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Creating a Rockin’ Presentation for #COMM2322

In Public Relations Applications this semester, students will be delivering five-minute presentations on an assigned public relations field or industry. Three students are assigned to each chapter; they can divide up the material in the chapter as they see fit.

The subject areas are:

  • Events & promotions
  • Global public relations
  • Corporate public relations
  • Entertainment, sports & tourism
  • Government & politics
  • Nonprofit, health & education

We want to be sure to avoid the dreaded Death by PowerPoint, so ably described by comedian Don McMillan below.

Instead, we will aim for presentations that are more like the TED Talks, with slides to accompany them as Jesse Desjardins describes in “Steal This Presentation!”

STEAL THIS PRESENTATION!

View more presentations from @JESSEDEE
In class on October 27, we’re discussing how their favorite movies can make them better public speakers. (For example, I learned in The Wizard of Oz that being the loudest one in the room — the Wicked Witch of the West — doesn’t necessarily make me a speaker who people want to listen to.) Students will share their thoughts in the comments below.
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Feature Story Package #1 Planning

For COMM 2423: A Reminder of the Assignment Requirements (found in your syllabus)

Report, source, write, edit and post one news story on an approved topic. The article must have or rely upon at least three human sources. The more timely, the better, and the story should hit demonstrate impact or consequence. Beware, however, of conflicts of interest. This means avoiding friends, family members and business associates as sources, and stories that could materially affect those companies and entities with which you are affiliated.

Post with the story the questions you asked your sources, a list of the facts you checked and verified, and a list of the sources you attempted to contact (not merely those you were able to include in your story). Also identify your intended audience(s).

As you are completing this assignment, think about what might be added to your main story for publication online, including multimedia and interactive features. Because online you would have all the space you would need, consider the range of added features that could be developed, including fact boxes, a FAQ list, a podcast or video extra, interview notes and transcripts, maps, charts, a glossary, slideshow, animated graphic, poll, related stories and opinion, and perhaps an area where readers can contribute reactions, story ideas, photos and comments. For Feature Story #2 you will add at least one photo and two other multimedia/interactive elements that might make a strong story package online. (For Feature Story #1, one photo is the only multimedia element required.)

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A College Student’s Guide to Getting Started with Twitter

Image Credit: "Montreal Twestival 2009 Cupcakes" by Clever

This week, spend some time learning on your own about using Twitter. Here are a few ways to learn. We’ll talk more about Twitter next week in class. Be sure to follow the directions in Step 4 so you “take attendance” for class this week; you can send the required tweet/message anytime before midnight on Saturday.

Step 1: Watch

If you haven’t seen it already, watch Twitter in Plain English, made by the folks at Common Craft:

Step 2: Watch

Then watch the Inbound Marketing University webinar titled “Twitter for Business,” led by Laura Fitton (@pistachio on Twitter) OR “Twitter for Business” led by Paul Gillin (@pgillin on Twitter). You don’t have to watch both, unless you’d really like to see two different perspectives on using Twitter.


Twitter for Business from Paul Gillin on Vimeo.

Step 3: Read

Read my post 10.5 Ways for PR Students to Get the Most Out of Twitter.

Step 4: Subscribe

Set Up Your Twitter Account

  1. Go to Twitter. Click Get Started, and sign up. I prefer it if you use some version of your first and last name as your Twitter ID. (Avoid putting numbers in your Twitter ID, or you may appear like a spammer.)
  2. Upload a photo or avatar.
  3. Write a brief (160-character or fewer) bio. It’s good to mention that you’re a PR student. Consider mentioning your university.
  4. Send a tweet saying “I’m a student in @barbaranixon’s #COMM2322 /#COMM2423”. (Use the correct number for your class.) Be sure to include the #xxx1234 indicator, with no spaces between the hashtag (#), letters and numbers. It is by you sending this tweet that I will “take attendance” on Monday/Tuesday.

Step 5: Follow

Follow the people I recommend in my Starter Pack for PR Students list:  — at least for the duration of this semester. I will also create lists for students in each of my classes (but I cannot do this until I have all your Twitter IDs.)

Additional Information

  1. If you already have a Twitter account that you use primarily for social (not educational or professional) reasons, you may wish to create a fresh, new account for this class and professional reasons.
  2. Review your notes on Twitter: What’s In It For Me (a presentation I shared in class with you in September).
  3. Review my tips on Choosing Whom to Follow on Twitter: My Strategy.
  4. Review Prof. Sam Bradley’s College Student’s Guide: Twitter 101.
  5. Review The Anatomy of a Tweet: What Do All Those Symbols Mean?
  6. I find using the web interface for Twitter to be clunky. I prefer using TweetDeck, a free Adobe Air app that works great on PCs and Macs. TweetDeck makes it really easy to send URLs via Twitter, as it automatically shortens them for you.
  7. I’ll occasionally post information on Twitter and use the hashtag for your class (#COMM2322 or #COMM2423).By using this hashtag, I’m indicating that I want students in this class to pay special attention to the tweet.
  8. If you’d like to publicize your blog posts via Twitter, you can it automatically in WordPress.

