If you listen carefully you can hear the heartbeats…

Mr. Hopkins, I look forward to learning how to be a better communicator with this blog and the Style and Design class that I am in. Though it will be a tough course, I accept in knowing that it will be for my benefit. I much appreciate your wisdom. Carpe Diem is correct.

My hope for this class is to take advantage of this opportunity to speak with people who are in the profession and get a feel for what they are looking for for future interns, and for future employees. I agree that not everyone can be a good communicator. In fact, I have come across a fair share of ones who are just plain bad. I do not think I am a great communicator, but I am a people person and with blogging I am excited to get to do what I do best, which is talking with and relating to people.

Thank you for the encouragement. As a Spring 06 student I have come to learn how beneficial this communication connection can be.
It is always a good idea for “newbies” such as myself to learn as much as I can from those who have ventured before me. I know that I am smart enough to learn from others advice, mistakes and victories. I am excited about venturing in to another semester with you guys and I look forward to hearing what you have to say….or I guess write in this instance.

Thank you for the experience you are giving us. I hope that my insights will be memorable for those who come in the future. I am better at expressing myself verbally so this will give me a good opportunity to practice on my writing. I hope that by listening to experienced professionals it will give me a better idea of what I want to do in the future. I am glad that I have the opportunity to participate in something that could be beneficial to my future career. It makes me so much more enthusiastic to know that this is not just for a grade, but for my future. I am looking forward to hearing more from you and others.

Your welcome to this program is greatly appreciated and insight very useful. Until learning more about social media in my Style and Design class, I was unaware how important and what a large contribution it provides to public relations and public affairs. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to communicate so easily with professionals at your level. My hope is that, as I become more comfortable with this media, I will be able to share my thoughts and experiences as well as contribute to other’s insights while continuing to learn every step of the way.

This was a good post to come back to. As a participant in Marcom last semester, I feel a little more comfortable commenting here. It is still a little intimidating being around experienced professionals, but it’s getting easier. But I can appreciate this opportunity. As Lee said, there is a lot to be learned here. This is a great opportunity for us as students. I look forward to commenting and reading future posts. Thanks for the welcome.

Thank you for the welcome. As a Spring 06 student of Robert’s, I feel a little deja vu coming back to the Marcom blog for the summer semester. But I appreciate your “welcome back” post. I don’t think we (students) can say enough how much we appreciate all of you guys taking time out of your schedule to blog here. We are all trying to learn as much as we can about public relations and the industry we are faced with, and every blog post here has something insightful to offer. I look forward to blogging here during the summer. Thanks again.

Thank you for taking the time to contribute to what is sure to be a unique and invaluable learning experience. I definitely agree with what you said about how everyone is not a good communicator. To elaborate on what you said, I think a good communicator is an effective communicator. I have found that while many people are capable of communicating a message, it is the “good communicators” who are able to be deliberate in their messages, while keeping their audience. So, whether it be verbal, written or via new technology, I am excited about the opportunity to grow and learn what it takes to be an effective communicator.

Ahhh, you are so right that not everyone who communicates is a good communicator. Donna Papacosta reports today about her reflections on the recent IABC International Conference in Vancouver. Whilst there were communicators a plenty (about 1400 of the buggers!) only a handful actually created presentations that stuck with her a week later. Now, THEY are the communicators that we all, me included, NEED to learn from if we are to create headway in our careers, no matter at what stage those careers are. Never too old to learn…

Donna’s post: http://trafcom.typepad.com/blog/2006/06/tell_me_a_story.html

Thanks for opening information to us and putting us at an advantage over many students at other colleges that won’t have any experience in stuff like this.The more and more a post comments the more comfortable I feel. I could not agree more with the fact that not everyone is a good communicator. I know that I need some work in that department so I am very grateful for any knowledge that you can let us in on. I know that that I have to write for a grade, but it really is nice when I can apply it to my future and know that it is helping me shape what exactly I want to do in the PR field.

I know this is an old post, left to a semester of students that may no longer be blogging, but the post is still relevant to us current marcom bloggers. When I say the learning of social media has been an experience like none other in my college career I am not joking. To have fast access to the best of the best in the business has been beneficial in so many ways. All the posts about “how to get a job, what it takes to be a great communicator, and how to communicate in the business world” have truly changed how I approach not just my blossoming professional life, but also my personal life. Social media has begun to set me and my classmates apart from other up and coming PR proffesionals. Being able to explain social media and the benefits of using it to potential clients has made me feel more confident in interviews.

Hi Rachel,
Thank you for such a wonderful comment. In fact, I’ve cross-posted it on my own blog as an incentive for my audience to visit the Marcom blog and see for themselves what the ‘fuss’ over social media is all about - http://leehopkins.net/2006/10/10/why-robert-french-deserves-an-award-from-prsa/
Kindests,
Lee

I appreciate your encouragement Mr. Hopkins! WE continue to appreciate more and more about social media and blogging everyday. Thanks to you and other contributors of Marcomblog, we know that reading is a big part of the blogging process and you really do learn that things can be valuable to us for the future. We appreciate your posts and enjoy reading what you have to say!

It is really exciting about what is to be learned from PR professionals and I hope to take with me the words of wisdom that will be passed on from the contributors. This is the most I have learned from one class during my entire college career! And it’s only half way through the semester.
Your words are encouraging, thank you.

I am grateful to have the access to be able to speak with practitioners who are in my profession, who also help teach all of us what they are looking for in future interns and employees. If it weren’t for this website, I would not know a lot of what I do now about the PR profession. Mr. Hopkins is right, not everyone can be a good communicator. And I know I am not always the best communicator (ok, I am hardly ever good at it) but I try, take chances and practice (through face-to-face communication and social media)… and that’s all you can really ever do. I am excited to get the option of practicing any social media communications I choose to do through this website.

I look forward to coming back and visiting this site, and this blog, after I begin my career. Hopefully I can offer some insightful advice to others as you all have, thank you!

Ashley, blogs allow you the fantastic opportunity to find your ‘voice’ — that natural way you communicate.

Finding your voice within academia can be a hard thing to do… how much ‘academese’ does one write? How much in a ‘friend-to-friend’ voice? Finding the balance can be tricky (but fun, too!) but it all helps you develop your own confidence in your thoughts and opinions, and thus finding your own ‘voice’.

Once you have that ‘authenticity’ of having your own voice you come across to the reader as much more relaxed, interesting and (if you’re like any of us seasoned old salts) opinionated!!

Enjoy the journey, try writing in as many styles as you can (formal, academic, informal, first person, third person, passive, active) and mix-and-match them to your heart’s playful content. It is, after all, through ‘play’ that we develop our latent skills and abilities and allow them to shine.

Although I still wouldn’t consider myself a good writer, I do feel that blogging is helping me put my thoughts together better than I used to. I’m glad that we have sites such as this one to converse with others in our profession and be able to get advise on how to improve as a communicator. I am hoping by the end of the semester, I will have found my voice. I realize that it may take more time than that, but I do know that all of the blogging we are doing will only speed that process up.