Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

vinced,

Dedicate a small portion of your class time (15 minutes) to wild and crazy Ad and PR examples, preferably in the end of the class.

Allow students to find and bring in these examples. I have had the best luck with having them find internet based examples of commercials or PR campaigns.

There are so many examples, especially European commercials, that it should not be a difficult task to find some. In fact, you will have a more difficult time keeping this to 15 minutes. They will have a blast.

Hope that helps.

Hi Vince,

Hopefully you have Internet access with an LCD projector and if so you could spend 15 minutes (maybe even twice a night, one right before/after the first break and one just before class ends) or so right here at the Know-How Exchange.

1) Before class pick out a couple of relevant questions here in the Advertising/PR category and see what answers/solutions they can develop, either individually or as teams or both.

Then you can measure their advice against that given by the contributors here.

#2) Pick out a couple of questions before class and discuss the answers given by the forum members, and see whether they agree/disagree or how they can further build on them.

Either way they will be presented with real-world problems for which they will have to get involved with real-world solutions.

Exercises like this are both fun and rewarding.

I hope that helps!

Hi Vince

I admire the drive that takes a student into a class after a long day at work and the dedication of a tutor whose working day has probably been just as arduous.

I can think of two methods I have used to keep their attention and attendance right up to the end (There is a third one which we used to deploy at in house sales training sessions held off-site in a local hotel, but that involved starting the traditional after-lessons drinks 30 minutes early in the class room with a relaxed “brain storming” session on a topic chosen by the group at the beginning of the evening tutorial. Inappropriate, I think as most students will probably need to drive home!)

Firstly, I got all the students to select a short discussion topic which was relevant to their current job – preferably one where the answers were needed in the next few days. One topic would be chosen at random from a hat.

At around 9.00pm I would get everyone to gather round the provider of the topic as in a discussion group (semi-circle is best, if you can manage it) and, chaired by the tutor, make a 2 or 3 minute presentation of their ideas and solutions, preferably with a few key points being put up on a flip chart, white board or interactive display screen. I would write out the contributions so the students could concentrate on delivery – unless they wanted to draw a graph or a diagram.

The key was for there to be minimal preparation. The student providing the question benefits from the suggestions, everyone else benefits from having to think on their feet and deliver their ideas live to an audience.

At the end, the provider of the question would have to summarise the advice received and state how they might put some of the ideas into practice.

The second is to offer some form of light refreshment (snacks and non-alcoholic beverages) at about 9.00 whilst changing the lesson format from formal with note taking to informal and interactive. I’ve even combined this with the first idea with the result that the session nearly always ran over time!

The third idea which I had to exclude on health and safety grounds was often very productive, as students relaxed a little and contributed more freely (Without getting zonked!) Some of the most interesting ideas came out when people’s inhibitions were down and the non-drinkers (like me) enjoyed the informal atmosphere as much as those who were looking forward to a beer or two.

Good luck, and do you think that you could export a little of your enthusiasm and work ethic to the UK?!

Steve Alker
Unimax Solutions

A twist on what has been already mentioned is to bring in some of your own earliest works. You don't have to tell them whose it is, but it might be fun to force them to use their critical skills.

It'll also be fun because you can easily give background information on the work.

You'd also be surprised at how students are interested in story telling. Tell them stories of what you encountered early on.

Even better, think of a product that's dead-and-gone. Have them brainstorm ways to bring it back from the dead. Ex: How would you revive the Commador 64 computer?

Micheal