PUBLIC RELATIONS HANDBOOK your guide to everything PR version 1.0
njkeyclub.org 1
the pr handbook
Table of Contents Writing and Speaking Professionally Public Speaking E-mail With Gmail Dressing for Success Contacting Newspapers Writing that Sells Graphic Standards Newsletters that Pop Media Communication (Facebook) Media Communication (Twitter) Creating Flyers Mass Texting Adobe InDesign 101 Publishing with Publisher Creating an Effective Website Get Attention! Attracting Members Snap! Photography Tips and Tricks the pr handbook
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Writing and Speaking Professionally Professionalism is very important when addressing others, especially adults. Fancy language and vocabulary are not necessary; however, direct, yet polite, approach and tone are. Here are some tips on writing professionally: •
With Everyone o Do not use “text language”/abbreviations (i.e. lol, btw, fyi) § Use proper grammar and punctuation! o Do not use the abbreviations “ASAP.” Be softer and write out “As soon as possible” § “Please send the file ASAP!” vs “Please send the file as soon as possible!” See the difference? o Always ask yourself “How would I feel if I received this email? Is this email clear and direct? Is the email kindly worded?” Put yourself in the position of the recipient. o Make sure your emails/letters are thorough and accurate. Do not put misleading information. If you are unsure of something, do not add it into your message until you are positive that it is correct. o Break up your main points into paragraphs. o Formally end your messages (“Sincerely,”). o Proof-read.
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Emailing Adults o Do not greet an adult with “Hey.” “Hello” is fine.
o Be respectful! Even if you are in a disagreement with an adult, remember to be kind and be aware of your tone. Remember that you are not writing a novel! Make sure that you are clear and to-the-point. Do not “beat around the bush,” and keep your messages short but informative. Be sure to include contact information for whomever you are messaging in case he or she has questions, and respond to any questions in a timely manner. It is very important to be polite and courteous while contacting others. Plan what you are going to say, ask, and discuss. Here are some tips for you to use when talking to someone on the phone. •
Introduce yourself o If you are talking to the person on the other line for the very first time, introduce yourself. Say your name, position, and the reason for your call.
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Be prepared o Know what you are going to say.Take notes before, during, and after your conversation.
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Be clear and be cautious of your tone o Have a clear tone and do not rush. o Sound cheerful. Do not sound like you are unhappy to be speaking to them. o Use your “inside voice.” Do not shout, but do not whisper.
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Do not eat or drink while on the phone
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Do not use slang or poor language. the pr handbook
Public Speaking One of the most important qualities as a leader is being able to speak in front of people. While it may seem intimidating to get up in front of a crowd and speak, it really isn’t hard at all. In the realm of public speaking, confidence is key. Here are a few tips on how to be a better public speaker. Appearance You should look neat.It’s not necessary to be dressed in business professional, but stay away from ripped jeans, low cut tops, and other clothes that show too much skin. You need to seem like you are in charge, so dressing up a little more than your audience can give a better impression. For more information on presenting yourself appropriately, see page 6. Volume When speaking, you want to be medium-loud. That means a louder than you would talk to someone in front of you, but quieter than screaming to someone 30 feet away. A good example of how loud you should be is think about how how teachers lecture. That volume is just enough for the people in the back of the classroom to hear, but not so loud that the people in front have to cover their ears. Eye Contact You want to maintain eye contact with everyone in the room. Break the room into four sections (front left, front right, back left, back right), and shift your focus from one section to the other every few seconds. Obviously, use your best judgment of when to change your point of focus. Movement A great way to seem more comfortable than you actually are is to walk across the room. Casually walk from the middle to the left then across the room. Do not walk quickly, but not too slowly either. Some people also prefer to walk between the left, middle, and right of the room, but to stay there and talk after each movement. By this, I mean to speak for a minute, move to a new location, then stay there and keep talking for another minute before moving again. Diction and Intonation Your choice of words is extremely important because when you talk slang, people tend to not take you as seriously. A good way to think about public speaking is speaking the way you would write an essay for school. As for intonation, do not be droning. Keep the speech pure to what you are trying to say, and do not repeat anything. Talking to Peers When talking to peers, you should use a conciliatory tone of voice and words. By that, I mean instead of talking down to members by telling them they should be doing something, you suggest them instead. However, to your peers, you can occasionally ask them to do something. Talking to Adults When talking to adults, never tell them they should do something. You should suggest things like how you would to a peer, except extremely politely by saying things like “if you don’t mind…” Also, sometimes slang might slip out when talking to someone your age, but remember Kiwanis members are not fluent in cell phone abbreviations and will just be confused Speed When speaking, it is important to go slowly. The information you are saying is most likely new to the audience, so they need time to process. A good way to think about it is to speak at a slow conversational pace while talking, then take a one or two second pause between topics. However, be careful to not go too slow either, because people will get bored.
