How to apply PR courses to real life

By Carroll Rudman, Account Supervisor

Public Relations is an exciting career field with plenty of opportunities! The PR curriculum that many schools follow allows for students to dip their toes in a variety of PR related topics. Post grads may wonder how they can apply their 4 years of PR courses to real life, not knowing what a day in the life of a PR practitioner really looks like. 

There are several courses that prepare you for a job in the field, not only fundamental PR courses, but also writing, communications, and even marketing. All of these courses give you the tools to succeed in the PR industry. Fundamental classes such as research and writing courses will also be applied to your work day quite frequently. 

Public Relations Courses

Let’s start with the basics: PR courses. Public relations is about storytelling and many  of these courses teach you how to promote stories for the brands that you work with. These courses build your skill set so that you know how to effectively engage with an audience and the media industry. PR professionals must know how to position their client to the audience and other media professionals. Persuading your audience to look at your client in a certain way all stems back from having a solid understanding of media trends, media studies, and effective storytelling in your toolbox. 

Writing Courses

Next, let’s show you how those never ending writing courses will  save your career. As a professional, you must be a good writer as you’re normally drafting press releases, pitches, and emailing back and forth with clients and co-workers. It’s so important to have a clear and concise message no matter who is on the receiving end. Great communication skills help in effective media relations and projecting a professional image.

Communication Courses 

Any and all communication courses teach you interpersonal communications skills. PR is a communications-driven field. Some courses offered that will help you range from professional presentations, persuasion theory, and media relations. Many PR practitioners may have to give speeches at large events or even just to clients, so it’s extremely important to have effective speaking skills. PR reps also develop relationships with the public and journalists. Many communication courses touch on the importance of networking. Networking is something that everyone should be skilled in as it will help you stay on top of trends in your industry, improve your skills, and most importantly give you access to even more opportunities in your career. 

Marketing/Business Courses

As a PR professional or manager, you could work for a PR firm or in a department that organizes its public relations activities, but you could end up at a marketing/business firm as well. When following a curriculum path in PR, you may want to consider branching out of your comfort zone. Think about taking a business class or marketing class as this will better help you succeed in your career. You may have a client that works in a business related sector, so in order to help your clients, you have to fully understand what they do day to day.  85% of communication executives believe that business 101 knowledge is the most important thing to bring into your first job. A PR professional having this knowledge can also shape the way they tell a brand’s story. By taking a story and positioning it through a business decision angle, this can tell the public how the brand is doing overall. Having business knowledge will help you communicate better with stakeholder groups, persuade leaders across organizations, improve your job satisfaction, and you can even command a higher salary when you have business knowledge.