There isn’t a scarcity of sources to assist PR professionals be higher and sooner at their jobs. Need to be a stronger author? There are instruments for that ( you, Grammarly). Need to enhance your public talking abilities? There’s no scarcity of recommendation. Need to handle your time higher? There’s an app for that.
Whereas all of those will supply tangible development alternatives (a minimum of greater than your typical self-help speaker), I’d prefer to give attention to the one ability that has helped me change into considerably sooner in my PR position: keyboard instructions.
Keyboard instructions (often known as shortcuts or hotkeys) enable keyboard customers to mix keys in quite a lot of methods to carry out duties extra effectively. Each Macs and PCs have related instructions, so that is relevant to each (however I’m going to give attention to PCs for this train).
Whereas these could not flip you into a professional gamer any time quickly, listed below are the keyboard shortcuts that I’ve discovered most helpful in my PR profession:
CTRL F (search)
Have you ever ever felt the frustration of looking for a reporter’s e mail deal with in a disorganized, un-alphabetized media listing with 300+ individuals on it? Strive, CTRL F.
Maintain CTRL, then click on “F” on a keyboard, and a search bar will seem in your monitor the place you possibly can seek for the title of the particular person you’re looking for. The search will then mechanically redirect you to all of the values that match that search, till you discover what you want.
You’ll be able to search by title, firm, e mail, — actually any key phrase you might want to discover. This perform will work in paperwork, net pages, PowerPoint decks and extra.
CTRL F could be a actual time saver and is an especially efficient method to shortly sift by information to search out info shortly.
CTRL C & CTRL V (copy and paste)
In my opinion, the GOATS of all keyboard instructions are CTRL C and CTRL V. CTRL C means that you can copy textual content from one space and CTRL V means that you can paste it elsewhere.
This could be a huge time-saver relating to pitching. In the event you’re attempting to get the information out about your organization’s current funding spherical, you possibly can shortly copy and paste textual content to ship to completely different reporters who’re related within the area. Granted, it’s nonetheless at all times a good suggestion to regulate your message to be related and personalised to reporters, however preserve a watchful eye on font and format to verify your message appears to be like polished..
It’s additionally nice for copying and pasting contacts from one media listing to a different, shortly sharing info, or constructing out decks.
In the event you choose to chop textual content, moderately than copy it, attempt CTRL X.
CTRL P (print)
Need to shortly print one thing? CTRL P is your keyboard command.
However wait, it could do extra! CTRL P may also be used to save lots of paperwork as PDFs (a much more environmentally acutely aware transfer on this digital period). This may be helpful when a consumer needs to view an article that’s behind a paywall – merely print a PDF and ship it to them by way of e mail or Slack.
CTRL Z (undo)
CTRL Z gained’t be capable to undo the e-mail you by accident despatched (though Gmail has an undo function), however it may be a helpful method to reverse different errors.
CTRL Z is nice for shortly undoing errors whenever you’re writing, and could be a actual asset to article drafting, PowerPoint deck creation, speaking on inner channels, and extra.
CTRL I (italicize) & CTRL B (daring) & CTRL U (underline)
The three horsemen of keyboard instructions, CTRL I, CTRL B, and CTRL U help you alter textual content shortly with out having to search out sure buttons to click on.
Must make some textual content italic or daring? Who has the time to manually transfer their mouse over to the italic button. What in case you misclick? What in case you injure your self in a tragic mouse-related accident? Belief your keyboard.
An added bonus is that these features take pleasure in permitting you to undo one thing that’s daring, italicized, or underlined – simply use the identical perform on chosen textual content to modify backwards and forwards.
Takeaway
Will these keyboard instructions flip you into a professional gamer in time for the League of Legends event this yr? Most likely not. However they’ll make you quicker, and extra environment friendly in a profession the place the power to work shortly is important. The perfect PR professionals can execute below strain to fulfill time delicate deadlines whereas avoiding vital errors – and for me, keyboard instructions are the important thing (pun supposed).
Keenan J. Emery is a senior account govt at Technique Communications.