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E-mail with Gmail Gmail is an extremely useful email tool. Not only does it allow you to use Google forms to create rosters and excel spreadsheets, it also allows your to keep track of long conversations easily. Also with Gmail, you are able to attach pictures in your emails which will make publicity of events easier. E-mail name When creating your gmail account you want to make sure email address is under a professional name. For example, if your name is Jane Smith, your email should be something along the lines of jane.smith@gmail.com or Jsmith@gmail.com, NOT x0x00babyqurl2100@ gmail.com. In addition, when entering you name to sign up for your account, put your legal name. For example, you want to put Jane Smith, not Jane-izzle Homeslice. Signature Your emails should also include a signature to maintain a sense of professionalism. You should also put a signature to make sure your recipient knows who is sending the email. Your signature should include your name, position (if you hold one), address, home phone, cell phone, and email address. This way your recipient knows who is sending the email and also has many ways to get in contact with you. Signature A great tool that comes with Gmail is the Google Documents feature. Google docs enables multiple people from many different locations to collaborate simultaneously on the same document from any computer. It allows people to share the document with others and edit the document with each other. To create a google document, you have to go to the document tab at the top of the gmail screen. Then, on the top left click Create new, and click document. Now you can create your document here. In order to share it with others who can edit and view it there is an option on the top of the screen that reads Private to only me. If you click on that option you can add people who will now be able to view and edit your document. Google docs will also tell you who else is viewing your document and allows you to have discussions with others viewing the document while you are editing it. All in all, Gmail has many features that will be useful for your professional needs as well as to ease communication between you and others. If you want more information on Gmail you can always use Google to search for something and find more tutorials. Good luck with using Gmail!
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Dressing for Success So tomorrow is a Key Club convention or member induction ceremony, and you have no idea what to wear. Do you just wait until tomorrow morning and throw on the nearest sweatpants and t-shirt? Wrong. No matter what occasion it is, dressing appropriately is always necessary. To portray a professional image, you must dress accordingly and in a way that presents yourself in a positive light. But first, why is it important to dress nicely? I mean, after all, people only judge you based on your personality right? Wrong. While your attire does only play a supporting role, what you wear can either give you a little push in the right direction, or make someone remember you for all the wrong reasons. The appropriate attire enhances your image as a person who treats the occasion with respect. Your clothes should be appropriate and well-fitted, but it should not take the center stage. Dressing nicely not only represents who you are as a person, but it shows respect to the person you are meeting. Let’s talk about the ladies. Girls, keep in mind: never reveal too much if you want to seem professional. If the jewelry’s too gaudy, the skirt’s too short, or the heels are too high, don’t wear them; you are not going clubbing! •
Business Professional o Suits in black, navy, tan, gray, or taupe o Calf-length skirts
o Long-sleeve classic shirts o Blouses
§ Solid colors § Cream, white, pastels •
Business Casual o Navy/black blazer and coordinating skirt o Cardigan sweaters
o Light-colored jackets with darker blouses o Plain, white, cream, or pastel blouses
§ Nothing sheer, be conservative o Pantsuits and trousers
o Basic skirts in khaki, navy, or black § Length should not be above the knee § Remember to wear hosiery during the colder months o Twill pants in black, navy, or khaki •
Jewelry o Simplicity is key
o Have a classic-style watch with a black, gold, or silver band o Don’t wear jewelry that is too distracting or too large
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Dressing for Success •
Shoes o Classics pumps or flats § Black, navy, taupe, burgundy o Recommended: 1 ½ - 2 inch heels
Guys, it’s the same for you. Stay well-kept, and don’t stray too much from what is traditional. •
Business Professional o Suits (take to the tailor if necessary) o Dress shirt
§ Not a polo nor a more casual oxford shirt with a button-down collar § Show a little cuff past the sleeves § Keep strips of plastic found in your collar in their place. They are known as collar stays and help give your collar shape. o Tie (know how to tie it!) o Dress shoes
o Dress Socks •
Business Casual o Khakis or trousers
o Button-up or polo shirt tucked in o No sneakers or jeans •
Grooming o Shave!
