Public relations and strategic communication are offered in communication departments with a field of study largely geared toward professional communicators. The majors place a heavy emphasis on internships, which seem to be more competitive than ever. A class project can jumpstart students' preparation for entry-level positions in the industry by…

Audience analysis is essential for creating successful messages across communication fields. The audience persona is an effective tool for understanding the characteristics and needs of a target audience. Through this unit activity, students experience the process of persona development, build skills in data collection and analysis, and gain…

Course: This assignment is a unit activity designed for use in a skills-focused undergraduate public relations, organizational communication, or crisis communication course. Objective: The goal of this activity is to increase students' understanding and ability to apply message design concepts in an unfamiliar context. Students will work…

This article describes an activity in which students will understand, analyze, and apply the principles learned in the RACE process (research, action, communication, and evaluation). Students should have the ability to identify the four-step public relations planning process and ultimately create a public relations plan. This two-week activity is…

The purpose of this study was to revisit Coombs' suggestions for teaching the crisis communication course using service-learning as a framework. The author sought to assess the effectiveness of using this method in terms of the benefits to both students and the partnering organization and students' perceptions of whether they met the learning…

Creativity is the central source of meaning for humans and is inseparable from critical thinking. Creativity and critical thinking are required in the fields of communication, public relations, and advertising. Most college students know the "rules" of the "game" of schooling, but for the majority, creativity has been all but extinguished by the…

As public relations professions advance toward new media platforms, one traditional tool--the backgrounder/position paper (more technically termed white paper) remains a compelling vehicle to impart enduring professional competencies. Moreover, the skills requisite to produce a white paper can be deployed in a variety of new and traditional media…

This study assesses an assignment for incorporating diversity into the principles of public relations course. The assignment is tailored to the challenges of using an active learning approach in a large lecture class. For the assignment, students write a goal, objectives, strategies, an identification of tactics, and evaluation plans for either…

Today's communication and information environments create an immense amount of clutter for consumers, but a well crafted advertising campaign can differentiate an organization from its competitors. Persuasion in Advertising is a critical assignment where students apply Aristotle's and Cicero's persuasive techniques to a specific advertising…

Integrating "The West Wing" in public relations courses can effectively dramatize the concrete and abstract dimensions of public relations. In turn, students see public relations in action (albeit fictionally so) and learn much about it through structured lessons. From individual writing assignments about situations in "The West Wing," to the…