This past week in class we had to write speeches to our state legislature for our company representative to give. This was a very interesting and difficult assignment. I have taken a public speaking class before, but all of our speeches were informative or persuasive and we got to choose the topic. This made it easier to write because I could choose anything I wanted that I had prior knowledge or interest in.
This assignment made me realize the different types of speeches that are out there. I'm never going to have to give a speech on any of the subjects I did them on in speech class. It was just practice on writing and giving speeches. Now I realize that I might have to write a speech like the one we wrote in class one day. I had to know all the information about our company, be able to persuade the legislatures that we needed state funding and do it in an interesting way that they could pay attention to.
This assignment was very difficult and I definitely think it's something I could work on a little more. Especially having to give it in front of the class. I always get nervous talking in front of class rooms (where I get graded). If I practice a little more I can become more confident in it.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Ethics
Ethics has become a huge part of practicing public relations. It is especially important because of the bad reputation that public relations practitioners have been labeled with. Public Relations has been known as persuading people into buying things or believing what you want them to. This isn't true. Public Relations has has a bad reputation in the past and that is why it is important to be ethical so we can gain our trust back with the public.
Here are the important rules of Public Relations in the PRSA Code of Ethics:
http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/
Ralph B. Potter Jr. believed that ethical decisions were influenced by four interrelated variables. These variables are loyalties, principles, situation and values. This is how The Potter Box came about. Loyalties- asking what individuals or groups are important in this situation? Principles- Identify relevant ethical principles that should guide your action. Situation- Asking, what are the problems/opportunites inherent in this situation? Values- Asking, what are the values you should take into account such as friendship, trust, loyalty, etc.
Taking these four things into account you will have the right people and ideas in mind, which will help you be ethical in the decisions you make.
Here is a picture of the Potter Box, however, they replaced what we have said as situation to facts.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZ_TkqHRNwIbPuhqmpv8oFoCZ7pS5DkA3NlNoWvVre6ycnB9rCCmaXbCg3ITPpw5UN_j8SueHARnKpxeAnQ2R4qKD7WFjXPXqHWVypkyvJ39DTkJ_8_45Sdip4BnDJZAddloUBPbjF7tu/s320/Untitled-1.gif
Here are the important rules of Public Relations in the PRSA Code of Ethics:
http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/
Ralph B. Potter Jr. believed that ethical decisions were influenced by four interrelated variables. These variables are loyalties, principles, situation and values. This is how The Potter Box came about. Loyalties- asking what individuals or groups are important in this situation? Principles- Identify relevant ethical principles that should guide your action. Situation- Asking, what are the problems/opportunites inherent in this situation? Values- Asking, what are the values you should take into account such as friendship, trust, loyalty, etc.
Taking these four things into account you will have the right people and ideas in mind, which will help you be ethical in the decisions you make.
Here is a picture of the Potter Box, however, they replaced what we have said as situation to facts.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZ_TkqHRNwIbPuhqmpv8oFoCZ7pS5DkA3NlNoWvVre6ycnB9rCCmaXbCg3ITPpw5UN_j8SueHARnKpxeAnQ2R4qKD7WFjXPXqHWVypkyvJ39DTkJ_8_45Sdip4BnDJZAddloUBPbjF7tu/s320/Untitled-1.gif
Sunday, October 3, 2010
For our next assignment we are required to make 10 Twitter pitches for our companies. My Company is CommunicAID, a non-profit organization that provides shelters and food banks for the homeless and those in poverty. I think this assignment is very important because Twitter has become one of the most popular social media outlets within the past few years. It is a great way to get information out to the public and it is free!! I have had a Twitter for about a year now and I absolutely love it! I have the Twitter application on my phone so I check it all the time.
My main source of news is Twitter. Occassionaly I'll read online news sites or watch the news on TV, but I follow news twitters for Oklahoma and larger ones. I find out so much from these tweets just by reading a 140 character status update. I also follow a lot of clothing stores and restaurants that I like. They tweet about specials and sales that they have, which is great stuff that I normally would never have known about.
Doing these Twitter pitches will be great for my company because it will be letting information out to people who are interested. They will be able to find out about different things such as our new location and the crisis my company was accused of. A lot of people are using Twitter now and it is becoming as popular as sites like Facebook and Myspace.
Twitter is amazing and I reccomend everyone get one!! You can follow me @jessieprater
Visit www.twitter.com to make your Twitter!!
