I Find Your PR Strong

By Sarah Heber

Saucony’s Vice President of Public Relations, Sharon Barbano, spoke with conference attendees about how to find their own strength within the field of PR. Thus, accurately naming her session #IFindYourPRStrong.

Saucony is a brand of athletic wear and is mainly recognized among runners for its quality for distance racing shoes.

Barbano shared seven principles to live by to find your own “PR Strong.”

1. Purpose
   

Barbano asked “are you leading your life or is your life leading you?” According to her, once you find your purpose, everything else will fall into place because our purpose is our personal brand.

1. Possibility
   

“Success and failure begin and end in what the mind believes is possible,” Barbano said. She explained how once we begin to do what is necessary, we then do what is possible and ultimately, we end up doing the impossible.

1. Presence
   

“If your presence doesn’t make an impact, then your absence doesn’t make a difference,” Barbano said. Presence is important for any brand and composure during bad moments is vital.

1. Planning
   

When it comes to planning, Barbano said it is about figuring out how to be first, best or different. When planning, it is important to take all factors into consideration and have backup plans if the first one doesn’t go as intended.

1. The B of the bang
   

This principle is about be ready right at the B of the bang; right away. Barbano said “during a crisis you will have to have communication teams ready and keep control of the message.”

1. Perseverance
   

Barbano said that perseverance is actually the combination of courage, initiative and integrity.  She asked, “where have you refused to quit and did you give yourself credit for that?” She also added that failure is to be appreciated as long as you come back stronger next time.

1. Passionate belief
   

“Nobody will remember what you told them, but everyone remembers how you made them feel, so as soon as your passionate beliefs go, so does your behavior,” Barbano said. She also noted that PR becomes void without your passionate belief because it brings everything to life.
Barbano ended her session with one quote that will stick with me for a long time: “Before you have anything else in PR, you have to have yourself.”

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