Ebook: The Art of Public Speaking Dale Carnagey 18

Inside The Minds During his career, Dr. Russo achieved remarkable success in obtaining superior quality news coverage for biopharmaceutical and healthcare service companies. He has held senior level posts at several public relations firms, including Adams & Rinehart and Gavin Anderson & Company. Earlier, he was the assistant to the chairman of Mocatta Metals Corporation, the world’s largest bullion trading company. He is the recipient of the PRSA Philip Dorf Award for mentoring young public relations professionals. Dr. Russo received a MA and a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University and Claremont University, respectively. He has also held research positions at Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard. He graduated cum laude with a BA and departmental honors in psychology from Alfred University. An active member of The New York Biotech Association, The Public Relations Society of America, and The American Psychology Association, Dr. Russo is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. He also serves on the board of directors of the Greater New York Chapter of the March of Dimes and is a member of the National Association of Science Writers. 170 The Art of Public Relations CRITICAL ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS THOMAS L. AMBERG Cushman Amberg Communications President and Chief Executive Officer 171 Inside The Minds Wanted: People Who Lead People The key elements for success in the field of public relations involve a good understanding of the principles of marketing, a thorough knowledge of the needs and requirements of news organizations, and the ability to write in a creative and forceful fashion. A person must be aggressive enough to have the ability to interact creatively with the media. As much as we like to talk about other activities within the realm of public relations, the number-one activity has always been media relations. If you can’t write well, and if you can’t work effectively with the media, then you will have significant problems. Public relations is often described by people outside the industry as a profession for those who “love to work with people.” Hearing that makes me cringe. Public relations is not for people who are at the low end of the chain; it is for people at the high end. It is for people who will ultimately be good consultants and good counselors for their clients. Public relations people, when they are really doing their job, have to be strong enough counselors that they can advise their clients on how to conduct their business. That isn’t someone who just likes to work with people; instead, it is someone who has a firm grasp of business principles and understands communication and communication techniques and can be effective in steering a client and a client’s business in the right direction. People who just 172 The Art of Public Relations want a job “working with people” need to apply to McDonalds. The art of public relations is being perceptive enough to understand how to drive the right messages to the right audiences, using a variety of different communications techniques, the most prominent of which is media relations. You must be able to perceive and understand the nuances to be able to effectively drive those messages. It means having an intuitive feel for what the audience needs and having a good feel for what the client has that can satisfy the needs of his audiences. A good public relations practitioner is an aggressive person who not only is savvy but also understands the business of his client and what it will take to drive that business forward. People are by far the biggest challenge in public relations. It is always a challenge to find the right people and the best people, the people who are truly educated in ways that will clearly benefit the clients. Finding these people is tough. There doesn’t seem to be any one pathway into the public relations profession. We find people with journalism or communications backgrounds, legal or education backgrounds, business and economics majors, and even political science or art majors. So there are a wide variety of educational or career backgrounds that come our way. We think that’s a good thing, because it gives our staff a wider view and different perspectives. 173 Inside The Minds The challenge is in finding people in these fields who are intuitive thinkers, and who have a solid understanding of marketing and management issues. They have to be sharp enough to be able to analyze an issue or a situation, and then aggressive enough to be able to find solutions for the client. That may involve creativity issues in finding storylines that interest the media, or in writing persuasive copy for brochures, or organizing a company’s presentation at a trade show, or a variety of other tactical elements. And it certainly involves being able to conceive strategies to drive a client’s business forward. Finding people capable of doing these things is a huge challenge for all agencies. A separate people problem often arises on the client end of things. It is tough to find clients who really understand what public relations is and how it ought to be used. Having clients who don’t understand this can be a major challenge. So it becomes very important to educate your client on the true purpose and goals of public relations. It is not a publicity machine. It should not be used simply to get ink or airtime. It is a skill that should be used very carefully to mold opinion and to get what is good or effective about an organization out to the public that needs to know about it. Public relations is an effective tool when it’s used as part of an overall marketing and communications program to drive messages. It should be used as a mechanism for helping to communicate an organization’s messages. It should be used 174 ... - tailieumienphi.vn