o Don’t let your hair grow past your collar o Avoid wearing too much cologne
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Contacting Newspapers Most newspapers have a free publicity section for non-profit organizations. Contacting these newspapers can be a great way to extend membership in your club and publicize an open event to the community. A few things to keep in mind are: •
Call frequently to remind the newspaper to publish your article (mention that it is your duty to publicize your event or club)
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Make regular reminders a few days before your article is scheduled to be published to ensure everything is correct and running smoothly
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Get into regular contact with the person in charge of community event articles
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Be friendly, but professional
Here is a mock call script that could be used when contacting a newspaper: CLAIRE (The Key Clubber): (Politely) Hello Mr. Fisher I’m calling to see if I can publish an article in your newspaper. MR. FISHER (The Newspaper Guy): Well, what kind of article are you looking to publish? CLAIRE: An article to publicize a service event called (insert event name here) with Key Club International, which is a non-profit service organization run by high school students. FISHER: Okay, our newspapers are printed every Sunday so you will need to email me your article by Thursday each week you would like it to be published. • Press
CLAIRE: Well where exactly will the article be published, and will it be in the newspaper each week I want or does it need to make a cut? FISHER: Well, since it would be a non profit organization, we have an event calendar and a page open for articles like your own. It would make every paper that you wrote an article, but I would suggest writing a different article for each paper or just coming up with an advertisement. Also if you email me any upcoming events that would be great and I could add that in. My email is (insert email here). CLAIRE: Okay, thank you for your help, and I will email email you my article as soon as I can. My email is (insert email here). FISHER: Okay, goodbye.
Releases
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Press releases are used as a standard explanation of an event or something newsworthy to be used in the media for Public Relation purposes
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They also take away the need to sit down and write something every time someone asks you what event is coming up next
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They can be distributed to multiple newspapers or publications so you won’t have to write a different article for each paper
Below is an example of a Press Release for publicizing Key Club to the community and attracting new members: Key Club International is the oldest and largest non profit student led service organization. We have over 300,000 members worldwide and about 12,000 just in New Jersey! Key Club prides itself on the quality and quantity of service and fundraising projects throughout the state. Our goals are to teach leadership, build character, and practice inclusiveness all while providing service to others! To learn more, find a club near you, or start your own club contact (insert name here) at (insert contact information here)!
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Writing That Sells In many situations, you’ll have to sell something. It can be membership to incoming freshmen, your fundraising cause to a potential donor, or even an event like Fall Rally or District Convention to your members. Here are some tips for writing and speaking to effectively sell what you have. We’ll use recruiting new members as an example situation.
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Know your consumers’ main concerns and their values. If you know that many Key Clubbers join for leadership and community service opportunities, talk about how many projects you plan per month or how many leadership positions are available in your club. If you want to appeal to members who want something impressive on their college applications, mention what colleges past members are attending.
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Stress benefits, not features. For example, instead of just saying that your club schedules multiple service projects per week, also mention that your club always has something to do for every member. Also, ask yourself, Which features haven’t been stressed by similar competitors? For example, why should someone join your club over another?
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Narrow your focus/audience. It makes your message stronger. Instead of trying to attract new members from every grade, try targeting just incoming freshmen.
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Use descriptive adjectives. Instead of talking about making memories and meeting friends through Key Club, talk about how some of your favorite memories come from Key club and how this club has introduced you to your best friends and other likeminded people.
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Use a conversational tone. Avoid jargon. Address the reader in the second-person “you.” At introductory information meetings, instead of saying, “We’re looking for new members who truly want to be involved and active,” reword it to, “If you want to be involved and active, then we’re looking for members like you.” To check if your tone is conversational, check to see if you’d use those words when speaking with a friend.
