If you enjoy writing, interacting with others and sharing your creative spirit, you will be at home in the field of public relations.

Despite the fact that the work environment for a public relations firm is similar to many others, certain skills are required to succeed in this field. Whether you are an entry-level PR professional looking for your first job or a more experienced professional aiming for a career change, it is paramount to acquire these five skills before joining a public relations firm.

Writing

Honing your writing skills will improve your chances of getting a job. However, when it comes to writing for a public relations firm, you must be well-versed in a variety of writing styles and formats. To name a few examples, press releases, blog posts, pitches and AP style. Even if you aren’t the best writer right now, there are plenty of ways to refine your skills and make significant improvements. Whether you hire a writing coach or find a YouTube tutorial from an English professor, the internet is your oyster when it comes to starting your journey to becoming a great writer.

Most companies will ask for writing samples in their interview, so it’s best to start preparing now. Remember – you need to practice to get better.

Presentation skills

Good presentation skills are also required for working at a public relations firm. It is critical to understand how to present an idea to a client in a clear and concise manner. Consider presentation skills in three parts: research, design and actual presentation.

The last thing you want to do is appear in front of a client and not know what you’re talking about. So, take the time to conduct thorough research and benchmark against previous presentations and work to see how what you’re preparing measures up. 

Following that is the design process, which entails laying out your gathered research and information in a simple and logical manner. Finally, for your actual presentation, it’s best to keep it short and to the point. Maintain eye contact, do not read directly from the slides, and always leave time for questions.

Organization

Some people have an innate ability to plan and organize their lives. For others, on the other hand, organization does not come naturally. Because there are so many aspects of public relations that can be incorporated into a job description requiring different tasks at different rates of turnaround, a PR professional must be extremely well-organized. It is critical that you can keep track of things and refer back to them as needed. Experiment with various organizational methods until you find the ones that work best for you, and then stick to them as much as possible. To keep track of your tasks, you can use a planner, Excel sheets or even an app like Notion.

Good habits can be learned and achieved through constant repetition, so maintain your organizational strategies until they become second nature.

Analytical research

Research is an essential public relations skill that serves as the foundation for producing outstanding work. Not only is it important to know what you’re talking about or writing about, but doing research also ensures that your work is precise and trustworthy.

Distinguishing between public relations and marketing is becoming more difficult. Many companies integrate their teams and the scope of their work. To that end, public relations should be held to the same standards as marketing and must be quantifiable. Analytical research will help you stay current on market trends, competition and technology. Adequate and efficient research will help you perform with confidence and ease, whether you’re writing a blog post or planning a new PR strategy.

Without a doubt, using analytical approaches will assist you in discovering new opportunities. For each idea, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• Why is this important?
• What greater good will this accomplish?
• What is the significance of this?
• How will this help me or my client?

Interpersonal communication skills

Relationships are everything in public relations, so cultivating good interpersonal skills is essential. Being able to communicate effectively with others, such as colleagues, clients and the media, is a necessary communication skill. People who can connect well with others in everyday situations and use those interpersonal skills in business-focused scenarios will often find it easier to master public relations.

About Kennedy Nunez: Kennedy is a Business Development Associate for Swyft, which is a tech PR firm in Austin and Houston and a top digital marketing and PR agency in Denver since its founding in 2011. Swyft also has a small satellite office where it offers tech PR in San Francisco. Swyft has been listed as one of the top tech PR agencies in Texas for two years running by the B2B services review site, Clutch.co.