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  • Coffee with Faculty: Trudy Goldenberg

Coffee with Faculty: Trudy Goldenberg

By: Trudy Goldenberg

From teaching English and French in Asia, to overseeing the marketing and communication functions at major law firms in Canada, PR pro Trudy Goldenberg has extensive corporate communications experience under her belt. Here's her take on the world of communications today.

Portrait of Trudy

What are the main differences between public relations and corporate communications? 

Corporate communications is an umbrella term that describes all of the activities that a marketing or corporate communications department does. That would include event planning, public relations, media relations, marketing and even sales. Public relations refers to the specific set of activities around strategic communications with target groups, and the reputational aspects of organizations and individuals. Public relations encompass internal relations as well. For example, large organizations such as Loblaws in Canada, which has 30,000 employees – that’s a large target group that Loblaws will want to communicate strategically with. So the PR team will have an internal communicator. 

Public relations refers to the specific set of activities around strategic communications with target groups, and the reputational aspects of organizations and individuals.

What led you to PR and corporate communications? 

It started in my childhood as it probably would for most people who like communications. I loved reading, and I loved writing stories and poetry as a child. It then moved into friends giving me good feedback about my writing skills and asking me for help writing letters and things like that. Then I ended up teaching English as a second language in Asia after my undergrad, and that was really interesting and exciting. It exposed me to opportunities that I wasn’t actually prepared for. I had studied philosophy in my undergrad and I thought I might pursue more studies in philosophy. But then I just kept getting asked to do editing, writing and film work – all in Korea and Japan. For example, I did instructional English videos, so I had to act out certain scenarios and teach certain words or sentences for Japanese viewers. Then I started doing brochures and so on. I decided, “When I come back to Canada, that’s what I’ll do.”   

I started working for a law firm as a marketing editor and I found I really enjoyed everything about marketing and communications, including business development. I asked for opportunities throughout all of my career from that time forward to learn everything I could about every aspect of communications. That led me to really enjoying PR the most.

What led you to your teaching career? 

In my work for different law firms, I managed and coached my teams, and I received a lot of good feedback on how I handled training. I think this came from my ESL experience – I was naturally good at teaching at that point. Younger people especially were always excited and signing up for my training sessions, so I got known as the mentor and coach. When the Humber opportunity came up, it was a really good fit for me and for Humber. 

An interview at a wedding

What do you find most rewarding about working in PR? 

I help different clients now. I continue to learn about different industries and problems. My natural curiosity is filled every day. I love connecting with people, sharing stories and learning about their issues and backgrounds. It’s fascinating. I’m very lucky to do what I enjoy the most, which is being with people and writing. I enjoy both of those things equally and I get to do them both. The teaching side of things is also very rewarding. A lot of students are understandably overwhelmed with information. Many don’t know where to go and what skills to develop. I think I can really help them and that’s wonderful.

 Communication is key

What are three skills a student would gain after taking your class? 

The first would be the ability to be a critical thinker. I emphasize this in my courses: Don’t just read something and believe it. Always search for verification across multiple sources. The second one would be to read voraciously. Don’t be passive. Have a strong curiosity and be able to digest a lot of information. If you don’t enjoy the processes of verifying information and being curious about learning more about a story, you should not be in PR. A natural inclination to learn is going to make you successful. You’ll learn how to craft stories better, you’ll understand the larger environment that is news and you’ll just be more comfortable with language as well. The third skill would be to start to look at the world in segments and groups – knowing that everybody you come across is a potential target audience for you or the organization you’re serving. In other words, having a strategic mindset.

Skills companies demand in new graduate business school hires chart

Study done by GMAT

Are students often asked for a portfolio when applying for jobs?

Yes, often. As a start, students can try to get experience in their own communities. Even if you’ve never had a job in writing or communications, ask friends and family for opportunities to write for them. And by all means, include those pieces in your portfolio. Students can also use their school assignments in their portfolios. Ask your instructors to help you build your portfolio. 

How do you see PR continuing to grow within the next 10 years? 

There will be a stronger emphasis on data and making decisions based on a richer set of data than we even know about now. For example, software programs like Salesforce collect data from different pockets of people’s activities – where they’re located, what they’re buying and who they’re voting for. It collects all that information into one place to give organizations a deeper knowledge of who they may be trying to reach. There will come an easier penetration with messaging, but how that will work remains to be seen. It is challenging to penetrate the sea of information and reach target groups meaningfully. You really have to know what you’re doing. Having better data will make you better at it.

It is challenging to penetrate the sea of information and reach target groups meaningfully. You really have to know what you’re doing. Having better data will make you better at it.

LEARN MORE: Communicate with confidence by enrolling in a PR Management CertificateCorporate Communications Certificate  or an Event Mangement Certificate offered online and at our Lakeshore campus.

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PR at Humber in the RD Room