on in the world.)
What additional resources would you recommend?
(NOTE: This post is an updated version of one I wrote in early January 2010.)
Originally published on 9 December 2009 & featured in Ragan’s PR Daily. Updated on 20 May 2010. Updates are in italics.
Over the past few semesters, I had nearly 450 of my students blogging as part of their grades in public relations courses. And this semester, I have more than 75 more. Based on their experiences and mine, here are some tips for maintaining your blog (especially when it’s graded as an assignment):
Yikes! I promised you 10 tips, and I only gave you 9! I need your help. What’s one more tip you’d provide to round out this top ten list?
.
