Sifting Through the Rubbish

On a daily basis we are exposed to millions of adverts, stories and information about the world and ourselves via a range of mediums. I don’t think that it has been until now that I realise the effort and work put into constructing this information for the world to see. We almost become oblivious to it, like it’s apart of everyday life. We wake up and the paper is in your mailbox. You don’t think about the people who have created it, or those who has crafted their images and writing to suit their clients needs and wants. This is a very selective process, one which takes times and effort. During my first week I learnt about this process and the skills needed to ensure that work is crafted to the highest standard, in order to give the client the best possible chance of receiving coverage. Some might ask how? It’s simply, or rather complex. You learn to sift through the rubbish.

On my second day I was asked to write a press release for a client who is opening a new gymnasium. In order to do this the steps are as followed

1. Research about the client and the new gym.
2. Produce ‘word vomit’ as my mentor likes to say.
3. Now its time to refine your writing skills.
4. Repeat step 3 multiple times until you believe all the refining is done.
5. Produce press release to the client
6. Repeat step 3, again until given the ok.

Something I thought would be a quick process, soon turned into a process that consumed half of my day. You see in step 1 its all about sifting through the rubbish and realising what is the essence of your story. This process is very much a form of art, because this information will form your story and your title.

Step 2 has to be my favourite. Now you must regurgitate that information and vomit it up onto the page. Hopefully following a pyramid structure. When I look back on my first go at writing the press release for the gym opening, it was all over the place and some key elements of the story were being lost. This is where Step 3 came in.

Step 3 is where you start shaving away at parts of the apple so to speak. Removing bits from here and changing words from there. This is where writing really becomes an art form. You learn to hone your writing skills. And this does take time. I’ve learnt that only practice will make me a better writer and maybe this is why I’ve been asked everyday this week to write a media release for a client, after all writing is a core foundation to PR.

Step 4. Yes, this step can be monotonous and tedious at times, but its essential to ensure the best possible coverage. It can be the simplest of thing during this process that can make the world of difference, to whether your story gets coverage or not. For example the title “Harper Family to Open New Gymnasium at St. Fredrick's Grammar” is far less appeal than “WA Premier to Open New Gymnasium”. No ordinary citizen would know who the Harper family is, but EVERYONE knows who the WA Premier is. Instantly your story has newsworthiness and coverage. And you now have a happy client.

So for us as PR students I encourage you all to practice your ‘sifting through the rubbish’, your writing and your refining, after all it is these skills that along with appealing and captivate photos that engage people and hopefully bring your client coverage.  But for now, what do you guys think is the most important skill in PR?

Georgia