If you’re a college student, especially a college student majoring in public relations, I’d love to hear how you have benefitted by using Twitter.

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Website Critique :: COMM 2423 Assignment

Image Credit: "Statler & Waldorf" by The Muppets

In pairs or triads, consider the website provided in class during Week 6. (Note: You can work on this assignment individually, if you wish.)

Imagine that you have been hired as the site’s new editor-in-chief. Make specific recommendations to improve the presentation of content at the site, integrating and referencing the chapter as much as possible. What elements or features promote use of the site? Again, think of all the elements described in this chapter. How are graphics and visuals incorporated, and do they encourage or discourage use? How do they do this? How much thought was given to navigation throughout the site? Are the elements — graphical, navigational and metaphorical — consistently applied throughout the site? Is the tone or rhythm of the site consistent throughout? Do these dimensions match the audience(s) for the site?

Here is a categorical checklist of site dimensions to critique:

  • Navigation
  • Page layouts (balance | contrast | unity)
  • Consistency
  • Tone and voice
  • Writing quality
  • Site organization

Prepare your written critique and submit it in BlackBoard before the deadline of Oct. 1 at 11:59 p.m.

NOTE: This assignment is one provided by the publisher of the Writing for Digital Media textbook we are using in COMM 2423.
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Dedicated to First-Year Student Me: Thriving in Your First Year at SEU

Image Credit: "Road to Nowhere" by James Walker
An Assignment for My COMM 2423 Writing for Digital Media Class

This fall, we’ve welcomed about 600 students who are brand new to Southeastern University, either as first-year or transfer students. Many of them are still finding their way on campus, in literal and metaphorical ways.

Think back to your first semester or so on our campus here at SEU. What do you wish you had known as you began your first year? What advice would you offer students new to SEU? Share three of your best tips as a reply to this blog post. If possible, include one tip in each of these areas: academic, social and spiritual.

Then, after reading the tips from your classmates, create a top ten list of advice for students new to SEU as a post on your own blog. (You can title the post as you wish.) You can use your own tips as well as those of your classmates. Remember that if you use your classmates’ tips to give them credit for the ideas, and link back to their blogs. Also, choose an appropriate Creative Commons licensed image to accompany your post.

NOTE: Your reply can count as one of your Blog Comments if you document it, and the post you write can count as one of your Writer’s Choice posts.

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Topics of the Week for #COMM2322 PR Apps Fall 2011

Image Credit: "Toe truck in West Seattle Seafair parade, 2001" by Seattle Municipal Archives

For Fall 2011

In our PR Applications classes (COMM 2322 at Southeastern University), we’ll all blog about the same general topic each week during the semester. Your TOWs of 300 words or longershould be posted by Saturday at midnight at the end of each week, unless otherwise notified in class. (Posts that appear past the deadline may not earn any credit, so be sure to stay on top of your blogging deadlines.)

If you are unsure how to get started writing these TOWs, many times you can use this three-pronged approach:

  1. What did you learn?
  2. What surprised you?
  3. What do you want to know more about?

WEEK ONE

  • [OPTIONAL]

WEEK TWO

  • How would you define “public relations”? OR What are the similarities and differences of PR and advertising, journalism and marketing? (NOTE: You can post this week’s entry as late as Week Three, as you will not be creating your blogs until that time.)

WEEK THREE

  • Using the three-pronged approach (above), what are your reactions to the NewsU Course you took on Dealing with Difficult Conversations? (NOTE: You can post this week’s entry as late as Week Three, as you will not be creating your blogs until that time.)

WEEK FOUR

  • Write about a public relations crisis and your impression how it was handled. What might you have done differently?

WEEK FIVE

  • If you could work in an era of PR history (from a time before you were born), which one would it be? What interests you most about this era and why?

WEEK SIX

  • Based on what you read in Chapter 5 of your THINK Public Relations book, do you think it’s more beneficial for a new PR practitioner to begin his/her career in a PR department or in a PR firm? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

WEEK SEVEN

  • One Week of Twitter (details TBA)

WEEK EIGHT

  • What are some ways that a PR practitioner can measure the effectiveness of a campaign? Also, discuss the importance of measurement.

WEEK NINE

    WEEK TEN

    • Chapter 9 in THINK Public Relations discusses Ethics and the Law. Which aspects of law do you believe public relations practitioners need to be most aware of, and why?

      WEEK ELEVEN

      WEEK 12

      WEEK 13

      • Write a post about the aspect of public relations that you have chosen for your presentation this semester. If you have created a PowerPoint or Prezi, embed it into your post.

      WEEK 14

      • This week’s topic was inspired by Adam Vincenzini’s Be My Guest month: post something by a guest blogger. Connect with another blogger (it can, but doesn’t have to, be someone in your class) and exchange blog posts for the week. (You don’t have to write something new for the other blogger . . . share your favorite post you’ve written this semester.) In your own blog, make it really clear that the post is written by another person, and link to your guest’s blog.

      WEEK 15

      • Create a list of the top ten things you have learned about public relations this semester. (Remember that the post still needs to be 300 words minimum, so you will need to elaborate on your choices for the list.)