Indiana University School of Journalism

Photo by Sean Bailey

Hetrick Communications founder Bruce Hetrick told J110 students, "I raised hell with words. Now I use words to make policy changes and make the world a better place."

IU alumnus Bruce Hetrick thinks words can make a difference. He’s used them to help shape public policy and serve corporate clients during his long career as as public relations specialist, and now he’s using them as advocacy tools.

Hetrick, 49, is founder and CEO of Indianapolis-based Hetrick Communications and a columnist in the Indianapolis Business Journal. A 1982 graduate who majored in English and political science, Hetrick was back on campus Monday and Tuesday to speak to students in J110 Foundations of Journalism and Mass Communication, J321 Principles of PR and J428 PR Planning and Research. While in town, he also addressed about 150 members of the Bloomington Rotary Club.

"Words can change the world." Hetrick told J110 students. "Writers can shape policy. I used to write speeches for a mayor. He didn’t give me all of the information that he wanted in the speech. What I wrote was what came out of his mouth — and what became policy for our city."

Besides politicians, his company has worked with a variety of clients, including the city of Fort Wayne, which wanted to land a General Motors plant in the 1980s, and the state of Connecticut’s campaign to reduce the number of people with AIDS.

Hetrick credits his company’s success to good communications skills and shared tips on developing these with students. For example, he said brevity is important.

Photo by Sean Bailey

Hetrick also is an advocate for antismoking campaigns and cancer research support.

"The subject line on an e-mail is so critical," he said. "It used to be that you could send reporters a nice long news release. Today, your message must fit onto one screen or less. It’s like writing for a billboard. You must get your message across as the reader drives by at 70 miles per hour."

But that message also has to connect with readers on an emotional level.

"Don’t always think logic is what grabs people," Hetrick said. "It’s the difference between telling people how to feel and making them feel that way."

Hetrick’s personal life has shaped his work in recent years, leading him to applying his skills to cancer advocacy. For the J110 class, he read his column about the day that he and his wife found out her cancer was inoperable. At the Rotary meeting, he urged members to work to eliminate second hand smoke by supporting political candidates with the same agenda and to raise funds for the IU Simon Cancer Center to support research.

His talk also targeted IU’s smoking policies. All IU campuses should be smoke-free, he said, and the IU Foundation should stop taking tobacco company contributions. The Kelley School of Business should stop accepting tobacco company sponsorships and tobacco company involvement in its classrooms.

He left students with a message about the importance of words, not just in their future careers, but in all aspects of their lives.

"I raised hell with words," he said. "I used to use words to entertain. Now I use words to make policy changes and make the world a better place."

Editor’s note: Winslow Visiting Professor Jim Bright contributed to this story.

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