How Introverts Can Succeed in PR

It is a common misconception that introverts lack social skills and an awareness of standard social cues. By that extension, it would appear that the world of public relations, with its emphasis on social interaction and networking, would be an ill fit for an introvert. On the contrary, introverts with their characteristics of thoughtfulness, prudence and creativity, can bring a sense of balance to the workplace and successfully stand out in a group of Chatty Cathy’s.

Introverts are great listeners and clear communicators: Introverts are known to be pensive and conceptual. When in conversation, an introvert will often fully listen and analyze what the other person is saying and before responding, will have thought out a valuable reply. While an extrovert may have the gift of gab in small-talk, an introvert is great in crafting insightful and objective messages.

Introverts value meaningful relationships: Introverts thrive on the creation and maintenance of deep, mutually-respected relationships with others. In public relations, where building a sense of rapport and trust with a client is vital, the natural skills of an introvert are ideal.

Introverts excel in social media: In our social media-driven industry, social networking is the public relations godsend for introverts. For those that may not be as comfortable in traditional networking settings, the internet provides endless opportunities. Valuable relationships can form from social networking where introverts, with their quiet contemplation and creativity, can have the upper-hand.

Introverts think before acting: In public relations, how you respond- particularly in the face of controversy- can be a make or break situation for your client. Introverts are methodical, meticulous and incredibly thoughtful in the way they enact effective public relation strategies. Using forethought before taking action can be the difference in smooth-sailing or ending up neck-deep in a PR crisis.

Still need convincing that introverts can’t be as successful in the workplace? Bill Gates, Barbara Walters and Barack Obama are just a few of the famous individuals who identify as introverts!

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Cara Graeff.

Maximizing Value Is Key to Maximizing Profit in a Student-Run Firm

“Maximize profits! Create shareholder wealth!” Sounds a lot like your intro to economics class, right?

These are the values driving many businesses today. Whipped into a frenzy by the single-minded pursuit of these goals, organizations often end up sacrificing good judgment, value and, ultimately, the very success they were striving to achieve. By focusing their entire effort on the bottom line, many American organizations have reduced their value.

This trend can be reversed with value-driven management. Instead of focusing solely on profits, value-driven management is aimed at creating and sustaining value over time. Whether your student-run firm is well-established or just getting started, this management style is extremely effective when it comes to maximizing profits. By creating value from within the organization, the public and potential clients will begin to value your organization as well.

Here are a few value drivers to ultimately maximize the profits of your student-run firm:

Focus Within
Building an organization where the values of employees are in sync with organizational values creates a strong, motivated team. Motivating and retaining top student talent is crucial for the sale value of your firm. Holding frequent workshops that seek to improve firm members’ leadership and skills is one way to create value from within. Creating fun programs that focus on the social dimension of your firm is another way to build the firm’s team cohesion and can ultimately lead to a higher task orientation; this also creates organizational value as well as job satisfaction.

Diversification of Clients
For the firm to function as a proper business, it is important to constantly develop new business. Having a wide variety of clients that change from year to year optimizes the firm’s revenue potential. It also factors into how much growth potential your business has. Possessing a diverse client portfolio exemplifies that your student-run firm’s experience is invaluable.

Creating a Realistic Strategic Growth Plan
Any organization that wants to reach the next level needs to have a realistic plan that outlines the firm’s potential future growth. This plan should include a distinct business model, and how that business model can roll into new markets successfully. Being able to verbalize this plan to potential clients will increase your firm’s market value and ultimately increase its profitability.

There are many more value drivers that are key to growing your firm’s value now and in the future. By focusing on these few value-driver examples, your student-run firm will be able to maximize its profits.

How will you make the most of your student-run firm?

This blog has also been featured on PRSSA National's blog, PRogressions.

Public Relations and Studying Abroad

As a public relations major, studying abroad may not seem like an option for you. Most locations and programs do not offer PR courses, and only few offer internships. I am here to present my study abroad advising services and present some hidden treasures for public relations majors.

