Broadcast Expert Coaches Class on Spokesperson Techniques

Public relations is more than social media and writing press releases. Public relations encompasses the image and identity of a company. As a spokesperson, the public relations practitioner promotes the image of the company through their appearance and demeanor during media interviews and press conferences.

Jan Getz, a former broadcast producer, on-air talent and professor, coached public relations writing and production students on spokesperson techniques. “Public relations is all about the communication skills- writing, reading and speaking. Be well read, speak clearly and succinctly and find the key messages that reporters want to have,” said Getz.

Public relations professionals are often the spokesperson for a company in addition to managing the company’s media relations.  A huge portion of their position involves being energetic about their job and familiar with the company they represent.

Getz stressed that effective public relations practitioners identify the newsworthy points of an event, convey those points to reporters and maintain a professional appearance. According to Getz, when you look professional it shows you care.

“I learned a lot about speaking in front of a camera, for example how to dress, what kind of makeup looks best on camera and what colors look best as well,” said Ricky Emmons, junior in the mass communication department. “I also learned that it's so much harder than it looks.”

After students spoke on camera, Getz provided extensive feedback on their performances to help them improve in the future. Getz noted that college is the perfect time for students to hone their public relations skills. Many clubs and organizations are looking for students to take on the public relations role for them. As future communication professionals students can’t have too much practice and experience under their belts.

On Camera Tips

-Turquoise flatters most skin tones

-White shirts reflect too much light

-Keep hair, make-up and clothes simple

-Too much jewelry can be distracting

-Wear a shirt or blouse with sleeves

Former on-air talent Jan Getz checks the camera monitor as mass communication PR class student Isaiah Martin prepares for his mock press conference.

Faculty Research

This summer the mass communication department’s faculty was hard at work completing projects, conducting research and presenting their findings in various city and states across the country. Here’s a brief look at the hard work and long hours they put in during summer break.

•       Professor Alan Hantz presented his paper Public and Private Identities in Women’s Roller Derby. He presented it at the 25^th annual Visual Communication Conference on June 15^th 2011 in Taos, New Mexico. His presentation was focused on how the women who participate in roller derby see themselves on and off the track.

•       Lecturer Anne Slatton led a group composed of 15 UNC Asheville alumni and students  in The 48 Hour Film Project, in which the participants have only 48 hours to write, produce and edit a film. Out of the 23 teams in Asheville, the UNC Asheville group won best film. According to Slatton, UNC Asheville has participated in the competition for four years and has won an award each time.

•       Professor Sonya DiPalma was one of the five public relations professors selected out of 30 applicants for the Plank Center Fellowship. This allowed her to spend two weeks at the American Red Cross national headquarters in Washington, DC. Most of her time with the ARC was spent learning how the nonprofit monitoring social media. The fellowship allows professors in her discipline to keep up with emerging technology in mass communication.

•       Professor DiPalma also teamed up with lecturer and UNC Asheville’s media advisor, Michael Gouge, to co-author Evolving medium: A College Newspaper Works to Adapt to Changing Readership Habits via Print Design, Multimedia Inclusion, and Online Promotion. Gouge has been advising the Blue Banner since 2003. Gouge presented his and DiPalma’s work at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications conference in St. Louis on Aug. 10.

I edited and rewrote this article by Chris Kane

PRAdA on the Hunt for New Members

Mass communication students interested in commercial media, video production or journalism are invited to take part in a new on-campus organization, the Public Relations and Advertising Association, also known as PRAdA.

Students are encouraged to get involved in PRAdA as an opportunity to participate in activities that provide experience in communication-related career fields. PRAdA members have the opportunity to form the organization into something they can be proud of.

“Many changes have taken place in the commercial media concentration,” said professor Sonya DiPalma. “ The newly created commercial media workshops as well as the new student organization, PRAdA, offer students opportunities to hone their public relations and social media skills. It’s an exciting time for the program.”

Emily Warren, PRAdA’s president, expects to gain notoriety for the organization this year and is “glad we are moving so quickly.” Members will continue to be heavily involved with activities and events within the department.  

Last semester, PRAdA hosted PR day. UNC Asheville hosted three professionals working in the communications field; one of whom was Marilyn Ball, the founder and CEO of a local PR agency 12 Twelve Marketing.

“I kept in contact with Marilyn after the event which resulted in an internship,” said PRAdA member, Roberta Neuhausler.

High School Media Day

Students Attend Workshops and Meet Local Media Professionals at WNC High School Media Day

Local high school students gathered to attend the WNC High School Media Day on Thursday, Oct. 13 in UNC Asheville’s Highsmith University Union. The workshop served as an opportunity for students to meet local media professionals, campus faculty, visit the college campus and attend sessions on mass communication topics.

“It’s really a bonus to bring this many high school students on campus and introduce them to our program and our facilities,” said Michael Gouge, advisor of The Blue Banner, who managed the event. “I’ve been giving this workshop here for about eight years, and several of our mass communication students and graduates actually were high school students that attended this event in years past. I believe the current editor of the Blue Banner attended Media Day when she was in high school.”

Media Day included a tour of The Blue Banner newsroom and the mass communication department, lunch in the university cafeteria, various instructional sessions. Media professionals discussed topics including feature writing, newspaper design trends, photojournalism, television news reporting and more.

“I think a lot of high school students don’t realize that there are so many different avenues within media aside from just the writing,” said Alison Williamson, a 12^th-grade journalism teacher at Hendersonville Christian Academy. “I think this event is a great opportunity to show them possible careers.”

Bill Rhodes gave a presentation on photojournalism fundamentals where he showed his own original photographs. Rhodes’ advice to students was to “Shoot everything you can,” he said. “Even though photojournalism is somewhat of a dying art, you can’t get the same details from a video that you can get from a photo story in a magazine.”

Brenda Gorsuch, a journalism teacher, discussed the positive relationship between Internet and print journalism. “We can hope that more exposure to the role and potential of print journalism will motivate young journalists. Even though my session was on newspaper design, I spent about 10 minutes on the important role high school journalists play in promoting civic engagement by their peers. I do think that if we rethink print journalism it will be around for years to come, but I am beginning to see some really outstanding journalism from Internet outlets.”

Yearbook expert Bruce Watterson encouraged students to “Do something different when putting a yearbook together so that it will be memorable.” He also explained how words have much more power when combined with visuals.

“I think that especially since my students are high school seniors they are at that point when they’re looking for the next step, so to come to a college campus like UNC Asheville and be able to see the interactions, and the different departments and be presented with opportunities is very beneficial,” said Williamson.