This semester I was able to read a book titled "Do The Right Thing" by James Hoggan. The book is about public relations and how to make yourself understood to various publics. It teaches public relations professionals how to build good personal reputations or corporate brands and how to be more persuasive. This book stresses the importance of having credibility.
The Hoggan approach was developed as a unique prism through which PR professionals can evaluate everything they do. It's a simple test comprised of of three guiding rules, which are do the right thing, be seen doing the right thing, and don't get the two principles mixed up. Finding the right thing to do is a value judgment. Being seen doing the right thing does not mean that you stage your actions just to make yourself or a company look good. To me, it means drawing attention to good actions so that other people will see positive results and be encouraged to do the same thing. You will know if you are doing the right thing by stopping and asking yourself, "What's the right thing to do?" The answer can only help.
Some other principles that I found interesting in this book were the six principles of persuasion. When looking for support in any subject, you have to know how to put your best argument forward. This means knowing how to connect with people who may have no reason to want to listen or believe what you have to say. Most simply put, his six principles are (p. 89):
"1. People like those who like them.
"2. People repay in kind (you get what you give).
"3. People follow the lead of similar others.
"4. People align with their clear commitments (it's hard to move people off frame).
"5. People defer to experts.
"6. People want more of anything that is scarce."
Although Hoggan looks at persuasion as a gift, he also communicates that it is an art and a science.
"Do The Right Thing" is a great book that every public relations professional should have. It is a guide that will help you build and repair relationships. This book provides clarity with its principles based on honesty and trust. If you don't believe me, you should check out www.bloggernews.net/118739.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The Importance of Framing Messages
The definition of public relations is watching trends, talking to organization leaders and creating planned programs that will help a situation. One planned program of action that I will discuss with you today is called framing.
What is framing? According to The Psychology of Climate Change Communication, "framing is the setting of an issue within an appropriate context to achieve a desired interpretation or perspective;" (Shome and Marx p.6). This is very important to public relations professionals because we are constantly pushing different messages to several different audiences. You must be able to convince your audience to adapt a desired perspective of the message you are attempting to relay.
Some benefits of framing a message are it organizes central ideas on an issue, helps communicate why an issue might be a problem and helps frams condense a message into useful communication "short cuts" such as slogans and images (Shome and Marx, p.6).
The first step in framing is to evaluate your audience and find out how they view a subject before you approach them with your message. Speaking to vegans about increasing their use of a meat-based product would not be smart. Next, consider your audience's subcultures. This means paying attention to the race, ethnicity, class, age, gender and specific sets of beliefs of people in groups. You should ask yourself if the majority belongs to the same group in the audience. The last step in framing is to prepare several different frames and messages ahead of time. All of your angles should tie into your big topic. You don't want to get lost in so many subheadings that the audience will lose sight of the big picture (Shone and Marx, p.7).
If you would like to read some cases of how framing affects people, log onto: http://psp.sagepub.com/content/22/3/257.abstract to see what scientists and psychologists have to say about research on framing.
What is framing? According to The Psychology of Climate Change Communication, "framing is the setting of an issue within an appropriate context to achieve a desired interpretation or perspective;" (Shome and Marx p.6). This is very important to public relations professionals because we are constantly pushing different messages to several different audiences. You must be able to convince your audience to adapt a desired perspective of the message you are attempting to relay.
Some benefits of framing a message are it organizes central ideas on an issue, helps communicate why an issue might be a problem and helps frams condense a message into useful communication "short cuts" such as slogans and images (Shome and Marx, p.6).
The first step in framing is to evaluate your audience and find out how they view a subject before you approach them with your message. Speaking to vegans about increasing their use of a meat-based product would not be smart. Next, consider your audience's subcultures. This means paying attention to the race, ethnicity, class, age, gender and specific sets of beliefs of people in groups. You should ask yourself if the majority belongs to the same group in the audience. The last step in framing is to prepare several different frames and messages ahead of time. All of your angles should tie into your big topic. You don't want to get lost in so many subheadings that the audience will lose sight of the big picture (Shone and Marx, p.7).
If you would like to read some cases of how framing affects people, log onto: http://psp.sagepub.com/content/22/3/257.abstract to see what scientists and psychologists have to say about research on framing.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Social Media: The two-headed beast
Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible publishing techniques. Social media, according to wikipedia, uses web-based technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogues. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, associate professors at a university, in marketing, define social media as "a group of Internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user generated content."
How do you feel about social media? How do you use social media in your life? Some people think that it is taking society to a place where face-to-face interactions will become a thing of the past. Younger generations are learning how to dominate social media tools and use them solely to keep up with friends and trending topics. Big businesses use social media to generate more consumers, get product information out to the world, and manage glitches and bad service by monitoring what customers are saying using social media about the business or product.
Social media utilization is believed to be the driving force in defining the current time period as the Attention Age. Aaron Endre has created a blog that explains his views of why the information age has been replaced by the Attention Age. You can read it at: aaronendre.com/2009/10/26step-aside-information-age-the-attention-age-is-here/.
