It All Starts Here

#strategic communication

Hi - I'm Cheryle Rivas. I am a doctoral student in strategic communication at Regent University. I am thrilled to be at this point in my career where experience and education merge.

For more than three decades, I have worked in the field of communication. Always thirsty for knowledge, I began exploring communication strategies through an academic perspective to improve, grow, and share my knowledge and expertise. What I found is that there is always room to learn! But it is only as valuable as your willingness to share! So, here I am sharing nuggets of information from the years of work in the field - and the knowledge gained from academic studies.

I am currently working in government public affairs, which is an enriching - yet often frustrating field of work. I have pulled from my years of experience in the field, and as we face new challenges, I am also drawing from the knowledge gained in my academic studies. Before working with the government, I worked as a broadcaster on both radio and television.

My work on the radio was so much fun! It is hard to believe that our job was to play music, tell jokes, and interview some of the most extraordinary personalities, artists, and guests! I found this to be true with television as well. My time in front of the camera was as a news anchor and weather reporter for our university news station. But it was the spin-off from radio where I was the host and producer of a video show called Country Close-up. I enjoyed meeting and interviewing new artists breaking into the country music industry. One of the most enjoyable interviews was with Charlie Daniels. He was so personable, authentic, and true to his Christian faith. My experiences behind the microphone and in front of the camera have helped shape me. And to this day, I can share those experiences when I am conducting media training and prep for interviews and engagements.

I bring this type of experience and expertise to the table, and what a fantastic opportunity it is to help others on their journey! Whether it involves media prep and training, message development, or collaborating on a communication strategy, I am the happiest assisting others to see how exciting this field of work is! There are steps in the process, so it is essential to know where to begin.

It all starts with the research! What I see in my line of work is that as exciting as it is to develop a communication plan (and always exciting for me!), the one area overlooked the most is research. Too often, folks want to jump right into tactics: photos, interviews, social media posts, stories, and videos. How do you know if you are reaching the right audience or if the communication campaign plan worked? It all starts with the research!

Let's face it, sometimes research can be tedious, and you can find yourself climbing into rabbit holes of information hopping from one topic to another. I get it – I do! But it is the research that is going to help guide you on your path. The key to research is to narrow the topic. Look at what it is you want to communicate and go from there. For example, while studying for my master's degree in strategic public relations at The George Washington University, I selected a worthwhile topic for my strategic communication plan. Living near a military base, it was not uncommon to see service members and their service dogs in public places such as Starbucks. During a conversation with one of them, I learned of their dilemma in gaining access to shared locations such as a water park or the emergency room. So for my project, I decided to research support animals for persons with non-visible disabilities. I began the project by researching the guiding policies for service dogs with the Americans with Disabilities Act. You can visit their website at https://www.ada.gov to find out more. This site has a wealth of information, which was a good starting point. Another resource I found helpful in this study was Google Scholar, located at https://scholar.google.com. Google Scholar is a great site to search various topics and find academic research that helps to narrow the study or topic. I also liked that I could even narrow down the years to the most recent, to as far back as the site allowed. To learn more, click the link of the complete study found under the tab 'Projects.'