{"id":136559,"date":"2021-09-27T09:46:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T08:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=136559"},"modified":"2021-09-27T09:46:48","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T08:46:48","slug":"4-reasons-why-introverts-make-great-prs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/4-reasons-why-introverts-make-great-prs\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Reasons Why Introverts Make Great PRs"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post from Prezzybox<\/a> PR & marketing executive Alex Spencer.<\/em><\/p>\n

It can sometimes feel like the world of PR is reserved for the extroverted, that those who need time to recharge after social gatherings, events<\/a> or team meetings aren\u2019t best-suited to this competitive environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But while I had my reservations when I started my career in PR, as an introvert who much prefers a night in with a blanket, hot chocolate and Netflix binge to a night out, I quickly realised that the qualities I thought would hinder my progress can actually be huge assets.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s four important reasons why introverts can make wonderful PRs.<\/p>\n

1. Introverts are great reflectors<\/span><\/strong>
\nWhen starting out in PR, it can seem like charging ahead at full speed is the best way to get your clients or the brand you\u2019re working for noticed.<\/p>\n

But I quickly learned that this really isn\u2019t the case. At Prezzybox, we\u2019re big believers in not doing something just because we\u2019ve always done it. Instead, we slow down, taking the time to reflect on what\u2019s worked well in the past, what hasn\u2019t, and how we make things better.<\/p>\n

We used to send untargeted press releases to hundreds of journalists at a time, resulting in, unsurprisingly, little interest and lots of unsubscribers. We learned from our mistakes and now, we take a more methodical approach<\/a> to outreach.<\/p>\n

Reflecting is what introverts do best, and this is key to honing your communications strategy.<\/p>\n

2. Many journalists are introverts too\u2026 obviously<\/span><\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s not that I\u2019m completely against giving a journalist a call. In fact, I\u2019ve had some very productive conversations with journalists by phone, and some where we compare notes on our incredibly ungrateful cats.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s obvious that many journalists prefer to be contacted by email only, and that can be for myriad reasons. Of course, their day is jam-packed and an email usually fits in better with their hectic schedule than a call. But, like the rest of us, all journalists are different<\/a>. Some will love attending events, meeting PRs and the social side of their job. Others are pretty happy to communicate by email only, and need time, like I do, to spend time alone and recharge.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen many journalists request no calls on their profile because they don\u2019t like talking to people. And I don\u2019t think many of us would blame them.<\/p>\n

3. Introverts are great listeners<\/span><\/strong>
\nSocial listening<\/a> is key to the success of any communications strategy or PR campaign. And if introverts do anything well, it\u2019s letting others do the talking. Listening is especially important at events and whenever you\u2019re meeting journalists in person, like Prezzybox will be doing next at our first in-person event since January 2020. It can be incredibly tempting to use the short time you may have with them pitching your product, brand or campaign at full speed, with a few short breaths in-between your spiel to avoid collapsing in an exhausted heap on the floor.<\/p>\n

But while you certainly need to make the most of the time you have, communicating the salient points in a (hopefully) engaging way, being talked at isn\u2019t fun for anyone. Introverts are great at two-way communication, watching for subtle signs in body language and intonation that tell you when you need to slow down, pick up the pace, change topic or let the other person do the talking.<\/p>\n

It goes without saying that asking journalists what they\u2019re looking for is crucial, before you spend ten minutes pitching your health and wellness<\/a> brand to a finance journalist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. We think before we speak!<\/span><\/strong>
\nThey say all press is good press. But brand sentiment is a fragile thing, with one wrong move having the potential to push you off the top spot in minutes. It\u2019s wonderful to see so many brands disrupting the market with innovative campaigns, but these have to be well thought-out. Introverts are brilliant at thinking before making moves, and this is exactly what PRs should do in this fast-paced, competitive world.<\/p>\n

Thierry Alain, Head of Data Insights at Rise At Seven, shares some brilliant insights into brand sentiment and how quickly this can change over on Twitter<\/a>. It demonstrates the power of thinking before you speak. Burger King might have gone viral<\/a> with their \u2018Women belong in the kitchen\u2019 tweet, but it didn\u2019t quite have the effect they were hoping for.<\/p>\n

The Takeaway<\/span><\/strong>
\nPR is now much more suited to communicators on both sides of the introvert-extrovert spectrum, with the focus for many brands shifting to digital PR and building links. People from all walks of life, with different communication styles will love a career in PR, if they\u2019re tenacious, enthusiastic and, perhaps most importantly, resilient. We all know the knock-backs can be tough…<\/p>\n

And introverts can bring special qualities to the plate when it comes to getting amazing coverage. Our ability to reflect, to connect with others and think before we speak make us great communicators, and therefore, great PRs.<\/p>\n

Provided we\u2019re given plenty of time to recharge our batteries, that is. Cuddles with the office dogs<\/a> also help.<\/p>\n

For more on how to engage with journalists in ways they find useful, download our How to Pitch to Journalists white paper here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Want a more methodical approach to media outreach? Try the Vuelio Media Database<\/a>, which includes how journalists like to be contacted, the topics they cover and recent article information. Social listening part of your campaign planning? Try out Pulsar’s platform of products<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this guest post, Prezzybox PR and marketing executive Alex Spencer shares four reasons why introverts make such great PRs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":136571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7365,7238],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136559"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136559"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136574,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136559\/revisions\/136574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}