Gaining Experience at the Plaza Art Fair

 If you were anywhere near the Plaza Country Club shopping center this weekend you would have seen massive hordes of people and a ridiculous amount of dogs. The Plaza Art Fair, which hosted over 240 artists from around the country, was met with perfect weather last weekend. As a part of my public relations internship with Belger Art Center I was one of hundreds of volunteers.

Source: The Pitch

For small galleries and studios, like the one I intern with, this was an enormous public relations bonanza. Literally thousands of people were within our reach. That is if you knew how to hold their attention amongst the mayhem.

While the focus of communication in the classroom is mostly on the written word or a video to your website, speaking to actual people is a completely different game. Much like how on the internet you need to grab attention by being brief, people don't want to listen to a lecture.

These are my do's and don'ts for how to market your organization to real people:

DO: Be friendly.

Say hello and start the conversation. If they stopped they're obviously curious but it is your job to initiate the communication between you and them.

DON'T: Be in their face.

You know those people at the kiosks in the mall that are constantly trying to get you to try their product if you even glance in their direction? After being harassed you definitely don't want anything to do with whatever they are selling. So don't do that to others. If they aren't showing interest don't try and force them to look at your brochure you will only turn them off more.

DO: Have something planned to say.

Having an opening line like, "Hello have you heard about Belger Art Center before?" can help you get into a comfortable rhythm. Asking a question helps you open up a conversation and hopefully get more information out there.

DON'T: Sound scripted.

There is nothing conversational about reading off a paper or sounding like your reading out of your head. If you stumble then it's much more difficult to find your place and you won't sound like your confident in whatever yours saying.

DO: Know what your talking about.

Be prepared for questions! People are going to have them and you need to know at least the basics if not more. Memorize some fun facts to give people a unique perspective on your organization.

DON'T: Make something up.

If you don't know the answer to a question get someone who can answer. But never make something up or say that you just don't know. This will make you lose your credibility or sound like your untrustworthy. Try to find the answer and if you can't admit it.


Above all be CONFIDENT and you will find yourself talking about your organization with ease.

Media Lab

My finished product!


http://hayleykiah.podbean.com/mf/web/az3uzr/HayleyFinal_mixdown.mp3

How to create an effective audio recording.

"You can't create a miracle if it's just not recorded well." 

Dr. Youngblood's words couldn't be any truer when making an audio recording. While some of these tips may seem like common sense to people experienced in the world digital media for us beginners they can be useful facts.

Here are some of the top things to keep in mind during the actual recording:

1. Make sure your recording is clear. 

Enunciate all your words and speak slowly. Being familiar with your material will help you do this more easily. Underline words you want to emphasis. Sometimes when recording the narrator will speak to quickly and run words together. On a recording the clarity of your words becomes even more important because the listener only has your voice to listen to and nothing to see.

2. Sound natural


While enunciation and pronouncing words is essential, you can always have to much of a good thing. Over pronouncing words makes your voice seem robotic and emotionless. The listener won't want to hear something that doesn't sound comfortable or natural to them.

3. Do not read!


Nothing is worse than listening to someone read off a paper. Just like how a speaker will look up from their paper and make eye contact with their audience you need to make contact through your words. Try to make it sound conversational. Including pauses can make this happen. Marking out pauses on your script can make this easier to be able to visually see the break. Also do not forget to take breathes in between sentences. No one likes to here someone gasping for air noisily.

4. Practice makes perfect

The best thing you can do to create an effective audio recording is to practice your script. The more familiar you are with what you have to say the more comfortable you will sound saying it. Because it is a recording it should sound PERFECT. While this does seem like a daunting task its important since you have unlimited chances to do it over. There is no excuse for mistakes in a edited and rehearsed recording.

Editing:


Because getting the perfect recording in one try can be nearly impossible editing software is needed to make it as great as it can possibly be. But you don't have to be an expert or spend a lot of money on sophisticated software. Free programs like audacity work great for the average person.

Get the free download for audacity here.

Procrastination leads to a lot of frustration.

Don’t procrastinate. It’s a line we’ve all be told most of our educational careers. While most of us probably have ignored this advice and gotten away with it in the past, the importance of doing things in a timely manner becomes essentially as a communication student in college.

            As a project for my digital media class we were asked to film an “event” using a variety of shots and angles. The total time for the video was supposed to be between 60-90 seconds. Seems like this should take a total of 10 minutes to complete.

            I’m sure I wasn’t the only person to be wrong about this but boy was I ever. Instead of allowing myself the plenty of time for mistakes and redo’s I boxed myself into a very small area of time to complete my project.

            Working under pressure and time constraints can only create perfect work for experts. And an expert I definitely am not.

            If I had allowed myself more time to complete the project I think I could have made a video I could have been really proud of. Instead I turned out something mediocre that shows exactly how much effort I put into it.

            So the moral of the story is please, please don’t wait till the last second to finish your work. In the world of communications shooting video or interviewing for a story aren’t things you can do at 2 AM when you realized you still haven’t done it yet.

You can check out my project and tell me what you think!