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Podcasts for PR Students and Recent Grads

In my public relations classes at Georgia Southern University, I am often asked which podcasts I listen to. I was planning on creating a simple list of the podcasts this morning, and then I listened to Marketing Over Coffee on my walk. I learned about a service called Gigadial, where I can create my own podcast station, filled with my favorite podcasts all in one place.

In my Gigadial station Public Relations Matters, you’ll find current episodes of For Immediate Release, plus selected episodes of Inside PR, The Creative Career, Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable, Trafcom News and Marketing Over Coffee.

Clicking the Gigadial icon below will take you directly to my recommended podcasts:
Check out my GigaDial staton!!

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Informational Interview Recap :: PRCA 3711/4711

For my PR Practicum Students:

? by Oberazzi.For this 100-point assignment, you will choose and interview a public relations professional, and then write about this interview at your blog. This post will be a minimum of 250 words. (It’s likely that it will take ~500 to answer these questions fully.) You may post your recap on your blog or upload it to the Assignments area in GeorgiaVIEW.

Though a face-to-face interview is preferred, a phone or webcam interview is acceptable. An interview that is e-mail or text-based only is not acceptable.

Include an introductory paragraph that introduces the PR professional, including title and company, educational background, etc.

Questions/Topics you need to include:

  • What’s a typical week like? (If no week is typical, then what was last week like?)
  • Tell me about a project you worked on that you are especially proud of.
  • How important is writing in your career?
  • What three tips would you offer someone just starting out in PR?
  • What do you do to keep current in the PR industry?
  • What do you wish you would have known before starting your career in PR?
  • After interviewing this person, are you (the PRCA 3711/4711 student) more or less likely to want to have a career in PR? Why?

Some questions you may wish to ask:

  • Did your education prepare you for working in PR? How? 
  • What has surprised you the most about working in PR?
  • How has PR changed since you entered the field?
  • How does technology affect your daily work?
  • When your company is hiring for an entry-level PR position, what makes a candidate stand out?
  • What professional organizations are you involved in? (For example, PRSA, IABC, etc.)
  • More informational interview questions

Some things you may wish to do:

  • Include a photo of your interviewee. (This can be a photo he or she provides or one that you take yourself.)
  • Link to your interviewee’s LinkedIn profile and/or blog.

As we discussed in class, you can feel free to use a Q / A format.

Questions?

barbara_is_listening

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Informal Methods of Observing People

We’ll be We discussed discussing informal methods of observing people in today’s PRCA 4330 (PR Research) class.

Informal Methods Of Observing People

Traits of a Good Interviewer

In class, we also brainstormed traits of a “good interviewer.” I combined the lists the class developed with a little crowdsourcing on Twitter, and here’s what we came up with:

good interviewer

 

NOTE: The video we watched in class was “The Science of Selling,” from Chapter 4 of The Persuaders, a Frontline series on PBS. Thanks to Corinne Weisgerber for the suggestion.

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PRCA 3339 :: Getting Started With WordPress

 

So, you signed up for an account at WordPress, and you added an About page. Now what’s next?

FIRST: Let me know your blog address by replying to this post with a comment, sharing your name and blog address.

NEXT: How do you go about learning more to create a blog that reflects your personality and style?

Fortunately, WordPress offers many FAQ screencasts 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:

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.

 

Blogging & Managing your Personal Brand        
View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: commenting identity)

 

Photo Credit: “1/365” uploaded to Flickr by PhotoJonny

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Those Blue Eyes . . . Don’t Text and Drive

[crossposted from my Making Connections: Facebook and Beyond blog]

This morning, I was riveted to the Today Show as it aired a powerful and controversial public service announcement aimed teens. You’ve heard it from your parents, you’ve heard it from your teachers, and (I hope) you’ve heard it from your responsible friends.

Don’t text and drive. Ever.

The United Kingdom’s Gwent Police Department, in conjunction with filmmaker Peter Watkins-Hughes, put together this graphic PSA.

Chief Inspector John Pavett from Gwent Police Roads Policing Unit hopes the serious message in this film will hit home to viewers:

“Making and receiving calls and texting whilst driving is still happening on roads not just in Gwent but all over the country. Seeing a scenario, like the one Cassie goes through, played out right before your eyes makes you realise how extremely dangerous it can be and what devastating consequences it can have.”

Watch. This. Now. It will haunt you. I can’t get those big blue eyes out of my mind.

 

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The Curious Case of the Case Study

In today’s PRCA 4330 (PR Research) class, we’re discussing the case study approach. Limited notes appear in the Notes panel in the PowerPoint.

The Curious Case Of The Case Study

For a great overview of how to read and analyze a case study, see this PDF from Curtin University of Technology.

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A College Student’s Recipe for Reading Research Articles

In Monday’s PRCA 4330 (PR Research) class, we are discussing using secondary and historical research. Purdue University’s Mihaela Vorvoreanu helps simplify this process in a recent post on her PRConnections blog.With her permission, I adapted her blog post to a PPT. If you download the PPT, you can see the relevant sections of her blog post in the Notes area.

A College Student’s Recipe For Reading Research Articles

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The Joshua Tree Epiphany & CRAP :: Principles of Effective Design

In Friday’s PRCA 3339 (PR Publications) course, we discussed author Robin Williams‘ concept of the Joshua Tree Epiphany and how CRAP can help us remember effective design principles. 

Principles Of Effective Design

Many thanks to Saul Greenberg for developing the original PPT that I based this upon.

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PRCA 3711/4711 Trade Book Review Assignment

Stacked by Thomas Hawk.For my PRCA 3711/4711 Students:

One of our assignments this semester is for you to read and review a trade book on public relations. In the left sidebar of this blog is a list of books for you to choose from. (You can also see this complete list at my Amazon.com Public Relations Trade Books page that I created for you.)

Your book review will take the form of a 5-minute presentation in class. For your presentation, create a professional-looking PowerPoint presentation. Rely more on images to tell your story than bullet points. (We’ll discuss more in class about how not to create a “Death by PowerPoint” slidedeck.)

Your presentation should include:

  • Opening slide should include an image of the book’s cover
  • Short bio of the author(s) of the book (perhaps with a photo of the author)
  • What did you learn by reading this book?
  • What surprised you in this book?
  • What do you want to learn more about, now that this book has piqued your interest?
  • Would you recommend other students to also read this book? Why or why not?

Once you choose the book, reply with a comment to this blog post so that you can “claim” the book for yourself; unless you are working in pairs, only one student should review each book on the list.  (If you work in pairs, both individuals will earn the same grade on the assignment.)

Optional:

  • If you have a blog (and if not, why not?), please consider uploading your book review to SlideShare and embedding the slides in your blog.
  • If you’re using Twitter, search for the authors of your book there and connect with them. You may be surprised how willing most of them are to reply to you when you @ them.
  • Leave a comment about your thoughts on the book on the author’s blog.

Questions about this assignment?

barbara_is_listening

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What is research: Initial thoughts from PRCA 4330

In today’s PR Research class, we discussed the students’ perceptions of what research is. I captured the essence of their thoughts (meaning I typed *most* of what I heard them say) and made a word cloud of it using Wordle. The words they said most frequently showed up larger, as in most word clouds.

research wordle

At the end of the semester, we’ll check back and see if their thoughts about research have changed.