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Establish credibility. Inserting facts makes you seem knowledgeable. Know details like how many members your club has had, what awards you have won at District Convention, how much money you’ve raised through your largest fundraiser. Testimonials and first-hand accounts of experiences are good ways to show proof of what you’re selling.
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Close with a call to action. Remove any risk from asking for more information. Inject a time element to add immediacy. “Our officers are passing out membership forms. Bring yours back at the end of the period and feel free to ask any of our officers questions about Key Club.” Have your officers go around and ask potential new members if they have any questions. They probably do, but are too shy to ask and don’t want to risk feeling embarrassed.
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Graphic Standards Key Club Graphic Standards are rules for how you design and lay out Key Club-related publications. These include your newsletters, press releases, business letters, etc. Many members complain that Graphic Standards are too much a pain to follow. But really, the rules are simple, and having them adds uniformity and a professional look to your designs. They will impress your school administrators, the business you work with, as well as your school. Also, having these guides in place means you spend less time creating your own designs and graphics, and more time helping your club in other ways. Find the Key Club Graphic Standards Manual and all graphics at keyclub.org > Resources > Communication & Marketing Here are a few tips with Graphic Standards: •
Print the page of the manual with the colors listed. The manual has the RGB codes for each color so that you can enter the values on Word or Publisher. Keep this page handy by taping it by your computer.
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Dedicate a flash drive to graphics. Include the manual, Key Club graphics, and any other graphics you use frequently like the UNICEF logo. You can pass it along to next year’s officers too!
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Don’t worry. The more you work with them, the easier they are. The Graphic Standards Manual may seem too long at first, but the rules are really simple. You’ll know them after making your first publication.
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Newsletters That Pop Although members usually ignore your club newsletter, it’s great for public relations. Newsletters have information about your successful projects and fundraisers. These are things to be proud of! When you share your newsletter with your school administrators and sponsoring Kiwanis club, they see how active your club is. At the end of the service year, you can enter your newsletters into the Club Bulletin Award at District Convention. Here are some tips for making an impressive, professional news letter:
Adhere to Key Club Graphic Standards You should look neat.It’s not necessary to be dressed in business professional, but stay away from ripped jeans, low cut tops, and other clothes that show too much skin. You need to seem like you are in charge, so dressing up a little more than your audience can give a better impression. For more information on presenting yourself appropriately, see page 6.
Stay consistent Use the same color and font schemes throughout each issue of your newsletter. If you follow Graphic Standards, this should be easy. Consistency also makes your newsletter look professional.
Balance black and white space “Black and white space” refers to the areas that have content on your page, and the areas that are blank. When designing a page, avoid cluttering an area. Keep a healthy space between graphics and text. Experiment with more blank space for drama.
Use a simple color scheme Too many colors looks tacky. Choose a few Graphic Standards colors and use them throughout your newsletter.
Write informational headlines Few people read more than the headlines, so make sure that each one informs your reader. For example, instead of an article simply titled “Road Clean-Up Recap,” try a headline like “Three Members Clean Up One Mile of Main Street.”
Structure articles in short paragraphs and sentences If you lay out your article text in columns, make each paragraph short. Two-sentence paragraphs are fine because they will appear longer when laid out in a column. Keep sentences around 15 words so that they are digestible.
Use concrete data, not opinion filler In other words, instead of saying, “We raised a lot of money for March of Dimes,” specify the amount. Avoid writing too much opinion. Your articles are supposed to be informative and aren’t meant to be your club’s cheerleader.
Include nice pictures A page with only text bores readers. Ask members to take pictures at events. You can find many photography tips at www.digital-photography-school.com
Review your work Read each article out loud to catch typos. Instead of using Print Preview on Word or Publisher, save your document as a PDF and view it. It’s a more realistic representation of how your newsletter will look on paper. You can also finish your newsletter early and share it with someone else to get a fresh perspective.
