Career Advice

The very thought of writing a speech, let alone giving one, is enough to cause cold sweats for many of us. And if you’re in the audience for a snoozy talk—well, that’s torture too. Here are some tips from a speechwriting expert to help you hone your next presentation.

How do you get ahead in PR? Doing good work is a must. In fact, doing extra work is one of the secrets. Here are five suggestions about what you can do to bolster your PR career, provided you want to do some additional lifting.

Our regular roundtable feature includes honorees from the 2018 PRNEWS Platinum PR awards and speakers from The Social Shake-Up. Among the questions we put to them: What qualities does a successful communicator need? With the onslaught of technology, how can brands ensure customers have a human experience? And what social media trends are you eager to learn more about during the Social Shake-Up?

Diversity is both good to do and good for business. That concept should apply to media in its use of sources. Unfortunately, data show media sourcing in western media favoring men 3 to 1 over women. Preliminary findings indicate media with a more representative source base may reap financial and other benefits. PR pros can help media by curating and promoting a diverse source base.

You spend hours crafting the perfect story concept to pitch a client, researching the reporter or producer most likely to be receptive to your client’s work, then more time still waiting on a response from the media. Even when you get the “yes” you want, it doesn’t mean your story will be published or aired immediately, or that there aren’t additional hurdles to climb. It simply means you are much closer than when you started. So what is the distance between a “no” and a “yes” in PR?

There are more anxiety-producing things than attending a networking event. Sometimes, though, it seems that list is short. On the other hand, networking works, according to five senior PR pros who shared their wisdom during a recent event in Dallas. Similar to most endeavors, it’s best to have a plan before you begin networking, the communicators said, and being yourself and following-up are musts.

It’s amazing, the amount of content the annual SXSW festival packs into 10 short days. But for savvy communicators, the lessons learned in March become the refined business strategies of April and May. These trends from SXSW 2019 offer more than real-life lessons for communicators: it’s a glimpse into PR’s future.

It’s a dirty, little secret that veteran PR pros know, but newcomers, fresh from communications school, might not: it takes more than good work to advance your career. Veteran PR pro Arthur Solomon lets us in on several ways to bolster your PR career. His top tips include building strong relationships and always making your client look good.

It’s no big secret that public relations professionals often do all the leg work on press releases, including writing and suggesting quotes for executives’ approval. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind while crafting or communicating these scripted soundbites.

A trio of new studies tell you the best time and day to pitch your stories to media, why scalability is a concern with influencers and a common concern among PR’s women and men.