When I was a working musician, I always looked for opportunities to soak up a lesson or some words of wisdom from musicians whose talent just blew me away. It did not take me long to figure out that the one thing that separates the good musicians from the great ones is that great musicians never stop practicing. They know that they can always get better and that there is always something they can learn. They know that the day they stop being creative is the day some young hotshot passes them by.
Public Relations is No Different
Now that I run a Denver public relations firm, I know that the same rule applies for PR pros. If you ever get to that point where you think you are smart enough, that is the time to get out of the business. There is always something you can learn to help you provide better service to your clients.
These days technology is changing so fast that it is hard to keep up. It is not just learning how to master the newest media tools or social channels. It is researching which tools are most relevant for your clients and learning how to use them to communicate in a relevant way to the audiences you are trying to reach.
Surround Yourself with Knowledge
Whether it is earned media or owned media, business basics, or economic fundamentals, the best way to keep learning is to surround yourself with people who know something that you do not. We can all use a mentor. That person could be someone with more experience or an intern who looks at the world with a fresh perspective that opens your eyes. It could be someone in your immediate network or someone you meet by joining a new social or business networking community. It could even be the person you are mentoring yourself, who just might be able to teach you as much as you are trying to teach them.
The good news is, now that we are all working from home, we have a lot more time to learn something new and practice the skills we need to work on. Of course, some people do not like to practice, they just want to play the game. Maybe you can get away with that if you’re Allen Iverson, but for the rest of us that just won’t cut it. You can’t join the band or get off the bench until you first put in your practice time.
The Pushkin PR Process
At Pushkin PR we conduct strategy sessions to help clients understand where they have been, where they want to go, and how they can get there. We help them uncover their brand stories and understand how to communicate them to the audiences they need to reach. Then we help them create compelling and authentic brand messaging and practice using it until it becomes second nature.
Our media training sessions help clients get the most out of media interviews. Our social media training helps them maximize engagement. Our crisis communications training includes realistic scenarios and mock interviews to help them be prepared to confidently manage communication if and when a real crisis happens.
Each training includes plenty of time for practice. Like a musician, the more you practice, the better you get. Basically, it boils down to this. No matter what business you are in, there is always something to learn. And whenever you think you know it all, that’s when you are about to learn a very valuable lesson.
A wise friend once told me that life is a series of humorous pitfalls designed to keep us alert and dancing. Learning to recognize the pitfalls is the easy part. The rest is just practice.
Contact us to schedule a free 30-minute consult call to learn how our crisis communications training, media training, or social media training can help your organization prepare for any challenge.