By Rachel Zetwick
In the summer of 2016, I was a congressional intern for the Office of Speaker Paul D. Ryan. At the beginning of my internship, I expressed interest in working with the Speaker’s press team as I wanted to put what I was learning in my communication classes to use. Here are three things that I learned while working with Speaker Ryan’s team. 1. Build relationships with members of the media Throughout my internship, I was invited to attend numerous Speaker press conferences. I noticed that his press team and media members had built strong, respectful relationships with each other. This allowed for news to be provided to the public in an efficient and effective manner. 2. Think proactively about social media One of my intern tasks was to research the following base of the Speaker’s Twitter account. I learned about the importance of understanding a governmental official’s following, and how social media is an easy means of communication for congressional members and their constituents. I also learned about the importance of hashtags during a political campaign. 3. Be prepared for media appearances at all times Throughout my internship, the Speaker was required to make unexpected media appearances quite often. Since my internship was during an election year, this was even more true as the Speaker had to be prepared to continue his campaign while also answering unexpected media questions related to the election.
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