1. The School of Media and Communication’s International Internship Programs:
The Barcelona and Hong Kong programs both offer public relations courses as well as an internship in any field desired. All students are required to take Intercultural Communication in the Workplace: STRC 3670. The other course is cross-listed with multiple other majors but there are two strategic communication courses:  STRC 3385 or 3585 - Internship in Public Communication. Both programs are a total of 10 weeks, with the first two weeks on campus to take the Intercultural Communication course. Past students have told us that this course put them a step ahead of other students interning abroad.

2. As for a semester abroad, SMC’s London program has three strategic communication courses offered during the semester including an optional internship. The courses include: STRC 3323: Political Communication, STRC 3585 – Internship in Public Relations, or STRC 3685 – Internship in Organizational Leadership. You would only be able to take two courses directly through strategic communication, but any time you study abroad the Global/World Society GenEd is automatically fulfilled. The rest of the credits would be taken as electives offered through SMC.

The question that most students have about studying abroad is how they are going to pay for it. These are the necessary steps to take in order to receive the most financial assistance:

1. The first step would be to make an appointment with the financial aid office. If you plan on going for a semester, your financial aid package may increase because the cost of living is typically higher when studying abroad.

2. File your FAFSA within the first few days of it opening. This is how you can receive the most aid possible. It is not necessary to have your taxes filed beforehand; you may go back and fill it in later.

3. APPLY FOR ALL SMC SCHOLARSHIPS. All tuition scholarships apply when you are abroad for a semester; however, in the summer this is more difficult. The scholarships that are due in February are the ones than can be applied for the summer, and there are less available. This makes the summer more difficult to pay for but not impossible.

4. APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS THROUGH THE EDUCATION ABROAD OFFICE. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars offered in scholarships through this office. The requirements are broken by location typically, which makes it easier to choose which ones to apply to.

5. If nothing else, apply for loans. Most students are eligible for the Parent Plus loan, which is cosigned by your parents. Students sometimes take out private loans, but you need to be sure to look for low interest rates.

Preparing for a study abroad experience is a lot of work; however, when planned properly the process will be less stressful. As much work that you put in as a student, the study abroad advisers will put in as well. We have amazing opportunities to connect nationally and internationally through Temple. The first step is deciding to take the leap.

This guest blog post was written PRowl Staff Member Brianna Prime.

Women and Business #GirlPower

The New York Times recently published an article on how to be successful as a woman in the dog-eat-dog business world that has been dominated by men for so long.  (Don't worry, guys, this isn't a post full of man-bashing).

I was intrigued by the fact that I was recommended this article by my male boss.  It shows that there really are some high power male figures out there that believe women have just as much a place in the c-suite as guys do.

I wanted to share some great tips that the female executives in the article had to offer for all my fellow power-seeking women out there:

1. Be unafraid. Introduce people, compliment someone when it's deserved, stand up for something you really believe in. Don't just go with the flow.

2. Don't let your emotions get in the way. It's hard to stay composed sometimes, but it's better to wait and have a conversation when you're calm instead of getting emotional at work.

3. Practice being more vocal.  Go out of your way to strike up a conversation with people around the office to let them know that you have an intention of letting your voice be heard.

4. You have control. You have power. Don't be afraid to use it.

In my opinion, the situation has greatly improved for women in the business world over the past few decades.  Some may disagree, and obviously it would be much better to have a totally equal playing field with men.  Hopefully some of you ladies out there can take these tips and integrate them into your professional lives and start instilling even more girl power into the workforce.

3 Tips For Participating In A Twitter Chat

On the blog we have written plenty of posts describing how to successfully host a Twitter chat. However, we haven’t discussed how to be a successful participant. While every Twitter chat has a different set of guidelines, there are three simple tips to keep in mind to ensure that you get the most out of the experience.

