It begins. Nervous but oh so excited!

Professional Public Relations (PPR), I could gladly stay working here past my work experience. I would of course have to give up my paid job I’m currently working 9 to 5.30 Saturday and Sunday. Oh the joys of a seven day working week, these 6am starts don’t sit too well with me to begin with but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. My days are already so busy they fly by and I find myself being told to go home as I lose track of time, there aren’t enough hours in my day for everything I need to do.

But of course it doesn’t stop there as I get home from PPR and dive into my university work, sleep is so far away. Again the grueling task of my 6am wake up, bumper to bumper traffic and rude drivers; it’s all forgotten as soon as I get inside the office, make some tea and sit back down at my desk ready to face the new tasks that have been emailed to me. I enjoy it, the constant thrill, the insight into what a PR consultancy is all about, the friendly staff, the office chats (the water cooler doesn’t work so it’s mainly around the coffee machine). PPR is kind enough to provide the team with black tea, coffee, Milo, green tea, a coffee machine, and a fruit bowl replenished daily.

So far I’ve been working on some items for Bunnings Warehouse; a few forward features. I have an overview of what the magazine is going to be about and then draft questions and answers on the topic that the Bunnings representative could be asked by the journalist, just like PR Media last semester. This is right up my alley due to the fact that I work at Bunnings so I get this done in record time, barely having to research the answers; I’m quite impressed with how much I actually know.

Next I’ve been given the task of tackling an A3 20 page contact database for every publication and media outlet I’ve ever heard of, and plenty I haven’t. My task…determine whether these people are still in the roles listed under the publication. I’m given a time frame; by the end of my internship. I start straight away and go through searching on the internet for verification. I find that there are a large number that are not available through the internet and I will have to call and harass the receptionist. I begin the dreaded task of calling, it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be, although there are a few people I come across who have woken up on the wrong side of the bed and aren’t in any mood to help me. Just keep smiling.

The clock ticks past 5.30pm and my co-worker, Bianca, tells me it’s home time. Thank goodness, I’m sick of the sound of my own voice through all the phone calls. Time to go home, eat dinner, do my university work, and head to bed ready for my 6am wakeup. I’ve decided it’s a good idea to put my alarm clock on the other side of the room; I’ve never been a morning person.

All the World’s a Stage – Public Relations Isn’t a Career, It’s a Lifestyle!

Alternatively titled- 'I didn't choose the PR life; the PR life chose me'. 

I recently finished a customer relations campaign I had been working on, aimed at creating ‘community’ between all the home operating customers, as it was one of the areas my supervisor has suggested could be improved on. I had edited it multiple times, split it in two, amalgamated it with other ideas, recalculated due to means and edited it once again.   

Now in uni this is where the work basically ends.  Although I obviously knew in the ‘real world’ I would then need to implement projects, it turns out that the real world has another hoop through which I must jump; convincing superiors that the campaign is worth implementing. The managing director, unlike my tutors at a deadline, did not just accept what I’d come up with. He seemed happy with it, said the ideas were all interesting and certainly viable... but he’d changed his mind and was now thinking about maybe something like this or like that and of course we couldn’t possibly implement until May at the earliest. 

My first meeting with the managing director did not really go the way I’d pictured, and I must admit I was quite disappointed that my first project had been delayed. However I did learn some important factors about working life. Foremost of these lessons is that you need to consider all your target audiences when working in the ‘real world’-not just the company’s public's. The fact of the matter is everyone is your target audience at one time or another.  When pitching a campaign my primary target public becomes the managing director.  Like any target public, communicating with him requires research and a targeted approach. In this way my initial, somewhat disappointing meeting has ended up being a valuable research tool. 

For instance now I know that the best way to approach him is with bite sized pieces of information – not a 17 page campaign. It is also best to approach him with draft- he wants to be a part of the process and a perfectly polished campaign will only result in you rewriting it to accommodate his new ideas. I also need to be persistent, there are going to be many times when my timeline will be rejected, my meeting will be delayed and my ideas will be discarded. This should not stop me; rather it should inform my future attempts and communications.

The skills we learn to liaise, communicate and placate an organisation's publics are the same skills that are needed in the workplace, and indeed, day to day life. I find myself using the ‘ABC’ technique (Answer the question, Bridge, Communicate your key messages) not only when answering questions from customers but also when trying to pitch my campaign to my superiors. (A)Yes that sounds like a good idea, ( B)in fact, I’ve been working on something similar that will really (C) create a community vibe amongst home operators and also has a seminar element, do you have a minute for me to explain? 

The fact of the matter is that as an intern, you really don’t have much -well, any- power to say ‘this is the direction we’re going to go’. It really is a test of public relations skills to not only answer their questions and do what they want, but to also bridge and persuade them that you have the research and the ideas to help them achieve their goals. 

Sometimes I think that the ‘ABC’ technique for answering questions and the ‘RRR’ technique for answering crisis questions (remorse, reason, remedy) have been one of the single most important things I have learnt in my degree, not only for their use in the PR industry but for their use in tactful, diplomatic relations in the workplace and everyday life. It surprises me because it was only really touched on for one week in ‘PR media’, in a youtube video that I can’t even find anymore!

The truth is that as PR students the skills we learn not only inform and enrich our public relations work but also our lives. All the world is our stage.

Until next time!

Natasha Smith

14279030

P.S If anyone has a link to that video explaining ABC and the Three R’s could you let me know? I think it had a BBC guy talking about it... or something like that!