I believe that social media are a two-headed beast. In one hand, if used correctly it can increase public knowledge; bring a new voice to marketing, sales and promotion; and increase interaction between companies and the people who support them. On the other hand, social media has brought about a certain invasion of privacy between job seekers and employers who include Facebook and Twitter along with your resume and scholarly achievements as a means of determining what your assets could be to a company. Social media has ruined life-long friendships as well as reputations.
All in all, we the people have the freedom to determine how we would like to use social media in our lives and how much time we will spend in it. Words have power, and it is important to make all your interactions over the Internet and/or in person be tactful and politically correct.
How do you feel about social media? How do you use social media in your life? Some people think that it is taking society to a place where face-to-face interactions will become a thing of the past. Younger generations are learning how to dominate social media tools and use them solely to keep up with friends and trending topics. Big businesses use social media to generate more consumers, get product information out to the world, and manage glitches and bad service by monitoring what customers are saying using social media about the business or product.
Social media utilization is believed to be the driving force in defining the current time period as the Attention Age. Aaron Endre has created a blog that explains his views of why the information age has been replaced by the Attention Age. You can read it at: aaronendre.com/2009/10/26step-aside-information-age-the-attention-age-is-here/.
I believe that social media are a two-headed beast. In one hand, if used correctly it can increase public knowledge; bring a new voice to marketing, sales and promotion; and increase interaction between companies and the people who support them. On the other hand, social media has brought about a certain invasion of privacy between job seekers and employers who include Facebook and Twitter along with your resume and scholarly achievements as a means of determining what your assets could be to a company. Social media has ruined life-long friendships as well as reputations.
All in all, we the people have the freedom to determine how we would like to use social media in our lives and how much time we will spend in it. Words have power, and it is important to make all your interactions over the Internet and/or in person be tactful and politically correct.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Introduction and "The Tipping Point"
Hello! My name is Gayla Lowery, and I am a senior at Florida A&M University. I am currently majoring in public relations and plan to attend graduate school afterwards to receive a master's degree in finance. Public relations allows me to make a creative impact in the lives of businesses and people by helping to create meaningful, positive relationships. I love learning about special techniques and methods that I can apply to my major.
Recently, I read the book "The Tipping Point: How Little things Can Make a Big Difference" by Malcolm Gladwell. He defines "the tipping point" as that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire." There were a lot of interesting points raised in this book. I learned that there are three important people who can have a major influence on a tipping point. They are connectors, who bring people together. Mavens, who are researchers of various subjects and like to spread information. And salesmen, who persuade people to make a purchase or accept an idea. In the "Tipping Point," this idea is called the Law of the Few. When you want to convince a large number of people to act in a certain manner, these types of people will play a big part in how your message is delivered.
Another principle that was illustrated in the "Tipping Point" was the 80/20 Principle. It is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the "work" will be done by 20 percent of the participants. An example of this principle was displayed using the AIDS epidemic. In the mid-1990s in East St. Louis, MS, there was a man named Darnell "Boss Man" McGee, who would exploit young girls ages 13 and 14 years old at local pool halls and roller skating rinks. He would buy them expensive gifts, get them high on crack and have sex with them. Before his death a few years later, he slept with at least 100 women and infected at least 30 of them with HIV. He is an example of the 80/20 Principle because he was able to infect a large population with the disease.
Both the Law of the Few and the 80/20 Principle can be applied in public relations to make a positive impact. I found these two concepts to be most interesting and useful in "The Tipping Point." I would recommend any public relations practitioner to read this book because you, too, may find some interesting theories that you could apply to your practice. To find out more about "The Tipping Point," log onto www.gladwell.com/thetippingpoint/index.html
Recently, I read the book "The Tipping Point: How Little things Can Make a Big Difference" by Malcolm Gladwell. He defines "the tipping point" as that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire." There were a lot of interesting points raised in this book. I learned that there are three important people who can have a major influence on a tipping point. They are connectors, who bring people together. Mavens, who are researchers of various subjects and like to spread information. And salesmen, who persuade people to make a purchase or accept an idea. In the "Tipping Point," this idea is called the Law of the Few. When you want to convince a large number of people to act in a certain manner, these types of people will play a big part in how your message is delivered.
Another principle that was illustrated in the "Tipping Point" was the 80/20 Principle. It is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the "work" will be done by 20 percent of the participants. An example of this principle was displayed using the AIDS epidemic. In the mid-1990s in East St. Louis, MS, there was a man named Darnell "Boss Man" McGee, who would exploit young girls ages 13 and 14 years old at local pool halls and roller skating rinks. He would buy them expensive gifts, get them high on crack and have sex with them. Before his death a few years later, he slept with at least 100 women and infected at least 30 of them with HIV. He is an example of the 80/20 Principle because he was able to infect a large population with the disease.
Both the Law of the Few and the 80/20 Principle can be applied in public relations to make a positive impact. I found these two concepts to be most interesting and useful in "The Tipping Point." I would recommend any public relations practitioner to read this book because you, too, may find some interesting theories that you could apply to your practice. To find out more about "The Tipping Point," log onto www.gladwell.com/thetippingpoint/index.html
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