Learning Letter

7831 Bryn Mawr Dr 

 

During my time in Public Relations techniques I have gained extensive writing skills. Whether this be in news releases, social media posts, media advisories or conversational posts, I have cultivated skills in writing that will continue to follow me into future employment opportunities. Through my time in the class, I have collaborated with my peers and learned valuable lessons in teamwork and communication. During my experience writing a feature article and conducting a podcast, I learned how to curate effective interview questions that build up a story. Prior to this class, I never thought about how interview questions could follow a story-arch and be a part of a bigger picture. Now I have this skill. 

 

Additionally,  I have learned to pick up the slack when others are struggling and to ask for help when I need it. I have learned trust. There is value in teamwork, as long as communication and delegation are at play. This is an understanding I have taken from this class. There is nothing wrong with having areas we struggle in as long as we ask for help and try to get better. In my case, this area would be in writing feature articles. However, I improved in conveying my thoughts effectively in a feature article, through my coursework in this class. 

 

Through the many first drafts and final assignments I have revised and gone over, I have seen how my writing has improved and changed throughout this semester. I have learned how to use the proper AP style throughout pieces, how to convey thoughts and how to be succinct. I have learned the value of brief but descriptive writing. I have learned how to write meaningful but simple words that say all I need them to say, without exhausting the time and energy of my readers. 

 

My time writing a news release has thought me to be succinct and constructive with my writing style. The social media posts encouraged me to be organized and have an end goal when developing a social media campaign. The media advisory tested and taught me proper structure and how to include crucial information. The feature article taught me how to take a certain angle when writing a feature. The blog posts taught me how to be creative and informative when dissecting a certain brand. The podcast required people skills, and this taught me how to direct a conversation and create a message within it. Overall, all of these experiences had specific learning objectives that I have taken. 

 

My favorite experience and lesson I have learned were gained through the social media posts assignment. I have a love for social media, as I am currently a social media intern for a small art company. I have a lot to learn when it comes to campaigns and posting. There are good times to post and bad, and this is something I was critiqued on in my final version of the social media project. I will take this valuable advice to my internship, where I can utilize it. Additionally, I learned about framing and target markets throughout this project. I learned how to target specific markets through posts, hashtags and captions. This skill will come in handy as I have experience with all different target markets in my future.

 

One thing I still need to work on after this course is my attention to detail when writing news releases. I need to include all information I can find within a news release, as I still find myself leaving out important details in the first paragraph. With my future coursework and more writing practice, I am confident this will be an issue I will fix. I have become aware of it during this class, and I will continue to keep an eye on it as I continue my coursework at the Moody College of Communications.

 

Overall, I have cultivated a skillset in this class that will last me a lifetime. I have learned the importance of public relations elements like pitches, intranets and the relationship between journalists and public relations specialists. I will use the knowledge attained and experiences had  throughout this course in my future endeavours. I believe there will be time throughout my future career when I will look back to these assignments to refresh my memory on certain criteria or structures. As a future public relations specialist, I will be overwhelmingly equipped to handle any writing or interpersonal challenge that comes my way, because of my experience in Public Relations Techniques with Monique Farmer.

 

Sincerely, 

 

Caroline Reed