My main source of news is Twitter. Occassionaly I'll read online news sites or watch the news on TV, but I follow news twitters for Oklahoma and larger ones. I find out so much from these tweets just by reading a 140 character status update. I also follow a lot of clothing stores and restaurants that I like. They tweet about specials and sales that they have, which is great stuff that I normally would never have known about.
Doing these Twitter pitches will be great for my company because it will be letting information out to people who are interested. They will be able to find out about different things such as our new location and the crisis my company was accused of. A lot of people are using Twitter now and it is becoming as popular as sites like Facebook and Myspace.
Twitter is amazing and I reccomend everyone get one!! You can follow me @jessieprater
Visit www.twitter.com to make your Twitter!!
International Audiences
Understanding international and intercultural audiences is the most important thing when doing public relations for different cultures or countries. You need to be able to communicate in an appropriate way in order to send an effective message without offending anyone.
The Kent book gives examples of basic skills needed to prepare for international settings Here are a couple of good ones:
1.) Learn the language of the culture you will be interacting with. If you are communicating with people of another country you need to learn the language. Be able to say simple words and how to be polite.
2.)Learn the essentials of formal interactions. Do you shake hands, kiss or bow when you first meet someone?
3.)Learn something about the media system in the country that you visit. You need to be able to know what medium to use to reach your target audience.
Communicating with people that speak a different language or have a different culture than yourself can be a very stick situation. This is why it is important to learn the rules of language and check multiple times that your message is being taken the right way.
http://getinternationalclients.com/how-to-prevent-most-cross-cultural-miscommunication-by-examining-your-own-english-communication/
There is a link you can visit that gives you tips on how to prevent miscommunication across cultures.
Here are a few examples the website gives of how miscommunication might happen across cultures:
*People like to use slang words that people from other countries or different languages wouldn't understand. If someone were to say, "that shirt is so tight." They could either mean it is form fitting or they could use tight as another word for awesome, cool, hip, etc.
*Japanese people don't refuse things because it is considered rude. This goes the same as people from Honduras. My Spanish teacher was from Honduras and to be nice one day she made us all homemade chimichangas. Being the picky eater that I am, I told her no thank you on eating them. She later went on to tell me how in Honduras it is very rude to deny anything offered to you, especially food. I felt very bad, but in America I've been raised to say no thank you if I don't want something and that is fine.
*French people are easily offended. A friend of mine studied abroad in France and so I was curious about this and I asked her if it were true. She said that she remembered any time she would talk to someone from France, even if they spoke English, they would be very offended if she didn't atleast try to speak to them in France before speaking English to them.
All of these are good examples of how miscommunication can be very hurtful and how important it is to understand a culture or language if you are trying to reach out to a public from a different one of these than yourself.
The Kent book gives examples of basic skills needed to prepare for international settings Here are a couple of good ones:
1.) Learn the language of the culture you will be interacting with. If you are communicating with people of another country you need to learn the language. Be able to say simple words and how to be polite.
2.)Learn the essentials of formal interactions. Do you shake hands, kiss or bow when you first meet someone?
3.)Learn something about the media system in the country that you visit. You need to be able to know what medium to use to reach your target audience.
Communicating with people that speak a different language or have a different culture than yourself can be a very stick situation. This is why it is important to learn the rules of language and check multiple times that your message is being taken the right way.
http://getinternationalclients.com/how-to-prevent-most-cross-cultural-miscommunication-by-examining-your-own-english-communication/
There is a link you can visit that gives you tips on how to prevent miscommunication across cultures.
Here are a few examples the website gives of how miscommunication might happen across cultures:
*People like to use slang words that people from other countries or different languages wouldn't understand. If someone were to say, "that shirt is so tight." They could either mean it is form fitting or they could use tight as another word for awesome, cool, hip, etc.
*Japanese people don't refuse things because it is considered rude. This goes the same as people from Honduras. My Spanish teacher was from Honduras and to be nice one day she made us all homemade chimichangas. Being the picky eater that I am, I told her no thank you on eating them. She later went on to tell me how in Honduras it is very rude to deny anything offered to you, especially food. I felt very bad, but in America I've been raised to say no thank you if I don't want something and that is fine.
*French people are easily offended. A friend of mine studied abroad in France and so I was curious about this and I asked her if it were true. She said that she remembered any time she would talk to someone from France, even if they spoke English, they would be very offended if she didn't atleast try to speak to them in France before speaking English to them.
All of these are good examples of how miscommunication can be very hurtful and how important it is to understand a culture or language if you are trying to reach out to a public from a different one of these than yourself.
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