Last week we participated in the March edition of the PR Student Chat that we sponsor every month along with Deirdre Breakenridge on Twitter.
This month’s was particularly fun as the guest of honor was Spin Sucks very own Martin Waxman.
Even better was that he brought along his Seneca College social media class to participate.
Martin started working at Spin Sucks the same day as me, so you can say we drank from the firehose together.
It’s been a great experience and (in my opinion), we get along just swimmingly.
Martin has lots of knowledge to offer about all things public relations and communications.
Now that we could ask him anything, we decided the topic should focus on PR curriculum (since he’s also a PR and social media instructor)—what should stay, what should go, and yes, how AI even fits into it all.
This #PRStudChat was easily one of our most entertaining, and I feel like it’s safe to say everyone had a blast.
Without further ado, let’s recap, shall we?
Changing Trends in Communications
We started off with a fairly standard, but important, question.
Q1. What one word would you use to describe the state of the current PR/communications curriculum and why? #PRStudChat
— PR Student Chat (@PRStudChat) March 21, 2019
I wasn’t all that surprised when almost everyone’s answer was the same.
A1. Changing. Students need to learn the basics and all sorts of new skills including multimedia storytelling, and and predictive analytics…And where #AI will fit into what we do #PRStudChat #SenecaMedia
— Martin Waxman (@martinwaxman) March 21, 2019
A.1 Evolving: the profession is accepting that technology is here to stay and now teaching students how to better incorporate it into every class. #PRStudChat
— Royston Singh (@RoyStillSinghs) March 21, 2019
A1: Evolving. Old perspectives need constant change and updates to stay current with the state of affairs! #PRStudChat pic.twitter.com/Nz8l4TlhNY
— Khaleed Najak (@KhaleedNajak) March 21, 2019
(Everybody’s gif game was on point during this chat, by the way.)
A1: Ever-changing. In 2019, there are constantly new opinions, beliefs and technologies PR professionals have to appeal to. #PRStudChat
— Arian Hill (@_arianhill) March 21, 2019
Next up, we touched on the different skills we consider essential to communications and public relations professionals.
The Essentials
Q5. What are the key skills communicators should have and where are they learning these skills? #PRStudChat
— PR Student Chat (@PRStudChat) March 21, 2019
There was some variety here.
A5: Writing, again. Such an important skill to have as an effective communicator. But effective communicators should also possess good judgement and tact, which are a bit harder to learn in a formal setting. #PRStudChat #SenecaMedia
— Emily Magri (@em_magri) March 21, 2019
It made my heart happy to see that writing was at the top of several people’s lists.
Valerie Simon made some great points as well.
While key skills such as writing and building relationships are essential, core competencies such good judgement and leadership ultimately distinguish those who succeed. Study leaders and identify role models #PRStudChat
— Valerie Merahn Simon (@ValerieSimon) March 21, 2019
A5. I think writing and networking are two essential skills, Writing is something that you learn and you improve on in school and networking you learn by putting yourself out there and accepting that people will tell you no #prstudchat
— Ragan Young (@raganyoung1121) March 21, 2019
A5. Yes – both great points. And networking is really relationship-building which is the heart of #PR #PRStudChat https://t.co/lYjMe4DlQc
— Martin Waxman (@martinwaxman) March 21, 2019
And because it’s Martin, we couldn’t help but tie in the topic of AI.
AI’s Place in PR Curriculum
Q8. What do communicators need to know when it comes to AI? #PRStudChat
— PR Student Chat (@PRStudChat) March 21, 2019
A8: Communicators need to remember their value as sentient beings as well as being conscious of what can and will become automated in the near and distant futures.#PRStudChat #SenecaMedia pic.twitter.com/odBEel9BOJ
— Emily Magri (@em_magri) March 21, 2019
(Told you guys their gif game was good!)
Q8. Everything we can figure out. #PRStudChat pic.twitter.com/m8dLMJGjVE
— Khaleed Najak (@KhaleedNajak) March 21, 2019
Wrapping Up
And while I could post the answer to every single question, it would make for too long of a read.
There were 363 tweets in all for this session and we were even trending in Canada!
That’s a big deal!
If you want to read the entire #PRStudChat about the changing landscape of PR curriculum, I’ll link to it here.
In the mean time, take a look at the questions and add some of your own answers in the comments.
We’d love to hear your thoughts!