As I reflect on our recent discussions, on the numerous things happening in the world, and how to wrap up the end of the semester, this question keeps coming to mind: What are we called to do? As public relations professionals. As students. As teachers. As interns. As Christians. As people.
We can easily get caught up in the creativity and entertainment of PR stunts, YouTube videos, and hashtag campaigns, or in the “who said what?” and “they should have…” of crisis communication.
But what does it truly mean to be a public relations professional in the world today, and looking forward to the future? As our audiences and consumers seek to hold brands and individuals to higher standards, how do help reach those standards as PR pros? How do we approach each task and campaign with a desire to not only represent our brand well, but also our audience?
If you got the call today and accepted a position in public relations, how would you prepare yourself for that role? What lessons would you take from this class and others to set yourself up for success, to best represent your client, your audience, and you?
PR 330 
This is a very interesting question! I have struggled with this a lot during the entire span of this class, and I think some of my previous comments have alluded to it. Public relations has to it an unavoidable proposition: your efforts to promote will leave lasting impressions on the culture. The unintended cultural effects of PR spill over in many different ways, and it can feel like trying to lick away the drips of an ice cream cone on a hot day. People become immune to constant bombardment, immune to emotional appeals, etc. People also become more accustomed to buying things, more accustomed to using the peripheral processing route.
I think if I were to prepare myself for a PR role, I would ask myself “What good can I do? How can I promote this brand virtuously? How do I get that across to people?” If a brand is seen to have (and this means that it actually does) good social intentions, this is what causes the new consumers to galvanize in a show of brand loyalty. This does not have to be an altogether charitable goal. Apple, for instance, has a mission to bring beauty, elegance, and quality to tech; that the best engineering is the highest and best wedding of form and function. This is a transcendent idea that Applites can participate in by buying and using Apple products. Consumers also want to feel assured that they are not being duped into buying something. This requires a hook which accesses the peripheral processing route, then spices it up with some directly engaging facts that are actually true and not stretches. Lastly, how do I best get these things to a consumer’s brain. I am being legitimate and beyond reproach in my PR’ing, but I need to actually *relate* that to the *public* if I am going to be successful. This, is where the social media promotion, events, online presence, stunts come into play.
This is my budding personal philosophy when it comes to PR.
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I can see myself to work in PR position in the future since I like reaching people, building relationships, making events and writing my personal blog.
Like I shared in the class. I think studying PR in America will be really helpful for my future career. I see the big companies in the U.S have done great PR work, such as Starbucks, Disney and Coke cola. I can use the strategies of their campaign for my future company’s campaign.
Recently, I start to post announcements and news on International student Facebook page. I think it is a good beginning, I will use what I have learned in this class for my job.
I also will restart to write my blog, I can write about my life in America, the differences between American culture and Chinese culture. I need to reach more audiences because they may become my clients for my future business.
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I ask myself this question a lot. My ultimate goal is to work in the entertainment side of PR. Obviously, most Hollywood entertainment lacks morals, so what can I do to be a difference maker? First, I want to remain honest. Something that has always bothered me is false advertising or marketing. With PR, sometimes people are in the position to lie to do what is best for their client. I hope that I never have to deal with that ethical conflict, but if so, I pray that I tell the truth. I do not want to blend in with everyone else – and it is so so easy to do that, but I want God’s light to shine through me. In my everyday work, I can be positive, caring, and hardworking. My genuine enthusiasm for the PR industry will fuel my desire to represent brands as best as I can. At the end of the day (and I know this sounds cheesy), all we are called to as people is to be our best. It is an ongoing process we encounter every day of life. I will strive to improve myself each day.
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If I got a position in PR in any specific or general field, I would definitely do what you have been recommending. I would start by changing the way that I write to properly fit the way the company words things. For example, what we have learned from our class together is to keep it concise, to the point, and avoid passive text. If I were to get a dream job in sports marketing I would do a lot more reading of press releases and interviews to manipulate my text to fit the certain style of how my company in sports would do it.
I think it would teach me a lot of life lessons. I am not as good at writing as I am talking to someone professionally. I think more honest and harsh feedback, I would start writing a lot better and I would fit into the company the more I worked there. I think it is important to understand that messing up and getting something wrong is not a bad thing. However, it is how you bounce back. I hope that I have something close to PR come graduation.
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It’s tough to really step back and think about our role and what we are supposed to do. If I got the call today to do PR, I would honestly be a little freaked out. But I would be confident in knowing that I had this class and Intro to PR to help me for this kind of job. I would harness all my notes and knowledge and do my best. From what I’ve learned and read though, a PR job doesn’t seem to precise and mathematical. Its creativity, which I love to use.
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I think the biggest lesson that I have learned in my time studying PR is to be ready for anything. That means being ready to crank out a press release in an hour or having an answer to a reporter’s question on the spot. But that also means being ready to learn a new skill or adapt to a new task. As PR professionals, we have to be ready for anything and APU has taught me how to think creatively and to figure out how to get something done with confidence regardless of how confident I really am.
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I agree with Micayla. There will always be different situations that nobody could have predicted or expected to happen, but you still have to create a plan and work on it. There will be times in my career that things will happen that I am not expecting, but I will have to adapt. I will need to think quickly on my feet and come up with a plan to handle a problem, answer a difficult question, or be able to learn something new. I think something I need to remind myself is that we will never stop learning, no one knows everything, and there is always room for improvement.
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I think that in order to become a public relations professional in the world of today, what one needs is focus and the willingness to do good. PR attempts to capture the attention of those who seek to get recognition of what they do. We need to have faith as well. In essence, we need to go toward each task and campaign with the want to work and the want to achieve.
I would first pray to the Lord to help me and then attempt to create the best campaign I could. All campaigns need to be recognizable after all.
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I intend to make the world a better place through my career in PR no matter what field I go in to. I will bring messages of positivity, confidence and community to my audiences.
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