2012 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

webinars that will be used in one of the operations classes. (Online tutorials are also offered
through this partnership.) Several guest speakers and a tour of an agency round out the course
every semester. In their post-semester evaluations, students have reported that guest speakers are
invaluable part of the course.
Instructional approaches
This class is the only time during the week when all the agency‘s students are at the agency at
the same time, so we use the first five minutes of class for announcements and to address
important issues affecting the entire team. To ensure relevance, I try to find ways to relate class
topics to the students‘ work in Roxo for our clients. For example, in a lesson on estimates,
contracts and proposals, we will review the contract for Roxo‘s services from Community
Council of Greater Dallas.
Role-play and group exercises make for a dynamic learning environment in the agency
operations class. Realistic agency scenarios are acted out to help the students learn the dynamics
of the business.
In one lesson we discuss the importance of asking the right questions in the first client meeting.
There is an art to this meeting, a balancing act between courting the client and gathering enough
intelligence to be able to follow up with an estimate or proposal. The task seems obvious and
easy until the role-playing begins. I pretend to be the client, the owner of new gelato shop near
campus, and the students pretend to be the agency‘s account executive, public relations manager
and digital specialist. We sit face-to-face in front of the class. As the client, I introduce myself
and the business and meander off topic (this happens a lot in agencies), describe an unrealistic
timeframe (also typical), and dream out loud about the line of customers who will be lined up
around the block the day the shop opens. Very quickly, the students learn how challenging it can
be to gather essential, concrete information about a client‘s organization, goals and objectives,
timeframe, and budget in a 30-45 minute time frame.
After this role-playing is complete, we reflect on what was learned, and I ask the class to define
out loud some goals for the client project. Then we brainstorm measurable objectives. The
students are then divided into teams by specialty area, such as digital, public relations, creative
and media buying. For homework and during the next class, they are asked to develop an
estimate of the time it will take to do the work required to achieve the objectives. We review the
individual estimates, then combine them into one master estimate for the client during class.
Students learn how important it is to communicate between PR, digital, and creative to ensure
that their combined estimates do not exceed the overall budget.
In the agency world, client presentations happen on a daily, even hourly basis. Students perform
at least two team presentations during the semester to show their learning and insights and also to
refine their presentation skills. It takes practice to hone the ability to speak with confidence
before an audience, and to put together compelling visual presentations that reinforce and
amplify what is being said. Students learn to pay attention to their body language during
presentations. They learn to use appropriate tone of voice, hand gestures and eye contact, and to
readily share the spotlight with their teammates. They also learn the art of creating a PowerPoint
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