The document is a reflection paper by Sean McGowan about what he learned in the COMMS 485 program. It discusses three key points:
1) McGowan learned the importance of honesty, transparency, and effective PR in building public trust and image. He saw how PR shapes organizational reputation and response in times of crisis.
2) The program prepared him for his career and life by teaching relationship-building, storytelling, professionalism, and strategic thinking skills.
3) To continue improving, McGowan aims to stay updated on industry changes and social influences, and broaden his knowledge of the ever-changing world.
The document is a reflection paper by Sean McGowan about what he learned in the COMMS 485 program. It discusses three key points:
1) McGowan learned the importance of honesty, transparency, and effective PR in building public trust and image. He saw how PR shapes organizational reputation and response in times of crisis.
2) The program prepared him for his career and life by teaching relationship-building, storytelling, professionalism, and strategic thinking skills.
3) To continue improving, McGowan aims to stay updated on industry changes and social influences, and broaden his knowledge of the ever-changing world.
Original Description:
My thoughts on the BYU PR program and what it taught me.
The document is a reflection paper by Sean McGowan about what he learned in the COMMS 485 program. It discusses three key points:
1) McGowan learned the importance of honesty, transparency, and effective PR in building public trust and image. He saw how PR shapes organizational reputation and response in times of crisis.
2) The program prepared him for his career and life by teaching relationship-building, storytelling, professionalism, and strategic thinking skills.
3) To continue improving, McGowan aims to stay updated on industry changes and social influences, and broaden his knowledge of the ever-changing world.
The document is a reflection paper by Sean McGowan about what he learned in the COMMS 485 program. It discusses three key points:
1) McGowan learned the importance of honesty, transparency, and effective PR in building public trust and image. He saw how PR shapes organizational reputation and response in times of crisis.
2) The program prepared him for his career and life by teaching relationship-building, storytelling, professionalism, and strategic thinking skills.
3) To continue improving, McGowan aims to stay updated on industry changes and social influences, and broaden his knowledge of the ever-changing world.
Reflection Paper What I learned in the program This section could go on and on forever. First and foremost, I learned that honesty is always the answer, especially in public relations. You should never try to hide anything but should be transparent as an organization. I see the value and purpose of public relations in any organization and cant imagine trying to succeed without anyone doing PR. I hear about companies that cut their PR teamsthat just tells me they werent doing an effective job or providing value like PR professionals should. As PR pros, we are in charge of doing something that no other department, not even marketing, can do. Our efforts determine, for the most part, how our organizations and executives are viewed, accepted, and respectedor the opposite. Not only does PR maintain a good public image by getting the name of the organization out there by shedding good light on it, but its PR that gets lots of things done, keeps an organization together and unites team members across departments. We are the ones putting out fires when they ignite. Without good PR, no company can hope to grow and is always in jeopardy or danger in time of crisis. The program improved my writing skills and condensed my style. It taught me persuasion and credibility. It showed me the importance of being well-rounded in my skills and talents, to not only settle for certain abilities but to seek competitive advantage and constantly build my repertoire of assets. The matrix is one of the best things Ive ever learned as well. With that, there are so many things PR professionals can do. In my final semester or two in the program, I learned that public relations encompasses so many
things as an industry, and that I shouldnt think of it as a limiting template, but must take everything I know and think creatively outside the box.
How the program prepared me for career/life
The program instilled so many skills in me that will be such a huge part of my career, work life and personal life as well. I learned the importance of having welldeveloped relationships, both in the profession and in a networking sense. You never know when youll need to use a relationship, for work or for personal opportunities. Something that will really assist in PR and in almost everything Ill do is the ability to tell a story. Thats what PR is all about. How youll tell your publics the story they need to know, the value of stories as a main influence, the stories that youll tell your superiors when reporting job performance and success and so much moreall real situations Im sure to rely on the art of story-telling. The program taught me professionalism, accountability, respect, courtesy, timeliness, responsibility and diligent work ethic. It taught me to continue to learn and be knowledgeable in all things. The matrix thinking style is a logical process that I can use with any problem or opportunity I have. Ive already used it to think so many things through, analyzing the situation and coming up with a plan. Also, I know the importance of measuring results and evaluation.
How I can improve my learning
While Ive learned so much this last year or two, I recognize that I must continue to grow and progress with my skills and abilities in communications and PR. The industry and world will constantly be changing. Social media has completely redefined the way communications is handled and allowed more engagement between brands and their publics. Further advancements in the future will do the same. I must not only stay up
to date on things like that, but always be in the know with world conditions and vital knowledge of important or influential factors. Being well versed in the ways of everything in the world is something required of PR and communications professionals. We must know how to influence everyone and understand how the world works the way it does. This will be required of us if we hope to make a difference.
Suggestions for the program
Id love to add my two cents to make this program better in the future. My first bit of advice would be to not waste valuable time with certain tactic creation in 421. Making things like posters and flyers is a good skill to have, but thats what creative departments are for. I would feel so much more prepared if instead we had spent that precious time practicing our pitching, writing releases, managing crises situations, etc. I felt there was focus on the wrong things some of the time, which took away from what Im doing in my internships. It seems like most of what we were taught was crisis PR, and this has left me underprepared to do basic things like pitching, event management and social media engagement in my real-world responsibilities. There is so much more to PR than just handling crises. I would also recommend some type of synchronization between instructors. Im sure this is something the faculty is aware of, but students have a problem (and often argue) over what is the right way to do things. I recognize that its difficult to collaborate and that there is benefit from being taught things a few different ways, but it was tough to have teachers that stressed different things and taught things differently. Finally, I feel it would be a big benefit for classes within the program to work more directly with campus entities. It would be awesome (and probably easier) to better the institution we attend and care so much about.
