You’ve finished university – now what? You didn’t follow my guide to paying for college and are jobless. Do you want to find a great career? Consider public relations (PR) if you love writing, pies and Suits.
Your Harvey-binging on Netflix isn’t lazy – it’s educational. Something you’ll learn about PR writing: If you don’t summarize it, someone else will. Here are five important #humberPR lessons summarized by Suits.
Harvey Specter
Being successful like Harvey means building relationships through feedback. That’s important with clients, journalists and publics; keep a two-way feedback communication model. Harvey prefers asymmetrical communication but symmetrical communication when delicate situations arise.
Harvey is a strategic communications master. Every objective is ‘SMART’ if you’re Harvey.
Donna Paulsen
Donna should be in crisis management given how many problems she’s diffused. She takes care of whatever keeps Harvey and Jessica (her C-suite) awake at night. PR pros need to know everything; their client’s reputation depends on it. Donna’s savvy is what takes PR from a messaging function to a management function.
Mike Ross (Yes, I met Patrick Adams!)
Mike’s lie about going to law school would be unacceptable in the PR world. Don’t lie to journalists about your company’s indiscretions. There’s no faster way to tank your company’s reputation and lose credibility.
However, Mike always cares about his clients. A PR pro needs to treat every client like Mike treated Gabby Stone.
Jessica Pearson
PR practitioners are accurate writers. They need to edit every piece of work they produce; nothing’s worse than a spelling mistake or punctuation error. Jessica can’t afford errors in the work her lawyers write and neither can PR practitioners.
Louis Litt
Don’t be like Louis. He feuds with every character on the show, damages relationships and backstabs his peers. Show journalists, clients and everyone else the respect they deserve.
PR students, you may not watch Suits but hopefully these quotes are relatable. Tweet at me (@PGBBlog) your favourite TV character and quote. I’ll reply with a PR lesson learned at #humberPR!