Share them online Make your newsletter viewable on your club’s website. You can save your newsletters to Google Docs or upload them to www.issuu.com. Even if your members leave your hard work unread, continue making newsletters. Share them with the right people to show how great your club is! If you have any questions, contact your lieutenant governor or district bulletin editor for tips and help. 11
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Media Communication (Facebook) Facebook is a great form of communication to spread your message quickly to multiple members simultaneously. Not only do most people have a Facebook account, navigating the many features on the site is also simple and relatively straightforward.
Invite People to Your Event: If you have an event you would like to publicize to your friends, create an event page! To create an event, click the events tab on the lefthand side of Facebook, then click the big silver “+ Create an Event” button on the top of the next page. Remember to input all the details of your event: what it is, what cause it is for, time, location, and contact information of someone to talk to in case there are any questions. Remember to add a picture. People are more inclined to join the event page if you have a picture.
Broadcast through Statuses and Fan Pages: Statuses are also great to broadcast events or causes. To take a page, such as “The Eliminate Project,” type “@name.” However, in order to tag a cause, or group such as “New Jersey District of Key Club International,” there has to be a Facebook page that is created beforehand. To create a Facebook page, type “pages” into the search bar to find the “Facebook Pages” application by Facebook. Then, click the big silver “+ Create Page” button on the top of the page. Choose a label your page would best fit under and follow the steps provided. Invite your friends and acquaintances to like to page to further get the word out.
Plan and Discuss through Group Creations: Groups are a great way Facebook allows one to spread a message to a group of people, as well as encourage discussion about its members. It is often a good idea, if you are a club officer or committee chairperson, to create a group specifically for the people in your committee/ club. For example, if you are a club president, creating a group for all your club members allows a more informal exchange of ideas and discussion. If you are a committee chair, creating a group lets you and your committee members to bounce ideas off each other, in order to plan a certain event or activity. To create a group, click the Groups tab on the lefthand side of Facebook. Then, click the big silver “+Create Group” button on the top of the next page. Create a group title (make sure that it is relevant!) and add your targeted members. Some people might be hesitant about joining a group in fear of receiving too many notifications, but those can be avoided. To get rid of notifications from a group enter the group page and click on the “Edit Settings” button at the top right of the page. Read the settings that are currently active and adjust them to your preferences. Click “Save Settings.”
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Media Communication (Twitter) Even if only a few of your members use Twitter, consider maintaining one anyway. You can view tweets on the mobile app even without your own account. If a member does have a Twitter account, even better! They can visit your Twitter and find the small phone icon. Clicking it will send your tweets directly to their phones. Twitter can help you connect to busy members who only attend meetings occasionally, and also to members who may feel lost if your club has a lot of members. Here are some tips:
Don’t make year-specific accounts, and that goes for Facebook pages too. The NJ District decided to stop making year-specific accounts on social media sites so that members didn’t have to look for a new page each year. Also, it meant that members who graduated would still be connected to Key Club.
Use a conversational tone. Read your tweets out loud before you post them. If you wouldn’t word things that way while speaking, don’t do it while tweeting!
Share photos from projects and fundraisers. Show off the playground your club just repainted! Ask yourself, “So what?” After you think of a tweet, ask yourself whether the tweet is valuable to your members. If you’re posting numerous times a day, you’re doing it wrong. Avoid flooding your followers with updates. This can be especially annoying if your members have tweets sent directly to their phones.
Tweet about your accomplishments. How much money did you raise at your last fundraiser? How many Key Clubbers came out for a road clean-up despite the rain?
Share your Twitter with people outside of your club. Make them jealous that they’re not part of the action! Mention your Twitter at introductory meetings at the beginning of the year so that potential members can see what your club has done in the past.
Use #hashtags to categorize your posts, and encourage your members to use the same hashtags. Make a hashtag for meeting updates, another for your larger projects, etc.
Put the @mention in your newsletters. Put follow and tweet buttons or widgets on your club website. Find them at business.twitter.com > Optimize Your Activity > Resources and Widgets. Interested in more Twitter strategies? Visit business.twitter.com for more tips. If you’re interested in social media in general, visit socialmediatoday.com.
