The world is a buzz talking about Britain’s Got Talent’s unexpected ‘diva,’ Susan Doyle. She has become such an internet hit that Hollywood star Demi Moore has been Twittering about her.

The incredible clip of her wowing a cynical audience and skeptical judging panel received astronomical hits on Youtube- a whopping 50 million views and counting by this morning. Doyle has not only been featured all over the UK press, but is causing international interest, particularly in the US- Oprah Winfrey has invited her to appear on her show. Yesterday, PR Week reported that Doyle hired DADA PR to handle the media frenzy.

Doyle gives new meaning to the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’ So does image really matter?  In my opinion- yes- in varying degrees. One may claim that it’s superficial and shallow, but let’s face it: humans are very visual beings. That’s the reason why the audience was so unreceptive to Doyle when she walked on stage. But her raw talent and down to earth, lovable personality won her a huge fan base- she created her own image and made a great first impression. So it does go beyond looks…

In the business world, if you walk in the door and don’t look your best, your client may not get past that, no matter how great your presentation is. Making a good first impression definitely gets your foot in the door. In the public relations industry, where one acts as a representative of a company or individual, image can not be stressed enough. Numerous companies have cropped up that help executives shape their image.  However, a line should be drawn- when the pursuit of a ‘perfect’ image becomes a detrimental obsession, something needs to give. The key to a healthy outlook is – confidence. It’s surprising how many people take it for granted. Without sounding like a self help article, without confidence you won’t be able to be an effective communicator. Again, another line must be drawn- there is a thin line between confidence and arrogance, so watch it. Here are a few tips on confidence from the Flacker PR blog:

- You have to always be “on.” You must always be ready to sell a client or the company you work for to a  key public or journalist. Anyone with a few months of PR experience has had that call from a journalist when you least expect it. If you’re confident, you can often seal the deal on a key mention or story.

- We have to be able to bounce back. PR pros get rejected a lot. Even worse we get ignored. It’s like the worst nightmare of every adolescent boy at his first school dance. If we don’t believe in ourselves and the companies we represent, we are dead in the water before we even start.

- We take a lot of risks. If you think about it, a journalist who passes on a story will likely find another story and not think twice about ignoring your e-mail or rejecting your phone pitch. I can’t think of a time when a reporter called after rejecting an idea and said, “I wish I would have written about that.”

However, young PR pros are often perceived as arrogant, rather than confident because of their lack of experience.

While not completely avoidable, there are a few strategies to combat being perceived as arrogant:

- Ask Elders Questions. A good way to show humility is to ask questions. Even if you think you know the answer, asking elders will show them that you don’t think you know everything.

- Point out Tips. After you’ve gotten some advice from elders, remember to point out their advice when you use it and it works. For example, “Thanks John for those tips last week. When I was reaching out to that blogger I told you about, I framed that story idea like you suggested and it worked. Thanks for the help.” You did a good job for the client, the person that gave you the advice feels respected and you don’t look arrogant.

- Pay Attention. You should attend every professional development session, take notes when others are giving advice and ask for opportunities to observe others doing their work. Ask to sit-in when a senior account team member is pitching media or sit-in on a planning meeting, even if it is after normal work hours.

After my recent posts on the atrocious ‘R’ word..I thought all my readers could use some laughs.

April Fools Day has always provided a license to the media to print and broadcast bizarre and fanciful tales.  From television revealing that spaghetti grows on trees, to advertisements for the left-handed burger, the tradition of April Fool’s Day stories in the media has a weird and wacky history.

This year more than ever social media has followed in the footsteps of its conventional cousin. Here are some of the best..

Youtube’s ‘Country Filter’ has resulted in UK viewers getting Australian settings all videos they view, resulting in inversion of clips and text.

GMail has introduced an autoresponder that reads and responds to your e-mail so you don’t have to.  The problems kick in when two parties both turn it on “two Gmail accounts can happily converse with each other for up to three messages each. Beyond that, our experiments have shown a significant decline in the quality ranking of Autopilot’s responses.”

Labour MP Tom Harris backs a blogging counter terrorism bill “from April 2010, every British blogger will have to submit each post for official approval”.

