Throughout my studies it has been highlighted that understanding your target audience and/or stakeholders is key to public relations success. In fact, Public Relations Institute of Australia includes it in their definition of PR;
‘Public relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation (or individual) and its (or their) publics. It's the key to effective communication in all sectors of business, government, academic and not-for-profit.’
So, when I touched down in Malaysia town to start my four week internship at Go Communications, I found myself having to research aspects of my work - cultural factors which I am attuned to at home in Perth.
This opened my eyes to the importance of communicating with a multi-cultural audience, and truly checking how your message can be interpreted. Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia has a unique cultural landscape - there is no one dominant culture, in fact it is home to a large population of Indian, Chinese, Indonesian and Muslim people to name a few.
Kuala Lumpur population by Ethnic Groups, 1980 - 2000
In my first week at Go I wrote my first press release, and I had to completely change my writing style. I have always written press releases in a hard news style - here in Perth it’s the recommended way to get published. As Even Peterson points out, PR is all about writing, so this was a chance for me to broaden my PR skill set.
My team leaders explained the best way to write the release, and after reading past GO press releases and local newspapers, I understood my usual approach was not going to work. Most Malaysian media outlets write in a more colourful, descriptive style - where in Australia we’re basically 'banned' from any unnecessary detail and comment. So in my press release for the National Kidney Foundation I followed my team's advice, and took into account the fundamentals of a press release to make sure it was effective. Read up on 5 mistakes not to make in press releases here.
In the end, my release got half a colour page in a newspaper. I should also note I read the local papers every morning, so this helped me understand the preferred style and content.
By adapting my writing skills to suit a different audience, I was able to communicate the client's message more effectively. This task helped me to hone my writing skills - to write more succinctly and clearly. First week down, and this made me much more confident to tackle other tasks.
Whitney Slater
Curtin University - Bentley
