Both of my parents were in the news business, dad briefly and mom retired from Cleveland’s only newspaper in town after 30 years. They loved breaking news and cable news networks so I grew up watching this knowing this was going to be a part of my career. My formal education in communications was focused in media and journalism and I completed two internships at top major network TV stations in Cleveland. I went on to work in both newspaper and radio as a reporter and on air anchor for a few years until deciding to make a major career transition into Marketing and Public Relations where I have spent the last 15 years. Which brings me to my blog post today.

I have been looking for a stable company for a full time position leading Marketing and Public Relations efforts. I was thinking about what makes a great PR person and why I excel at handling Public Relations for companies and my clients.

Why a journalist with PR experience should lead your Communications efforts:

1. Deadline Driven: I understand how precious time is and have raced against the tightest of deadlines delivering a story in a timely manner where seconds matter. Company news releases can be that way too when handling crisis communications sometimes a release has be done and quickly get out to avoid bad press or no press at all on a story.

2. Communication Accuracy: I was trained to check facts and sometimes check them twice for accuracy so that what I am presenting is accurate

3. Understanding the Media Audience: Being the media, I know what the media is looking for in terms of a news release being “news worthy” and I have a great ability to present something to catch the attention of the media.

4. Corporate Media Coaching: I am an incredible resource because of my news background and have coached dozens of company leaders and owners in preparing for press conferences and other public speaking events. I help them get comfortable in front of the camera and have helped to prepare their content and delivery style when facing the public and the media. It has also helped in producing media kits and with media pitching.

5. Crafting Corporate Responses: As a trained journalist, we have a good sense of how to craft professional public responses which today is often used to respond to customers on social media outlets. That is definitely something that more companies can do better at.

6. Produce Corporate Video/Storytelling: My background in journalism has helped me to become one of the best producers in corporate video today. Journalists are story tellers and I have the ability to help companies create their story and tell it across multiple mediums. I can also help companies do affordable high quality video because of my skill set which helps to keep down editing and production costs.

7. Confidence in working with high profile people: Being a journalist, you have to be outgoing, talk to anyone and ask the tough questions and because of this, I have been able to work with celebrities and company leaders without intimidation to get projects done. I have the ability to establish a comfort level and that helps in my coaching them through what I am looking for in a project.

8. Spokesperson ability: Because of my unique background and experience and previous opportunity, I am a polished company spokesperson with the ability to be on camera and communicate with the public on behalf of the company projecting confidence and professionalism.

If you or a company you know needs help in these areas of expertise, I would be happy to provide a free consultation to see how I can help either in a full time Communication role or through my consulting work with 216Brandrive. Don’t leave this important work to someone underqualified. It could end up causing more trouble or ruining your reputation and your brand.

CONTACT ME TODAY Shannon@216Brandrive.com | (440) 263-2761 | Linkedin Connect | About Shannon

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