The Guardian will publish its content exclusively on twitter consigning the print editions to the footnotes of history.   The Guardian and Twitter will also launch Gutter, a service designed to “filter noteworthy liberal opinion from the cacophony of Twitter updates”.

….Oh and the entire internet is being rebooted.

Press F13 on your keyboard to access a complete list of the best social web April Fools pranks

Two mentions of the dreaded ‘R’ word two posts in a row? I know, its practically a curse word but I feel that this topic requires a lot more space on this blog as it is obviously a huge concern for everyone at  large, but more so for the soon-to-be-graduates and job seekers reading this.

Economists predict that this coming year will be tougher than the last for this economy and others such as Australia. There has been debate about whether the vast Down Under has been affected. If the turn out at this weekend’s Ausi expo is anything to go by, many are contemplating fleeing southwards in search of greener pastures (or at least less arid ones). I say, fear not, for the key to survival is determination, being smart, creative and brave.

The job market doesn’t seem very welcoming for fresh grads as unemployment numbers soar. However, many of the agency cutbacks in the PR and marketing industry are higher up the corporate ladder. Having learned from past economic slumps, companies have not halted graduate recruitment, as they realize this will only create a talent/ human resource gap in the future. So don’t bid your ambitions farewell just yet.

Another silver lining in the financial dark cloud is the rapid growth of the digital industry. The government has plans to pump investment into the industry, which ensures that it shall continue to thrive. That ties in with the immense impact social marketing is having on the media landscape. Going digital is clearly the way to make it through the current fiscal droop.

If that doesn’t put a smile on your face, how about this- as Harvard Business School Professor John A. Quelch noted recently:

“It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share, and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.”

This rationale applies equally well to PR and money strategically spent on PR can have the result Quelch notes above. Your clients and potential clients still have their needs and will be looking to fulfil them. Maybe with a lesser budget, but they are still out there looking. This is a clear indication that PR is not perceived as a luxury in times like these. We just have to be more creative about how we go about it.

I thought a great way to kick off the launch of my very own blog would be to answer some ongoing questions.

Recently, some of my ‘Science-y’ friends (we are a huge pack of nerds ) have been asking me what it really takes to be in the PR business. Is a degree really necessary? Does one have to have certain character traits? Is it really that difficult to run a campaign? Is it more difficult that designing a machine that refines crude oil or performing surgery? The prehistoric argument pitting science against the arts; it would take many other blog entries to really do justice to that long winded discussion.

Within the wide field of communications, there are ongoing debates about the real definition of PR, especially in light of marketing. Whether PR is defined as a discipline in its own right, or simply a marketing function is yet to be established by PR and marketing practitioners. I wonder whether a consensus is even possible. For now though, I will focus on PR as it is practiced in most consultancies.

A good place to start would be with a definition. What is PR? PR is defined by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations as “the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour.” Essentially, it is the presentation of information about an organisation or individual to the outside world – to the media, and the public.

The theory of PR, keeping a good reputation, is simple. The realities are often more challenging as companies are rarely blessed with an ideal public profile at all times, and, at worst, can face an uphill struggle to change a strongly negative opinion into a positive one.

To be successful in PR, you need a wide range of at-times contrasting skills. I degree is not necessary, but it is advisable. Perhaps the most essential ability one must have is that of effective communication, for liaising with colleagues and clients. You need good organizational and administrative skills, as PR campaigns are often layered, multi-faceted and complex, and involve significant amounts of administration.

Creativity is a must, whether you are devising a stunt to raise awareness of a product, or writing copy for a press release, to take two instances.

In addition to all this, working in PR is often quite demanding, especially when an event or a launch is coming up. You’ll need to be able to cope with and perform under this kind of pressure – and be willing to work long hours at times.

To add on to that, people working in PR have to be a jack of all (relevant) trades. They need to be able to assimilate a suite of information relevant to the sector they work in. For example somebody working in investment PR will need a grasp of basic financial concepts but more importantly of different firms’ positions in the marketplace, and their images in the eyes of customers, competitors, shareholders, the media and the public at large.

As well as the challenging aspects noted above (and because of them), the rewards in PR, if a campaign goes well and your client receives great media coverage and is over the moon, make this a highly satisfying career!

Clearly, PR practitioners tackle a wide range of tasks and clients. In a nutshell, PR IS RARELY EVER DULL!!!