1. Review the rules. Every Twitter chat is different so it’s extremely important to review the guidelines ahead of time. Make sure that you know how to format your responses and what hashtag to use to participate. Otherwise, you run the risk of your responses not being recognized.

2. Be engaged. Simply participating in the chat isn’t enough; you actually have to chat. Although they can move pretty quickly, don’t just answer the questions. Interact with the other participants. It allows you to build your network, increase your followers, and share your voice on a larger platform.

3. Write concisely. Twitter is a great network to practice concise writing because it forces you to use 140 characters. Remain professional, but keep your answers short and sweet. No one wants to read a two-part tweet during a Twitter chat. It can be difficult enough to keep track of all of the tweets coming in without the added challenge of keeping track of yours.

Following these simple tips can make all the difference when engaging in a Twitter chat. Feel free to put them to use tomorrow night at 9pm EST during PRSSA’s chat on “Maximizing Your National Conference Experience.” You can review the rules on their Twitter @PRSSANational.

“Samantha Jones” PR verses Real Public Relations

Brushing shoulders with only the elite, standing in your brand new Christian LouBoutin heels, while staring out at the New York City skyline, all in a nights work. You may ask yourself, “What kind of profession will lead to that scenario?”  Well ask Samantha Jones, public relations expert.  Her character, played by Kim Cattrall on the hit TV series Sex and the City, depicts the life as a PR agent to be the most laid back and glamorous profession. 

Personally, my interest in the field sparked from Ms. Jones’s life style.   Who wouldn’t want to be in control of the VIP lists for extravagant events?  However, anyone within this field knows that this type of PR is not typical. 

One major difference between Samantha Jones and a real PR professional is the perspective on work.  As Jones’ character put it during the TV show, “I don’t believe in the Republican party or the Democratic party.  I just believe in parties.”  A party to Jones is a well-planned event to PR professionals.  Every event put together by a PR professional requires numerous little details that people outside this career sometimes overlook.  Research, promoting, networking, and planning are all crucial for a successful outcome. 

Luckily for Jones, she not only gets into and throws the best parties; she also has a never-ending client list.  You will never catch her staying late at the office, working on different pitches for new clients. Original ideas and theories need to be tested with PR considering the field is always changing.  With change comes a fresh challenge; thus, Jones never altering her strategies when working with new clients creates an unrealistic persona for this career.  Facing the task of constant change is what makes public relations a round-the-clock job.

All play and no work may be Samantha Jones’ way of tackling the PR profession, but when it comes to reality, public relations always challenges.

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Brittany Barish.

Bypassing Writer's Block

If you are having trouble finding something to put on paper or formulating words to create a sentence, you are experiencing writer's block. I could agree and say experiencing the inability to write a paper probably knocked on every professional writer and non-writer's door at least once and according to research, most times it stems from anxiety and fear of writing.

As for me, I experience writer's block when I'm nervous about a topic or if I'm not too confident on a topic. Being too nit picky can cause your flow of ideas and creativity to not be present in your writing seeing that you are putting too much of your focus on not making mistakes.

Whenever you are experiencing writer's block while writing a paper, follow the following tips below:

Avoid strict writing rules that inhibit writers- One strict rule is when professors always stress the need for beginning every paragraph with a topic sentence. Yes these rules are probably there to guide you while writing your paper but focusing solely on these rules can be a cause for your writer's block.  Loosen up, write and when you are revising your paper then fix your paper to suit your professor's styling.

Create short sections, and write one section at a time-  Taking things in small batches always seems to work. Therefore, write your paper in sections so that you can focus on one idea at a time. This allows your writing to flow much easier.

Take a break- If you are stressing it, your creativity and writing will not flow. Moving away from your paper and taking a break is definitely needed at times. Take a walk or a nap and then get back to it. Now that your mind is refreshed, I can guarantee you ideas will begin flowing.


What other methods do you use when you are experiencing writer's block? We will love to know!