By: Lindsay Higgins
Public relations can make or break a company. I believe PR is an essential part of any organization and plays an invaluable role in dealing with the public. In this blog post to start the semester, I want to divulge what I have learned about what it takes to be a good Public Relations specialist.
The first quality is honesty. While that might sound almost trivial, it is well known that most public relations professionals are disliked, and it is assumed that we put a general “spin” on everything. There have been some terrible PR professionals have made the mistake of fibbing instead of coming clean or just being honest from the get go. (I’m looking at you Bloomingdale with your creepy date-rape ad Bloomingdale Ad and your PR effort to ignore it). And in true poor PR fashion, the company made mediocre apologies and tried to cover it up. It’s our job to make our company look good, not lie.
Public relations can make or break a company. I believe PR is an essential part of any organization and plays an invaluable role in dealing with the public. In this blog post to start the semester, I want to divulge what I have learned about what it takes to be a good Public Relations specialist.
The first quality is honesty. While that might sound almost trivial, it is well known that most public relations professionals are disliked, and it is assumed that we put a general “spin” on everything. There have been some terrible PR professionals have made the mistake of fibbing instead of coming clean or just being honest from the get go. (I’m looking at you Bloomingdale with your creepy date-rape ad Bloomingdale Ad and your PR effort to ignore it). And in true poor PR fashion, the company made mediocre apologies and tried to cover it up. It’s our job to make our company look good, not lie.
The second quality of a good public
relations specialist is awareness. In
our day and age, something is constantly going on. It is essential that we keep up with today’s
news and stay in tune with our company’s image. Public relations nightmares can
happen overnight. Maybe a customer is
unhappy with your product and has trashed your brand on social media, which
somehow got enough likes to draw the media’s attention. Or maybe it’s being aware that timing is
critical. On the day of an international
tragedy is probably not the best time to launch something new or make a joke
that could be considered in ill taste.
The last good quality a
public relations professional possesses is thoroughness. Yep, that might mean you’re up until 3 a.m.
fact checking a press release or covering all your bases. It means having a hint of skepticism and
doing your due diligence to ensure what you’re putting out there is the
absolute truth. Thoroughness means
citing, attributing and sourcing practically everything. Doing your homework isn’t always easy or fun,
but it is a huge part of what we do.
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