Tips From PR Professionals At Edelman (Chicago)

Garth Beyer

Don’t be afraid to stalk. (Find out who you can connect with in the agency you wish to join. Be where they are.)

Stay on trends. (This costs time and money, yea, but it’s always worth it.)

Schedule frequent events to be on. (Get used to always be focused, paying attention to detail, connecting, working, there is no off button.)

Learn fiction writing

Learn client speak

Organize everything and get it all done early. (Projects get reviewed constantly, you must always be prepared to divulge your plan and progress.)

A Look At What Lauren Fuhrmann Has To Say About Investigative Journalism

Garth Beyer

Lauren

Laren Fuhrmann, public engagement director and reporter for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism had a few golden nuggets of advice for people looking into becoming investigative journalists.

“You have to have the desire to know the story behind the story. To be guided by your curiosity.”

“You have to show the impact the issue has on people. ”

If you have the time to background people. Do it. You better make the time to background people.

“Get to love awkward silences because they will be the ones to fill it.”

“You can teach yourself a lot of the stuff if you have the drive and the time to mess around with it.”

Feeling Uncomfortable

Garth Beyer

The rarest question to ask that will conclude whether you are heading in the right direction or not is Does it make you uncomfortable?

On Michelle Welsch’s manual for daily adventure, number 49 of the 80 actions is to make yourself feel uncomfortable.

The funniest moments with friends is when someone is uncomfortable.

Quote the uncomfortable.

Stretching is uncomfortable but it allows you to reach further.

All great tasks feel uncomfortable at first.

 

Stay Positive & Uncomfortable. Duh.

Garth E. Beyer

The Not-So-Simple Simple Process Of Becoming An Expert

Garth Beyer

Step 0: Choose what you want to become an expert in.

Step 1: Learn about it to the point you don’t make mistakes.*
Step 2. Do things adequately.
STUCK
Step 3. Follow your intuition.

After step two is complete – you’re mediocre and work has become more a routine than anything – is when almost everyone gets stuck. They get comfortable with meeting standards and not pushing any buttons for improvement. But there is no art in doing something right. The art is in doing something better than it was done before. Art follows passion and passion follows intuition which hopefully you follow. That is how you become an expert.

* No. I hope it’s obvious that I don’t actually mean that you don’t make any mistakes at all. However, there is a point in every position of your career path where you make little to no mistakes. This point arrives when you learn nearly all you can.

 

Stay Positive & If You Stop Being Surprised At Work, You’re Stuck

Garth E. Beyer

Plan B, C, D, E, F, …

Garth Beyer

The only time you need a backup plan is when you know that you have a breaking point in Plan A that will make you stop working for it.

The moment you realize that you need a backup plan, you may want to reconsider even having plan A. If it’s not worth the fight, it’s not worth it at all.

 

Stay Positive & If There Is A Will, There Is A Way. Always.

Garth E. Beyer

Change Is Coming After You

Garth Beyer

People have a problem with making something good into something great. They get contempt with it being good so they never change their minds when offered a chance for improvement. That’s why so many people who want change, have to argue so much why the thing they want to change is bad as it is. When really they don’t think it’s bad, it’s merely standard. Standard is okay, but it could be better. Unfortunately, if you want change, you can’t admit that.

To persuade those to quit being contempt, you have to show them why something is bad. They can argue all they want that things can always be worse, but I say that things can also always be better. So how do you construct an argument for improvement? Simple.

What both parties can agree on is that change is constant and everything else in the world keeps changing, and you can’t hold on to being contempt with something because the laws of life don’t allow it. The time between you being content and the world forcing it to change is a waste of time. It’s a race for improvement, either you can lead it or the world around you will.
Tough choice.
Not so much.

 

Stay Positive & Keep Changing And Testing For Improvement

Garth E. Beyer