Bowling for a Six

By Monique Boucher, B Tech PR student

Leila Steyn, PR 3rd year student, bowled over the Western Province Cricket Association during her internship. She started as the assistant to the youth coordinator in the Amateur department and soon after took on the responsibilities of the youth coordinator.
“I was thrown into the deep end and it was scary at first, but I came up swimming!” said Steyn.

The position of Team & Operations Coordinator to the Nashua Cape Cobras became available and Steyn decided to throw a fast ball and apply. Today she has the job of her dreams as the right hand to the Head Coach, Shukri Conrad and part of the team behind the scenes.

Steyn loves her job but says it is not all 'glitz and glam'.
“There are intricate preparations, logistics and a lot of pressure behind a great game of cricket. There is no time to procrastinate.”

“It’s a tough world out there and people depend on each other to make a campaign or event work.” She advises soon-to-be interns and graduates that one should always be professional. “All you have to do is remember what got you to this job, and that you are there to accomplish. “

“Why am I not surprised at Leila’s early breakthrough?” asks Prof. Johann van der Merwe, head of the department Public Relations Management. “Because her enthusiasm and determination shone through from year one!” he said. “As well as her persistence”, he adds with a smile!

Steyn plans to complete her B Tech Degree in PR as a part-time student while she fulfils her role at the Nashua Cape Cobras. For now she is quite happy to enjoy a great summer of cricket.
“I could not have asked for a better opportunity within this field….I don’t like cricket, oh no, I love it!”

Leila Steyn with cricketers Herschelle Gibbs (left) and Justin Kemp (right)

Public Relations Management Speech Competition

By Kirby Venlet, 2nd year PR student

The anticipation is over and the 3 winners of the Public Relations Management Speech Competition have been announced. The finals of the competition, for the 1st year PR students, of the Faculty of Informatics and Design, took place on Friday, 24 October, at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).

Guest speakers, acclaimed South African comedian, Brendan Murray, and Tom Dawson-Squibb, motivational speaker for ITISA, a developmental and change management company, gave the students tips on how to be a great public speaker.

“Keeping the audience’s attention was a key factor,” said Tom Dawson-Squibb who explained the basics of confident public speaking. Dawson-Squibb used entertaining video clips from “YouTube” as examples of holding your audience’s attention. With an Honours Degree in Business Science in Organisational Psychology from UCT, he was able to provide students with much perspective in leadership necessary for presenting in the business and corporate context.

“Speaking publicly is just like speaking privately. You always start with small talk, like the weather, to loosen up your audience,” said Brendan Murray who spoke about what it takes to be an entertaining speaker. He knew just how to get the attention of the audience with a loud and energetic welcoming jump onto stage. “When you are speaking to an audience, you hold the power and you need to use this power in your favour.”
Murray had the audience in stitches, not surprising since he has been described as ‘South Africa’s Best Young Comic’ and has performed at the Cape Town International Comedy Festival, Rocking the Daisies and toured with the Comedy Revolution.

The focus then moved to the speech competition finals. Thirteen finalists battled for the first place spot but it was Anike Theron who was awarded with 3rd position for her intriguing speech entitled ‘Are your thoughts your own?’ Lirita Hugo was awarded 2nd position with her topic ‘Too much of anything is bad’ and 1st place, with the thought-provoking topic, ‘Money does not create self worth’ went to Bianca Carls.

Prizes included vouchers to the value of R1000 from Van Schaik, a gift card to the value of R300 from Canal Walk Shopping Centre and R300 in vouchers from TygerValley Shopping Centre. Annette Grobler from Student Affairs also sponsored prizes to the value of R1000 and MCD made gifts available to the value of R300.

The competition formed part of the student’s syllabus for one of their major subjects, namely Communications Science 1, presented by Ayesha Toyer. The finals were judged by Public Relations Management lecturers, members of industry, and guests. The judging panel included Prof. Johann van der Merwe, our head of department and an experienced stage actor, Dr. Nirvana Bechan, Elza Myburgh, Thabisa Nondzube, Darren Rix (speech competition winner of 2007), Stefan Joubert (from industry) and guest speaker Tom Dawson-Squibb. Luvuyo Jongile, 1st year PR student, acted as Master of Ceremonies and welcomed the guests, speakers and audience.

For those who missed the event, the top tip for giving a great speech came from Brendan Murray who said, “Be yourself and always have fun with your speech.”
A big thank you to organiser, Ayesha Toyer, who described the event as: “A wonderful opportunity for students to put what they learn into practice and show the world what they are made of. Our Top 13 made the department proud, they were professional, entertaining and most of all, they were persuasive. Thank you to the presenters, guest speakers, sponsors, MC, technical support, photographer, audience members and our wonderful judges.”

Technology Media Conference hosted at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology

By Danelle Milward, 2nd year PR student

CPUT’s 10th annual media conference explored technology and the new media. Held on Saturday October 18, the conference attracted tech-savvy speakers on the cutting edge of new media.

“Technology impacts on our lives in all areas; sometimes changing things, sometimes keeping things the same, but improving speed or accessibility. It is important that we use the conference to explore the effectiveness of technology commercially and socially,” said Rifqah Abrahams, junior lecturer: media studies and supervising lecturer for the media conference.

“Keep it simple and don’t complicate things,’’ said Melissa Attree, guest speaker who specialises in social media, branding and educating as many people as possible about online communication. She focused on the importance of listening, collaborating and engaging with customers online in order to best present your brand.

Charl Norman, 24-year old internet entrepreneur and operations manager for Blueworld Communities, a leading social networking technology company, spoke about social networking – the trends and developments around the world and in South Africa.

“A recent study found that 58% of people trust people like themselves, not CEOs and marketing managers,” said Tim Shier, marketing manager at Africa’s largest full service online marketing agency.