Follow: @njkeyclub @keyclub @EliminateMNT @unicefUSA @MarchForBabies
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What to Tweet About: meeting/event reminders study tips inspirational quotes recognition of members
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Creating Flyers When creating a flyer, one important question must be asked: Who will be looking at it? While answering that vital question, you should be keeping in mind the following: •
Graphic Standards o Use the primary and accent fonts Primary fonts: Century Gothic and Goudy Old Style Accent fonts: Goudy Stout, Juice, Tempus Sans, Viner Hand ITC, and Crackhead/Embossing Tape o Graphic Standards help people recognize the “Key Club look.” o Use the pencil, wordmark, and/or logo. o For more information about Graphic Standards and how to use them, refer to page 10.
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Program o Experiment with the program--try new things. o If you are new to a program, get comfortable with it and see how things work.
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Information o The person looking at the flyer should know exactly what it is for by reading the information given. o What is the flyer for? o When and Where? o Cost? o Contact Information
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Color Scheme o Although colors make your flyers appealing, flyers are often printed in black and white. Therefore, it is important to use light colors and dark fonts so your printed flyers can be easily read.
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Pictures o Make sure that your pictures relate to your flyer. o Do not forget that your flyers will most likely be printed in black and white!
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Fonts o Have fun with fonts, but make sure that they are legible. Do not use too many different fonts--try to use only one or two that go well together.
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Creating Flyers •
Size o Make sure that things are proportional. o Do not make your pictures too big. o Play with your font sizes and see what works best.
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Space o Do not leave bare/empty spaces. o Experiment with designs to fill up space (just do not make them too distracting).
Most importantly, have fun and be creative. Remember to keep saving your documents!
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Mass Texting Have you ever wanted to send a message to all your members and be sure they will look at it? Many people don’t check their Facebooks every day, and even less check their emails that often. However, almost every single teenager checks their cell phone more than once a day, so if you were to somehow send them text messages, they would be guaranteed to get it. While this task may be daunting at first, the actual steps to set up a system are easy. It just requires some work. After setting up this system for my own home club last year, here are instructions and tips. 1. Get each member’s phone numbers and cell phone carrier (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc.) o The easiest way is to put this on the membership form in the beginning of the year. 2. Create a club Gmail account (e.g., yourclub@gmail.com) 3. Go to “Contacts” on the left-hand side and click “New Contact” 4. Type in their name first (this makes it easier to contact individual members later). 5. Under the EMAIL field, NOT the “Phone” field, enter their number without spaces, followed by their carrier email. o e.g., 1234567890@vtext.com
o The carrier e-mail is different for each carrier. § AT&T: @txt.att.net § Metro PCS: @mymetropcs.com § Sprint: @messaging.sprintpcs.com § T-Mobile: @tmomail.net § Verizon: @vtext.com o A complete list can be found at www.emailtextmessages.com 6. Now, you can add members into a group, such as “2011-2012 General Members” o On the blue bar near the top of the page, there is a drop down button called “Groups”. o Click it, and click “create new”.
o Name it whatever you wish, then you can add members into that group. o To add members, click “groups” and check the box of the group.
7. Now, when you want to text all the general members, you go to Mail, then “Compose mail,” and type “2011-2012 General Members” (or whatever you set the group name as), and it will text everyone you added to that group o Note: You can also text individual members by typing their name (if you entered that information) or number. o You can create multiple groups, such as “Officers”.
o You do not need a subject since it is a text message. 8. Keep messages short, as many cell phones do not display long messages (140+ characters) 9. Good luck with implementing this in your own schools!
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Adobe Indesign 101 Adobe InDesign is a flexible program that can help you create great looking newsletters! It has a myriad of features that increase productivity and functionality of your newsletter. I will talk about a few core features of InDesign, but for more in-depth tutorials, just Google “InDesign tutorials�. There are many helpful videos that can help you with any question you may have. The Tools There are so many tools in InDesign, but not all are pertinent to newsletter making. Below are quick explanations of each of the most important tools.
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Adobe Indesign 101 Master Pages Master pages can create a newsletter with consistency. This is key to making your newsletters pop and be exciting to the audience. On the pages tab on the right side of your screen, click on A-Master. Add any headers and watermarks that would look good on every page.
