The first lesson of the conference was given by Timothy Howard on Emotional Intelligence and Public Relations. Howard is an Assistant Professor at California State University, Sacramento.
The following is a recap of the best quotes I’ve got and some of the thoughts that came to my mind during his speech:
As P.R. practitioners:
- “We help people who cannot speak for themselves & their companies.” Yes, we are the brains that help others achieve their goals. Isn’t that awesome?
- “We are the ambassadors of the company we represent.” Therefore, we need to practice ethical behavior because once we give up our values, our reputations as the ambassadors will be damaged, and that damage may exist forever.
- As ambassadors of the companies we represent. By company I mean, any personal or corporate brand you are representing, “We need to learn how to communicate with our audiences” to achieve our goal and objectives.
REMEMBER…
“Communication is the life blood of Public Relations.”
So, fellow P.R. students at Utah Valley University, we need to learn how to communicate but we also need to be ethical individuals.
The PRSA Code of Ethics should be read by all of us! Not only read, but also learned, and even more important, understood!
And remember, if the message you are delivering is not achieving your objectives, you will have to redesign your campaign and change your culture, but never be unethical!