Shier introduced the audience to the field of online reputation management and the free online eMarketing resource, eMarketing – the essential guide to online marketing. This textbook, developed by Quirk, will be updated every 6 months and can be downloaded from the Quirk eMarketing website, a great resource for students and professionals alike. For those that love the smell of a new book and the feel of turning the pages, you can find the print edition at Exclusive Books.

Vincent Maher, Jayne Morgan and Peter Greenwall were the three other guest speakers that blew us away with their presentations from citizen journalism to new broadcasting such as podcasts and innovation and new inspiring ways of thinking. During the recess guests enjoyed the interactive exhibition where they were able to get their hands on XBOX, Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii.

"The dynamic speakers had everyone on the edge of their seats with their cutting edge information! The enthusiasm was infectious and bounced from the first to the last speaker. I left totally inspired," said Prof. Johann van der Merwe. Head of Department: Public Relations Management.

“I learnt so much from the speakers at this year’s conference,” said Monique Boucher, Conference MC, Public Relations B Tech student and self-confessed online junkie.“In a time where lifestyle revolves around technology and with business centered on online accessibility, talking technology makes perfect sense.”

Public speaking 101: How to be a brilliant public speaker

By Kirby Venlet, PR 2nd year student

The 1st year Public Relations Management students’ speech competition took place on Friday, October, 24.

“Public speaking is like sleeping with the queen, it’s a great privilege to do, but no one is willing to do it,” joked Tom Dawson-Squibb, educational guest speaker who shared his expertise on how to become a brilliant public speaker.

Here are few of the guidelines Dawson-Squibb gave that could help you become a brilliant public speaker:

• In order to be an outstanding public speaker, you should always know what your goals and outcomes are as well as good planning and structure.
• Preparation and planning is vital. You should know your audience, know your occasion and very importantly, practice your speech a few times.
• Always arrive early which allows you time to “mingle with your audience”. Stress is inevitable so deal with it by being s prepared as possible. Don’t apologise for your nervousness, make sure you speak on the correct topic last but not least breathe!
• Grab the attention of your audience with a ‘solid opening’ ensuring you introduce your topic and give your speech a clear structure.
• Keep your speech short and to the point because as the saying goes, less is always more. Avoid being rushed, repetition and clichés as this will lead to losing your audiences’ attention.
• A sense of humor helps hold the attention of your audience. Use humour where appropriate. A ‘wow’ moment, highlighted by humour, grabs while confidence and using the correct tone holds it.
• Use cue cards and don’t overdo visual aids so that you can maintain eye contact with all the audience.

For future Public Relations practitioners, mastering the skill of public speaking gives you a competitive advantage. After the speeches on Friday and the advice from Dawson - Squibb, every PR student in attendance would have a better idea of what it takes to give an excellent presentation.

Public Speaking 101

The long anticipated finals of the speech competition will take place this Friday, 24 October, from 13h00 - 15h30 in room 2.58 of the Commerce Building.

Guest speakers Brendan Murray and Tom Dawson-Squibb will share their expertise on how to become brilliant public speakers.

Brendan Murray has been described as “The Best Young Comic in South Africa.” He founded the Cape Town Comedy Guild after obtaining his degree in Theatre and Performance from UCT. Well known voice-over artist and actor, he has been featured in many television and radio commercials. Recently he toured the country with the Comedy Revolution and hosted Rocking the Daisies. He also won the Cape Comedy Showdown which led to him win a five minute slot at the Cape Town International Comedy Festival.

Tom Dawson-Squibb works for ITISA, an organisation specialising in leadership development and change management for a wide spectrum of corporates. He studied Business Science in Organisational Psychology at UCT and obtained his Honours Degree in 2007.

Fifteen first year PR students are vying for the top spot, the lovely prizes for the top 3 speakers and let us not forget,the honour. is This event is open to all PR students and is a must for those of you that want who want to learn from the pros.

The CPUT Technology Media Conference Speakers

Charl Norman is the Operations Manager for Blueworld Communities, South Africa’s leading Internet Technology Company focused on building online communities. At only 24 years old he has been instrumental in creating four niche social networks and owns a blogging network including some of South Africa’s top ranking blog titles. This year he has been nominated as a finalist for the ICT Young Entrepreneur of Africa award.

Melissa Attree started a PR company after a successful career in marketing. She conceptualised the first online campaign for Big Blue via blog advertisings, utilising social media and WebPR. Melissa developed the first Social Media Press Release on behalf of Brandsh for the Standbank Pro20 Cricket Series. She spoke about social media and branding.


Tim Shier calls himself the head pirate at Quirk, Africa’s largest full service online marketing agency. As the Marketing Manager, Tim is involved with a number of cutting edge projects including the launch of the free online eMarketing text book eMarketing – the essential guide to online marketing. He is also the Marketing and Business Development manager for BrandsEye, Quirk’s online reputation management solution. Tim spoke about online reputation management and eMarketing.

Vincent Maher, Portfolio Manager for Social Media at Vodacom, and pervious strategist at the Mail & Guardian online, explained the concept and impact of citizen journalism. Co-founder of South African aggregator and analysis, amatomu.com, Maher won a Highway African New Media Innovation Award, 2007.

Jayne Morgan has been a producer of BBC Radio 4 (in the UK), SAfm and Talk 702 IN South Africa. She was the Head of Radio Training at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism.
She launched PODCART in 2007 in order to create premium downloadable audio for South African brands. She explained podcasting and new broadcasting trends.

Peter Greenwall, composer, songwriter and author, inspired the audience with presentation (and fantastic songs)on the topic of his book, Logical Stupidity - Innovation by navigating through nonsense. The book takes the showbiz formula of turning problems into songs and humour in a way that deals with psychology, theory and practice of innovation.