Full Frontal PR Report
Janette Rizk

Without mentioning names, I graduated from a well-respected university in Los Angeles last May, known for its public relations program (and its national championship-winning football team).

I left college with a sense of pride and preparedness, ready to face my career in PR a step ahead of many because of (what I thought to be) my exceptional training. Since I majored in English and Public Relations, I had covered the gamut when it comes to writing courses. I knew the pyramid structure of a news story like the back of my hand, and could write press releases and media alerts with no problem. I even put together a press kit so that was done. I had created several pretty darn impressive Power Point presentations of mock PR programs—strategic and thorough—and understood the importance of conducting surveys and focus groups and how to present recommendations based on my research results.

You would think, right, that somewhere during four years of rigorous PR curriculum, someone—one adjunct speaker or instructor—would have imparted to us the significance of a particularly important skill: the ability to pick up the phone and pitch the media!

I did take one class where each person did a pseudo media audit of two local media outlets and we asked journalists about their likes and dislikes of PR pros. I had heard rumors about compiling lists of “the right” media, and the fact you could get the phone slammed down by angry journalists, but without ever actually experiencing any of it, I didn’t really get it.

This reality was somewhat shocking for me when I began working full-time.

So, to help or remind you, I’ve compiled a short list of crucial lessons that I’ve learned in the past year. Things for the entry-level PR person that I wish had been taught while I was still in school:

Start with a darn good media list.

Bacon’s is certainly a fine resource but it is not the be-all and end-all. What I learned: it is necessary to monitor specific media covering your client: get to know who needs or wants to write about what they do, and in what context.

Research.

Read articles written by a journalist before dialing their phone number. It always helps to refer to or comment on a recent article.

Be prepared with specific questions he or she might ask.

Know your client and your pitch well enough to be able to respond with an “on message” answer to any—I mean ALL—of their questions. This sounds obvious, but it can be difficult to sound like an expert on, say, implantable heart monitors, if you’ve never been really exposed to the biotech industry. Get exposed before pushing buttons or send.

Timing.

It’s good to be assertive, but not to harass. Get a sense of journalists’ schedule and attitude towards PR people—and particularly how they want to be contacted: phone, e-mail, fax, and carrier pigeon. What’s appropriate, and what’s convenient. Just like you hope someone does for you! If a journalist firmly says “no,” don’t call back unless you have an extraordinarily newsworthy item (i.e., real news value) to tell them.

There are acceptable ways to—yes—stalk a journalist. Here’s a rule of thumb: first round a message, second round no message, third is the charm—a message and an e-mail with some follow-up information not mentioned on v-mail.

That is to say, tailor your style of pitching to match the tone of the client.

Then the one thing I had to learn myself: don’t take someone’s rudeness or bad mood personally. Remember: it’s PR, not the ER.

Oh yeah. And learn Excel. I did learn. No, you won’t use it during those Liberal Arts days, but you’ll need to know the program to do reports, media and call lists. That’s more than basic, I can tell you.

RLM’s Assistant Account Executive Janette Rizk is excelling at more than basics.