Inside PR #36 - Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Dec 5, 2006

Comments? Send us an email at [e-mail], call us on the comment line at 206-600-4741, or leave us a comment on the Inside PR show blog.

This week on Inside PR, Terry and David host the call-in show. They welcome audio comments from Gary Schlee, Andrew Findlater, Dan York, Francis Wooby, and Tyler Leisher. Terry also finds time to do his segment of Inside PRoper English.

Show Notes

00:27 Terry introduces the show. He invites listener feedback through email at [e-mail], the comment line at 206-600-4741, or comment on the Inside PR show blog.

01:24 David and Terry make reference to the fact that they will be welcoming a number of audio comments this week. Terry notes that he is exhausted because of a busy hockey schedule of late.

02:43 Terry talks about the Canadian Institute's New Media for Communications conference, which took place November 28th and 29th.  David and Terry talk about their sessions at the conference.

06:30 David introduces the first called/comment from Gary Schlee, the Co-ordinator of the Corporate Communications and Public Relations program at Centennial College in Toronto makes an important point about effectively managing internal communications during a crisis. 

07:50 Terry says that he and David were remiss to have neglected discussing internal communications when talking about crisis communications on Inside PR #33.

09:10 David thinks that employees are far more savvy than what employers give them credit for. David adds that writing is the most important skill for PR practitioners.

12:10 The next call comes from Francis Wooby from Iqaluit, who makes a very good point in his comment about the important role of �listening� in the PR professional�s arsenal of skills. 

13:40 Terry agrees with Francis that listening skills are crucial to the makeup of a good PR practitioner. David echoes Terry's view and emphasizes active listening, showing an interest, understanding, trying to clarify what they're saying, etc. He adds that PR practitioners should be able to take the time to reflect upon a question and get back to people with sound advice, as opposed to reflex answers that can turn out to be unsound.

18:22 Dan York calls in with a number of items to discuss. Among them: Dan enjoys the show, enjoys the Canadian-isms on the show, recommends making the Inside PR logo more readily available, and has a recommendation for Inside PRoper English.

20:50 David and Terry share their thoughts on Dan's comments.

24:40 Tyler Leishman, a college student, calls in asking for advice on PR education. David thinks that MBA's are cool, but he can't recommend doing one over getting a PR education. Terry thinks that getting an MBA is important simply because it gives PR practitioners a better understanding of business, finance, marketing, and everything else involved in running a business. Terry and David have a lengthy discussion about the uses of business knowledge in public relations.

36:45 Andrew Findlater calls in with a short message on message training.

39:30 Terry thanks Andrew for his comment, and congratulates him and National PR on a recent national award. He adds that what Andrew meant to say was that two Visa member-bank employees were discussing interest rates, as it is the banks who set the rates, not Visa.

41:20 Terry talks about a clip he often uses in media training. David talks about his experience with spokesperson training. 

48:53 Inside PRoper English for the week: that vs. who

49:50 David closes the show and invites listener comments: through email at [e-mail], on the comment line at 206-600-4741, or comment on the Inside PR show blog. Also, they welcomes listeners to the Inside PR Blubrry site.

Music: our theme music is Streetwalker by CJacks, and is from the Podsafe Music Network; Roger Dey is our announcer.