Notice how it says Page A instead of Page 1, 2 etc? This is because it is a master page. When in the actual spread of the newsletter, the actual page numbers will automatically be inserted! Isn’t that cool? In order to do this, you have to insert a special character by right clicking with a text box activated. •
When you’re on your cover, though, you won’t want that same formatting, right? You can override this by clicking on the pages tab and right clicking on the first page. Click “override all master pages items”. You can now select all of the master page items on the cover and delete them.
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Adobe Indesign 101 Resizing Images and Text Boxes Resizing images and text boxes at first can be confusing when using InDesign. Unlike Powerpoint or Word, the main black mouse tool does not actually change the size of the image. It only changes the size of the frame – the amount of area visible on the page. To change the size of the image, you need to use the white mouse tool which will adjust its positioning and size on the frame.
Like most any program, InDesign is not mastered by reading, but by doing. Spend an afternoon getting yourself familiar with the software and after a while, the motions seem natural and fluid. In no time you will be creating quality newsletters! If you have any questions, Google it. There is bound to be another person on the internet in the same predicament as you!
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Publishing with Publisher Microsoft Publisher is a straightforward program that can help with creating your newsletter just the way you want it! It has many tools and features that can help you create a good-looking and professional newsletter. I will explain some of the main features you can use in Publisher but for a complete tutorial, here is a great link you can use: http://inpics.net/publisher07.html.
Bring to front/Send to back When you are creating your newsletters and you want to overlap a picture and a textbox but the text is being misplaced because of the picture you simply have to use the order feature.
After you right click on the text box, you go down to order, and then click on bring to front. With this, you can have the words “International Convention� on top of your picture without having the words cut off in any way.
Alignment and Distribution When you want to align your pictures and text boxes in one line and evenly spaced, there are only a few steps you need to take. Select the items you want to align and distribute. To select more than one, select the first one then hold the Control key down and select the remaining objects. Once you have selected the objects, on the Menu Bar, click Arrange, then Align or Distribute, and then Align Center, or whichever alignment option you would like. Then while the items are selected you can choose the Distribute Vertically option as well to have your objects evenly spaced within one line.
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Publishing with Publisher
Save in PDF Saving in PDF format is simple. Go to File, then Save as. In the Save as window there should be a drop down option called Save as type. The option for PDF should look like : “PDF(*.pdf)” .
Where to get PDF Printer/Reader If your computer doesn’t already have an Adobe PDF printer you can download the CutePDF writer at http://www.cutepdf.com/. It’s free, easy to download, and makes printing in PDF form much simpler. Remember to balance your pages with words and pictures. Don’t put too many words on one page, your reader will get bored and may not read it. As always, don’t forget graphic standards! All these tutorials will help, but the best way to learn to use a program is to practice using it! Good luck with using Publisher!
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Creating an Effective Website Club websites are extremely useful and quite necessary in broadcasting information out to members and keeping track of important data. So then why don’t more clubs have one? Many believe creating a website is a complex process, filled with foreign codes and intricate programming. As a result, quite a few clubs forgo creating one in favor of less confusing ventures. However, creating an effective website is actually quite simple. The most important thing is to find an elegant-looking, but easy-to-use web server to host your site. Webs.com, Yola.com, and Moonfruit.com are highly recommended for site creation. The sites are easy to navigate and utilize, and the end result is attractive and clear. Of course, you are welcome to use other servers, but word of warning: they may be a little more confusing. So now you have your basic website layout planned out. Now what do you put on the website? The following lists the necessary components of any great site: •
Key Club description o To be an active member of Key Club, one has to know what Key Club is first! Include a brief description, as well as the pledge and core values to inform your members.
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List of the points/hours of each member o Keep members aware of their club activity and participation by listing the hours/points of each member on the website. To make this process easier on the officers, have the club secretary create an Excel document on Google Docs of each member’s amount of hours/points and share it with the Webmaster. It makes communication a lot easier and the entire process more effective.
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Next meeting date o People do not always check their emails or listen to the announcements for the next meeting date. By putting the date in a bright color on a prominent part of the website, members can easily see when the next date is.
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Gallery o Show others what the club has been up to! Pictures allow members to see people in action, doing various fundraising or service projects.
