By Kaitlyn Baase
Molly Klimas, accredited public relations professional and professional adviser to Ferris State PRSSA, spoke to the group about her experiences working in the public relations field. The topic of her presentation was “A Day in the Life of a PR Pro.”
“We wanted to bring Molly as our first speaker of the year to help our new students get in touch on what a PR professional really does,” said PR senior Samantha Bankey, “Molly is our professional adviser, so it also gave all of us an opportunity to reconnect with her or meet her for the first time.”
Klimas is the owner of her own agency, IntentPR. She has worked with clients such as GRandJazzFest, American Seating, and Configura. Klimas is also a member of the West Michigan Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and served as the Accreditation chair from 2004-2008.
Molly gave a wonderful presentation about what to expect on a daily basis in the PR field. Here are some keynotes from Molly’s Presentation:
To start off her presentation, Molly walked around the room and personally greeted everybody in the audience. It made the atmosphere in the room very welcoming.
No two days are the same. If you really think about this, no two days are the same, especially in the public relations field. “Times have changed, but in many ways, things are the same [in public relations].” Public relations still involves the same tasks: writing, reading, and communicating. It is just updated.
The news is important. Everyday, Klimas makes sure she is reading a source of news. It helps her stay up to date with what’s happening in the world along with news that is directly affecting her clients. “Wall Street Journal is a great paper that is easy to get sucked in to,” Molly stated. If you don’t have a ton of time for the news, Klimas suggested using Twitter as a way to absorb nuggets of news.
You’ll listen a lot. “Listening is where it all beings in PR,” Klimas said. You need to listen to what your clients want and what they need. You need to be able to take their wants and needs and effectively share your clients’ story.
Writing is important. This is something most PR students learn from day one. Molly said that all of her projects involve writing. Some of the projects she has worked on are brochures, calendars, pitching stories, writing annual reports, and even writing scripts for videos.
Get your name out there! Molly suggested joining organizations that allow you to network, such as WICI and PRSA. When Molly began networking for herself, she found a mentor. “It was this mentor who hired me to do some reporting,” Molly said. From the interviews she did, Klimas threw her name out there and offered to help with anything extra. Of the 12 interviews she did, Klimas got six offers.
To wrap up the presentation, Klimas gave some really great advice:
-“If you get a chance to work as a journalist, take it. It opens your eyes to the reporters world.”
-“Keep up with your [PRSA] membership once you go out in the workforce.”
-“Try to develop a schedule that you can stick by with good habits”
-“A PR persons day doesn’t necessarily end at 5 p.m. every day.”
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