Learning How to Be a Better PR Pro From Other Jobs

The people at BOCA come from many different career backgrounds, and not everyone studied public relations in college. As this is also true for many current PR pros – as well as those looking to join the profession – we thought it would be interesting to take a look at a few skills that helped our BOCAteers transition into PR. Here’s part one of a three-part blog series highlighting some of the skills our staff members brought from past jobs to their current roles.

Writing and Broadcast

Becky Quinlan, senior director of content development and media strategy at BOCA, found her experience in broadcast journalism invaluable to her career at BOCA. Quinlan previously worked as a TV reporter and anchor for two California stations, KHSL-TV (CBS affiliate in Chico, CA) and KCBA-TV (Fox affiliate in Monterey, CA).

Quinlan recalls that her experience with broadcast journalism taught her how to pay attention to all the little details, such as the correct spelling of names, dates, and other information that is critical for your credibility both as a reporter and a PR specialist. She also realized the importance of doing your research on people ahead of time and knowing their preferred method of contact. However, the most important skill Quinlan learned was how to be a great storyteller:

“As a reporter, you need to address the who, what, why, where and when aspects of the story. But most importantly, you need to address WHY the audience should care. Why does this story matter? In PR, when pitching the media, you need to ask yourself WHAT your client/angle/executive/etc. can contribute to a larger industry trend or conversation.... and WHY the reporter should talk to your specific client.”- Becky Quinlan

Politics

Michelle Newburgh, our account director, came from a political background before she worked in PR. As a senior scheduler for the Toni Casey for US Senate Campaign, Newburgh learned how to perfect her pitching process. Newburgh recommends spending five minutes researching your contact and having three big points you can refer to while you’re pitching. In addition to pitching, Newburgh learned how to do effective briefings. Below is an example of her process:

“I make sure to include all the information in briefing materials that will be important to my candidate. Are they writing about competitors? What was their last story? Do I know their feelings about certain topics that could be discussed? What does Toni, (or in our case, the executive/client) need to know to have a successful briefing?” - Michelle Newburgh

Music

Sammy Totah, director at BOCA, found his music background to be helpful in his PR career. Totah devoted two years of his life to writing and recording songs and touring with Carlos Santana, Salvador Santana, Los Lonely Boys and Ozomatli. He still continues to write and play music today, and that energy has helped him to be innovative when it comes to PR.

“Music has enabled me to think outside of the box, and get very creative when it comes to developing ideas, concepts and campaigns for clients. When I write songs, I like to tell a story to help evoke an emotional response. I like to inject that layer of creativity into everything I do. I think if we can develop compelling campaigns that are tied to worldly trends and tap into the ethos and emotional fabric of our audiences, we've successfully helped to paint a picture of what our clients do.” - Sammy Totah

Teaching

BOCA has two former teachers turned PR pros: account executive Brittney Danon and content writer Jordan Eggers. Danon found her teaching experience with Teach for America helpful because it showed her how to achieve long-term goals through proper planning, organization and measurement training. Another skill she found valuable was how to tell the same story in different ways.

“When I was teaching I quickly realized that some of my students just weren't getting it as well as the others - partly because they had different learning styles and needed information to be presented to them in a different way. In PR, we often need to tell the same story in a different way to business press than we do to, say, IT press, and the ability to tailor my lessons to specific students has helped me to creatively tailor pitches to different reporters.” - Brittney Danon

Eggers found that the experience teaching English in Chiang Mai, Thailand, helped her improve her writing and communication skills. Teaching also taught her how to simplify complex subjects and inspire confidence in the people she works with.

“Working with and being responsible for nearly 30 kids is exhausting but rewarding. They demand your attention, regardless of what it is you're trying to do, and you need to know how to speak to them properly. That way they can always feel safe coming to you for guidance and help. These skills work well in PR where there are many deadlines and at times it can be chaotic.” - Jordan Eggers

We hope you enjoyed this week’s blog post. Stay tuned for part two, which describes other job skills that BOCA staff brought to their careers in PR.