Mirror, mirror on the wall, just what are my finest skills of them all? My PR adviser/professor recently stumbled across this article about the 14 Key Skills and Attributes for New Public Relations Professionals. After a look at the list I have determined the skills I feel most confident I possess. This article can be found at here, part of Davefleet.com
My three finest selling points are:
1. Social networking tools
During my summer internship I was responsible for creating a social media strategy for the Museum of Aviation. I invited a few friends to join the fan page I created and a few members of the staff who had personal accounts. Within a week we had over 400 members who indicated they were fans of the Museum. At the end of my internship (a ten week period) 700 people showed their support for the Museum via Facebook. When my bosses saw the visitor books and saw the words, "Saw your Facebook page" they knew it wasn't just silly toy college students play around with.
2. Communication skills
Thanks to my rhetoric minor and my love of theatre (and a gift of gab) I have formed very strong communication skills. I can relate to people of all walks of life and communicate interpersonally with them. I have a verbose vocabulary but I also have the ability to talk to someone without talking down to them.
3. Attention to detail
Many times I can look at something and know it doesn't work. I am great at looking at articles and judging what's wrong with it both grammatically and content wise. One of my biggest weaknesses during my summer internship was the inverted pyramid. However, this soon became second nature to me, and I was writing my press releases and needed little to no editing from the higher ups. There's a well known saying that goes "Measure twice and cut once." I think this applies to us as PR professionals in the making.
Now that I've chosen my three finest selling points I'll mention three areas I need improvement.
1. RSS, RSS Readers
Aside from a few people who found my blog through Twitter, those who read my blog at the Museum, and of course Team LASC, I have a very small number of people reading my blog. I would like to do more to reach more people, especially potential employers to read my weekly blog posts.
2. Coding
This is a big one! I have no idea what an HTML code is other than copying+pasting one I found on those free sites for a background image when I had a MySpace. I couldn't even begin to tell you what the different coding methods are.
3. Media relations
I got a great taste of this during my summer internship by sending out press releases on a daily basis. However, I do feel very insecure when talking on the phone. I may have strong communication skills but I do not feel very comfortable talking on the phone. Mostly because it's difficult to know when you've said too much, when you should say more, etc. It's also very frustrating when you don't always know the answer to something on the spot. A quick pause on the phone sometimes feels like an entirety.
There's still a lot to learn and as I said in earlier post, be flexible! We must never be afraid to learn more and learn new skills. PR, like the world, is constantly changing and evolving. It's time to get busy and learn how to juggle!
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