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Demystifying Public Relations as a Profession

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There are a few professional disciplines that are misconceived, and public relations is one of them. Publicity is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or organization to the public to affect their perception. This simple definition is sometimes mistaken as the definition of public relations and can be misleading to individuals looking to make public relations a career. 

Public relations goes beyond the requirements of creating publicity such as coordinating media appearances and events and writing and syndicating press releases and news stories. Public relation is a combination of all the above but goes beyond this. Public relations practitioners are strategic communicators whose goal is to engender awareness and support for their clients. 

Public relations comprise research, analysis, planning, execution, monitoring, and evaluation. If you intend to make a career in PR, you need to understand the following. 

PR flourishes on pen power. PR involves writing 70% of the time. You must be a good writer and have a penchant for writing. As a PR professional, you will write press releases, statements, feature articles, advertorials, proposals, broadcast scripts, and more. A PR professional should understand the specific writing requirements and write accordingly. It is a sweeping requirement for success in the public relations field.

Be prepared for crises. As a public relations professional, you must be a conflict resolver, issues manager, and crisis communicator. Depending on the organization, a good PR professional needs to have a crisis management plan in place to match the clients’ needs just in case. 

Remember, public relation is more than interacting with just the media. A PR professional should relate with the media and community to ensure a seamless relationship between your organization and other institutions superintending your industry. 

To get into the public relations profession in Nigeria, you need a related degree or diploma. You should possess excellent communication skills (oral and writing), excellent people skills, know your way around relevant applications and software, great presentation skills, initiative, ability to prioritize and plan effectively, awareness of different media agendas, and creativity. 

Undergraduate training placement is also beneficial as it exposes you early to the practical aspects of public relations especially content creation and media management. 

SOLPR offers internship opportunities for undergraduates and fresh graduates interested in pursuing public relations as a career. Check our career page to apply. 

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