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Online sign-ups o Get more members involved by including event sign-ups online. Members may not always be able to attend a meeting and therefore, are unable to sign up for a project. By putting sign-ups online, joining an event becomes easier and more accessible to everyone. To do this, create a sign-up sheet on Google Docs. Make the Doc viewable to anyone who has the link and link the sign-up button to the Doc.
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Downloadable agendas o Did one of your members miss a meeting? Keep them updated by putting the meeting agendas on the website. To do this, upload your agenda in PDF form to http://issuu.com/ and link your agenda to your website.
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Online newsletters o Newsletters allow members and others to keep updated through what has been going on within the club. To upload a newsletter onto your website, upload it to http://issuu.com/ in PDF form, copy the embed code, and paste it.
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Relevant links o Have links to the New Jersey Key Club site, as well as Children’s Specialized Hospital, The ELIMINATE Project, and the Key Club International site to allow members to explore all their opportunities, and learn more about the District Service projects.
Once your website is completed, broadcast it to your members! Send out an email alerting everyone that your new website is up and running, as well as give a brief overview of what they can find on it. When District Convention rolls around, submit your website for the “Best Website” competition. This is a good way to showcase all the hard work you have put in it this past year.
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Get Attention! Attracting Members September has rolled around, and your club wants new members, both underclassmen and upperclassmen alike to join the greatest community service club at your school. The key to garnering greater membership is to publicize. Make the student body aware of the club’s presence and broadcast knowledge of Key Club and what it does through a variety of ways:
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Socials o Hold a Key Club social in the beginning of the year or over the summer and invite people to come join! Have brochures on Key Club, speakers, such as previous members or Kiwanis members, to talk about what Key Club does, and videos or PowerPoints that describe the district project(s). Have previous members invite their friends to further expand the club’s network. Also, remember to make the gathering fun! Have fun and games, as well as food, so people can enjoy themselves while learning more about Key Club.
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Club fairs o Club fairs are great places to attract members to sign up for your club. Create tri-folds displaying information pertaining to Key Club and have videos set up so people can see for themselves what Key Clubbers do. Most importantly, have club members there to answer any questions and portray the club as friendly, worthwhile, and helpful.
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Flyers o Lastly, flyers, flyers, flyers. Post flyers around the school with short descriptions of what Key Club is and when the first meeting is. Make the designs attractive and eye-catching, but don’t clutter the flyer with unnecessary information. Also, remember to adhere to Graphic Standards! Check out page 16 of the Handbook to learn how to make an aesthetically pleasing flyer.
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Snap! Photography Tips and Tricks Photography is an integral part in making a newsletter seem interesting! It can grab the reader to want to read more. Follow these tips to make your issues seem more exciting!
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Remember Rule of Thirds o The rule of thirds states that an image should have its focal point occur on the overlapping lines when an image is divided into nine equal parts by two horizontal lines and two vertical lines. o Doesn’t the image on the left look much more interesting than the one on the right? Notice the rule of thirds. The image’s focal point on the right does not overlap with the lines and makes for a boring photo.
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Snap! Photography Tips and Tricks •
Balance Colors o Even if you don’t have expensive software like Photoshop, you can still edit your photos for contrast and tone to make them more appealing. A great website to use is http://picnik.com. After simply adjusting the exposure and saturation in picnik with the photo below, you have a photo that really pops!
Before After
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Don’t be discouraged o A wise man once said, “On an entire roll of film (24 exposures), one can be lucky to get one good shot.” Keep that in mind when shooting and you get shabby photos. That one good shot may not even look good when you see it on a camera. It may take a little bit of editing, but you can get that one beautiful sthot!
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Megapixels ≠ Quality o Since you’re using these photos in a newsletter, they do not necessarily have to be 12 or 15 megapixels. As little as 3 megapixels will suffice. This means that many photos taken with a phone camera (if edited correctly) can work as photos in your newsletters. Just remember to adjust the levels correctly on Photoshop or Picnik.
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Follow Your Gut Instinct o If you feel that no matter what you do, your photo does not look good, follow your gut and don’t use it. A page looks much better lacking a photo than having a photo that’s an eyesore.
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@njkeyclub njkeyclub.org PUBLIC RELATIONS youtube.com/njkeyclub HANDBOOK facebook.com/njkeyclub your guide to everything PR version 1.0
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