PR Skills Training
Gordon Smith explores how the fast changing landscape of PR is impacting on the delivery of training in public relations and media skills;
‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers,’ wrote the American social historian Daniel Boorstin, and he had a point. Behind most success stories, chances are there is a public relations officer or external PR agency briefing the media, who in turn spread the word to the wider public.
PR is also about keeping your own staff in the picture. ‘Essentially, public relations is about how an organisation communicates with its publics or stakeholders,’ says Gerry Davis, chief executive of the PRII (Public Relations Institute of Ireland).
Education and Public Relations Strategy
A PRII professionally accredited diploma and postgraduate diploma is available to those in PR, marketing or advertising, with a responsibility for communicating an organisation’s message and upholding its corporate reputation.
The European Institute of Communications (EIC) in Dublin is a provider of these PR education programmes and a number of intensive one to three-day training courses. Eugene Grey of the EIC is quick to dispel the myth that PR training is all about dealing with the TV cameras and organising celebrity endorsements: ‘Media relations is only a fraction of PR,’ he says, adding, ‘the diploma course is all about communications. Every organisation is communicating to its target publics and those who do it exceptionally well use an effective strategic communications plan.’
Grey believes good PR performance is always based on an efficient and responsive PR strategy, and all of the EIC’s short- and long-term programmes drill this aspect into attendees. How you approach the implementation of PR strategies in your organisation will depend largely on your defined goals - and it is essential that you have clearly-defined ones to guarantee success - and your assigned budget. He uses the case of Irish Forestry Services (IFS) to illustrate this point; a small set-up company with a limited budget, IFS are now one of the largest private landowners in Ireland, representing about 15,000 shareholders. Grey is convinced of the key role played in this success by the IFS ten-year communications strategy. ‘They did one simple thing; they kept evaluating their communications performance and amending and modifying their overall PR strategy.’
A flexible strategy is therefore essential, particularly where a company is caught in the glare of publicity for the wrong reasons and some PR ‘fire fighting’ is required. Experience counts for a lot, in situations like these, and many PR agencies employ crisis management specialists. ‘The real value that a PR person will bring to a fire fighting situation is to be able to stay detached from the crisis and be able to give good advice,’ says Brendan Bracken, managing director of Bracken PR. The communications manoeuvring of an organisation in such a crisis is far more effective when carried out in a structured and orderly style, rather than reacting to situations on an ad hoc basis.
PR Skills
In addition to PR strategy development, the PRII diploma and various short-term course options provide training in numerous other PR skills.
Whether you’re a business manager, an in-house public relations officer or working in marketing/advertising, one skill that never goes out of fashion is the ability to write well. ‘That is a great skill and it can be learnt,’ insists Brendan Bracken, who himself took a refresher course in writing last year as part of his continuous professional development.’
For Eugene Grey, quality business and PR writing skills are a key form of communicating the corporate image. Trainees develop a personal style and an expert grip on grammar and apply this to the many formats of business writing, including letters, press releases and reports. ‘Also writing on the web;’ he adds, ‘a lot more people now are having to take on that responsibility, and it’s a very specialist area: writing for a mass audience.’
Other specific skills areas it is possible for advertising, marketing and PR staff to upskill in, includes media training (preparing for interviews, projecting an image, etc.), event management, applying a SWOT analysis to PR strategies, effective personal communications, and creating media publicity.
Some of the PR courses now available delve into particular areas that will be relevant to certain types of organisation, says Gerry Davis of the PRII. ‘There are some courses on specific areas of PR practice. For example, if you work for a charity or non-governmental organisation, advocacy is a strong part of what you do. If you do financial PR, it could be investor relations,’ he adds.
It is usually possible for trainees to undergo a bespoke training programme in each of theses areas, to suit the PR skills requirements of their specific roles and their employer organisation.
Modern Audiences and PR Technologies
A key thread running through all PR training and education is that course content is continually developed in order to track the ongoing changes in attitude and interest of the modern audience.
’The market has changed a lot over the past decade,’ says Eugene Grey, ‘the audiences are a lot more sophisticated and the key thing is getting your message across, companies have to be a lot more tuned in with the fragmentation of the media and the interest of their audiences.\'
As new technologies splinter the media landscape into ever-smaller fragments, so the landscape of PR is changing. Companies operating in areas where technology and business collide are most likely to need training to handle this and there are many courses available to understand how these new developments can impact on the way a company spreads its message.
‘In an era of social networking sites, podcasts and blogs, it can be very difficult to get your own specific message through,’ Davis remarks. ‘What has changed is the speed of news and its immediacy: the rise of the citizen journalist means a message is out on the street before the professional communicator has a chance to act. Courses give people a better understanding of how these new media work and what sort of plans to put in place for them.’
Eugene Grey is quick to emphasise however, that the aim of PR training is not limited to teaching people how to use the technologies required for activities such as viral marketing and corporate film production; but how to control the company’s message, image and brand through these technologies.
Benefits of In House PR Skills
While it can often seem easier to simply employ a PR contractor, increasingly Irish companies are opting to develop strategies in-house; while this course of action can ultimately be highly rewarding, it also brings challenges in training and development.
Some organisations, usually larger ones, often have the choice between training up an in-house PR person and retaining an external agency. Some companies can afford to have both. In the latter case, the roles are often split, with the outside agency looking after dealings with the press while the full-time staffer focuses on internal communications.
\'An in-house person is going to have an intricate knowledge of the business that you’re in – external consultants may not necessarily have the level of understanding you may require,’ says Davis. Brendan Bracken adds, ‘I wouldn’t discriminate between internal and external public relations. Quite often, the internal people are better – they know the management team and they know who to put out as a spokesman.’
The role of Niamh Boylan, a senior PR Executive in O2, involves dealing with the media and external stakeholders. Before moving to O2, she worked at the PR firm Weber Shandwick in Dublin, so she can see the value in both approaches. ‘Working in an agency is a great way to learn the trade, gaining hands-on experience and exposure to a range of clients and media,’ she says. ‘However, I think that working in an in-house role has given me the chance to gain a much deeper understanding of the organisation, and the industry sector they operate in. This in turn enables me to plan communications activity in the context of the bigger picture.’
PR Skills – Not to be ignored
Public relations are too important an aspect of the effective functioning of the modern organisation to be left to the marketing department to muddle through. The existence of the internet alone virtually ensures the necessity for every organisation to be proficient in communicating its message to its targeted audience.
By itself, mastering media technologies does not equate to effective PR. Public relations know-how has far more subtle connotations that only come with training and experience. ‘A public relations person will concentrate on a number of things such as timing: when to talk and when not to talk. It’s important to choose the right time to say something,’ adds Gerry Davis, chief executive of the PRII.
