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This week on Inside PR, Terry and David have a discussion about what skills transfer best from another sector into PR. They play Chris Clarke‘s comment for this week. Also, Terry does his segment of Inside PRoper English. Finally, Terry and David play a skit from Luke Armour.
Show Notes
00:27 Terry introduces the show. He invites listener feedback through email at [email protected], the comment line at 206-600-4741, or comment on the Inside PR show blog.
01:17 Terry starts off by talking about the Shel Holtz/Toronto Third Tuesday event.
03:10 David talks about the Canadian Institute’s New Media for Communications conference, happening on November 28th and 29th. Terry and David will both be speaking at the event, along with a slew of other Canadian social medialites.
05:58 David brings up the ads running on a number of Canadian PR blogs from Canada News Wire, including his own.
08:48 Terry introduces a listener comment from Scott McDonald about negative blog comments. David thinks that negative comments are better expressed on your blog than out in the open. He adds that sometimes blogs aren’t the right answer. Terry agrees with David and says that negative comments are easy to respond to on a blog.
15:20 Terry brings up this week’s topic: the skills required when transferring from a different field into PR. David says that the risk of hiring someone from another discipline into PR are high. He advises that those considering such a change understand the PR industry before attempting to make the switch.
18:30 David thinks the core skills of PR are, first and foremost, writing, then strategic thinking, creativity, multitasking, and the ability to work under pressure. Terry adds that there are not as many good writers out there as people think. He says that it’s difficult to teach a bad writer ow to be a good writer. It is possible to teach a good writer to be better. One important skill that Terry adds is common sense (which is not very “common” at all).
21:25 Terry thinks that the ability to speak and have a presence is important.
22:23 David used to think that the best PR people were the total package, but now comes to believe that there are 3 clearly defined roles: practitioners, managers, and leaders.
24:00 Terry’s final trait is the ability to connect with other people.
27:11 David wraps it up: the ability to write, the ability to think, and the ability to connect with people.
27:45 Terry introduces and plays Chris Clarke‘s segment for the week.
30:00 Inside PRoper English for the week: that and which.
32:40 David closes the show and invites listener comments: through email at [email protected], on the comment line at 206-600-4741, or comment on the Inside PR show blog. Also, they welcome listeners to the Inside PR Blubrry site.
33:40 Luke Armour has graciously sent along the following skit he put together lampooning the PR podcasting community. The Virtual Geek Dinner. Hilarious!
Music: our theme music is Streetwalker by CJacks, and is from the Podsafe Music Network; Roger Dey is our announcer.
Hi, guys. I’ve been listening for a while now, and finally managed to squeeze in time to comment. As a writer I particularly appreciate your emphasis on the need for good writing skills in PR or any other profession. (Or at least the willingness to hire someone who has them.) As a Natural Born Pedant, I especially enjoy the Inside PRoper English segment. “That” and “which” are tricky even for the literate; somehow I think my grade-school English teachers skipped over that distinction entirely. (Of course, I might just not have been paying attention.)
Keep up the good work. I learn something from every show.
How odd–the comment I just attempted to post doesn’t seem to have gone through. Let’s try this one more time.
As I was saying, I learn something from every show, but as a Natural Born Pedant I particularly enjoy the Inside PRoper English segment. I’ve tried to control my impulses to correct the grammar of everyone I talk to, and restrict that favor to the people who pay me for it (and my fiance, who is not a native speaker of English).
I think my grade-school teachers left the distinction between “that” and “which” out of the curriculum, but it may just be that after studying Latin and Greek and Italian and French and German I have trouble remembering which rules apply to what language.
Hi Sallie,
Both your comments came through. We know we’ve made it when Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with “sketch”) leaves a comment. It was great to meet you in California in September. Hope we get a chance to connect again sometime…
**Update from Scott Mac Donald on negative blog comments.
Hey guys,
Thanks for the discussion on negative blog comments. It was a great help to me as you gave the positives and negatives from both sides.
Unfortunately, my blog idea for our town’s bid has not come into being. Word has it that it was shot down by some of the higher ups that are working on the proposal. I attempted to point out the benefits of addressing negative comments from town residents, but my idea still didn’t fly.
I can definitely see where they are coming from. There’s alot riding on this bid and they’d prefer not to take any unnecessary risks.
But I still think it would have really set us apart from some of the other bids. Maybe some day……