What Are We Teaching PR Students?

What Are We Teaching PR Students?

A lot of people have been asking lately, “What are you teaching your students?” This is becoming a key question as PR education has become the hot career in professional marketing. For those unfamiliar with what they teach the students, I wanted to break it down into categories that make sense. Let’s start with their most fundamental skill: communication. Many schools focus on oral and written communication skills, but other schools might also include body language or public speaking skills in their curriculum. Once we know how our educators teach these particular elements of communication, we can talk about how they build up to things like social media marketing and crisis communications.

If your school district was to walk you through their PR curriculum, how would they explain it? Based on what they’re teaching their students, what are the highest priorities for them?

I am a PR student myself and I also work in an agency. I want to see good things come out of our industry. We need to break down the barriers that keep us working too closely with marketing and help us make direct connections with our clients. Our communication skills are essential for this; however, there is still room for improvement! I think we should be more concerned with building relationships with decision makers than just getting our message in front of more eyes.

What Do The Experts Think?

Edward Markham, author of the bestselling book The Power of Just Doing Absolutely Nothing, feels that many schools are teaching the wrong things for PR. He has created his course to ask students to develop their thinking skills outside of their assigned skillsets. His student evaluations say that this is the first skill that students learn: creative thinking. Markham says, “We are more than just our job title and we are more than just our communication skills; we must think creatively about issues and problems that do not have logical solutions or workable solutions. This skill enables us to see new ways to communicate in many situations and help people solve problems in unique ways.” James Carder, President of Carder Communications, agrees with Markham. “Many people in the world think they have great communications skills when all they are doing is putting together a press release and sending it to lots of people. We need students to learn how to think about communications differently,” says Carder.

Sean Golding, a former journalist and editor who now does public relations for financial services companies, believes that journalism schools push their graduates into PR because they lack the budget for journalism jobs These now-PR grads probably don’t understand that the foundation of all good PR requires patience, both with clients and with results.

I want to see good things come out of our industry.

PR Education from the Top

The State of Public Relations

If you want to make a difference in your agency’s education, author Ann Shoket suggests that the first thing you should do is to know the purpose of public relations. “So many people say that their job is public relations. But when you ask them why they are doing it, they don’t have an answer,” says Shoket, who talks about “The State of Public Relations” on her blog. She provides a detailed history of PR as well as examples of what happened with companies that were successful in implementing PR changes before and after one-way communication tactics (such as traditional advertising) were popularized.

Shoket has learned that now the biggest challenge is getting people to understand what the purpose of public relations is. She realizes that many people say they want to do this work, yet when asked what their hopes and dreams are, they don’t have any answers. Most of them are still just following the traditional PR model. Shoket believes that if you define public relations with your clients, it will enable you to do a better job for them as an agency or with your clients as a consultant. “There are so many things wrong with conventional public relations,” she says. “But that is why you need to know your purpose, including the history and evolution of this profession.”

Martha Ruth Vail, previous President of APN, thinks it is important to reinforce the basics of PR every year with students. “Basically all I do is reinforce what they know. It reminds them of why they want to learn something new and how they can use their skills in a bigger way," says Vail. She believes good teachers take one day or an evening a week to share with their students what the objectives are for the whole year and how they will be assessed at the end of the year.

If students are coming out of school knowing all of the things they need to know, they probably feel like they should be able to do the work on their own. Vail says one of the biggest mistakes she sees is that students are forgetting to ask for help when they need it. “I am not saying that we shouldn’t give them time to fail; I’m just saying don’t let them fail at your expense,” Vail adds. This means giving them a critique often, whether you are a student or an instructor.

The most important requirement for interns according to Vail is that they be open-minded and willing to learn every day. This is especially important when they are also juggling a full class load. “The best way to not make a mistake is to know what your objectives are and be prepared to learn quickly,” she says.

Vail advises that interns should be given a chance to get their feet wet in any area they are interested in working on in PR. She encourages them to get involved by developing relationships with clients and building their network of people that they can talk with. This can eventually lead them to opportunities outside of the classroom.

Of course, it is important for teachers to teach students not only the fundamentals of public relations but also encourage them as well so that they have life experience beyond the classroom. “They will have great experiences that they can bring to the classroom and share with their peers and other people in public relations,” says Vail.

It is especially important for interns to be aware of the importance of networking. This means being well-rounded in experience, whether it is an internship, working in a PR firm or on a nonprofit board. Vail has found that many people are trying to do too much at once and she wants them to focus on one thing at a time. She especially encourages interns to get involved with the American Public Relations Association (APRA) because it is important for them to be engaged with professional organizations that will help them throughout their career.

The Importance of Experiential Education

Students are often told that they need to see that a job is happening in the real world before they decide if it is for them. For people who want to get into PR, this has never been more important than today. “Nobody wants to be stuck in a classroom,” says Vail. “But many students don’t get their hands dirty so they are looking at public relations and think they can do the work by themselves.” This is when experiences outside of school can really help students.

According to Vail, one way students can be introduced to real work in public relations is by joining a firm as an intern.

Conclusion

The purpose of good PR education is not just to teach students the skills. It is also to develop them as leaders. It should help students focus on their strengths and what they want to do in their career as well as make them better marketers who can understand how they can help clients and build relationships with them. It should also encourage them to be honest with themselves about their strengths and weaknesses so that they can continually improve — a trait that many people look for when hiring new employees.

Bottom line: There are no quick fixes, but there are steps you can take to ensure your future graduates will become top PR professionals.