Five things they don’t teach you at PR institutes
By Hemant Arya on Jun 6, 2008 in Ask Questions, Indian PR industry, PR career, PR professionals, PR tools, PReducation, education, featured, worklife
Some of the best brains in the PR industry today have no formal qualification for doing their job. They hold no diploma from any communications institute nor any management certificate. But when it comes to PR strategy and execution, organizations seek them out. What is it that they do? Do they have some practical lessons that can become a part of every institute’s curriculum? I could think of five such points a PR school could adopt to make their students ‘future ready’. They are listed below, in no particular order. And if you are studying at an institute this information might be useful before you start job hunting.
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‘Presentation Skills’ – One of the most important weapons in any PR pros’ arsenal. You are judged by how you speak and present your ideas. Clients and colleagues form lifelong impressions within five seconds of you uttering the first sentence. In fact once my boss had whispered to me in an ‘X Files’ kind of tone: “They are always watching you.” Therefore before you accept your diploma, ensure your presentation and public speaking skills are top notch.
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‘P2P Networking’ – Here PR students have an unfair advantage over others. If they look around in their communications institute they will see editors, senior reporters, special correspondents of the future learning the ropes in the journalism classes. Right now they are approachable and ready to be friends. Ten years hence you will just read their by-lined article or see them on the prime time news. So start making right friends right now.
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‘What to do and what not to say’ – As a PR consultant, you are in touch with company heads and senior management, and there’s a ‘certain’ behaviour expected from you. This may include how to handle difficult questions, how not to offend people, how to shake hands, how to initiate and carry on a polite conversation, how not to get unnecessarily provoked etc. It sometimes takes years to master the art but the sooner we make a beginning, the better it is.
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‘Dress up and play the part’ – A PR consultant inspires confidence in her clients. They seek her advice and trust her judgement. Again, this is a skill honed over years but you can start immediately by dressing up the part. Always be aware of the silent signals you give about your personality by the way you dress up. I once heard an industry veteran say: “Before you pass out of your institute, ensure you have at least two business suits in your wardrobe.”
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‘Sell yourself, gracefully’ – Promote yourself and do it with style. For example, even as a student you can share your business card at formal occasions. It can carry your name, contact details and institute address. Learning early how to effectively use sites like Linkedin.com is also an asset that will go a long way.
I am sure there are institutes that already have these lessons in their curriculum but there are others who can think about them. After all a little practical work never did anyone any harm.
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On Jun 6, 2008, Palin Ningthoujam said:
Good points, Hemant. I would also say that PR institutes never teach you PR practicals such as writing a pitch mail, issuing a press release, organising an event/conference, etc. I wish they start introducing students to all of these so that when they come to agencies, they are at least aware of what the agency people do in a day to day basis.
On Jun 6, 2008, himanshu kapadia said:
great article, i am also pachvi pass(sharukh please call me for an audition) with no formal pr education but survied in this industry from last 16 years, the most important things other than you mentioned made me what i am are- Discipline( be on time , complete work on given timelines), Networking-(although did not lean from a pr school, i give guest lectures and see my future cometition/collegues/associates and the most important lesson for a youngster be a master at one art and joker of many.
On Jun 6, 2008, Anil Nagwani said:
A good thought indeed to point out what needs to be done to upgrade skill levels of PR professionals. And indeed many institutes, as u rightly poined out are incorporating in their curriculum. The artcle emphasises on the softer aspects. You also need to pay attention to the operational or the laborious or some might say dirty/mundane work that need to be done, and is equally important, the following are some ofthem
PR is not all Armani Suits and Bentley Tyes, you need to send faxes and e mails!!!!!!!!!!
You need to do media rounds, running around in scorching heat, bitter cold and other challenging conditions
You need to talk both in English and Hindi. Indian born confused Desis are becoming majority in this industry.
You need to write in English that is intelligable. And hey no Jargons please…..
A good understading of Hindi is an asset
All people you interact with are not at the same wavelength, you need to match the wavelength and then talk
Also how to make yourself valuable to the client and the journalist Basically earning their respect.
When to be stern and when to soften up. You are here to sell your services nd not your dignity!
There are more and it is upon the seniors of this industry to train and groom the new crop so that they become through bred professionals and enhance the respectability of PR industry in India.
On Jun 6, 2008, Shashank Jaitely said:
Good points. Some top PR companies have realised this and have initiated comprehensive training/learning programmes for young recruits where they learn and unlearn lot of things.
A Gurgaon based PR firm does this very well. They have two year long learning programme where new recruits are programmed to be good PR professionals. It is amazing the kind of time and resources the company spends on the new blood before they actually start the real work.
It is a great idea for the firms to become teachers. It is best the students can get!
On Jun 6, 2008, Hemant Arya said:
That’s right, Palin. Need more practical lessons and less of theory. Above all, soft skills training is a must.
Himanshu, like I said PR institutes can use practical examples from professionals like you. There’s a yawning gap between what’s taught and what’s actually used.
On Jun 6, 2008, Hemant Arya said:
Anil, thanks for adding to the list. There’s a lot of unlearning a trainee has to do. I think rather than Hindi, a good knowledge of regional (where you are operating) language will be an asset.
Shashank, agencies putting in place a comprehensive training program has mostly been talk. And if there are agencies doing this successfully, its commendable. But they also face the challenge of attrition – train the trainees and they quit for geener hills!
On Jun 6, 2008, Shashank Jaitely said:
Hmmm…right. And these kids want to move to corporates as the grass has darker tone of green there…:-)
The agency I am talking about gets a bond signed that the recruit will work in the firm for at least two years after the training is over. Not the best way at all but what are the options.
On Jun 6, 2008, Palin Ningthoujam said:
@ shashank jaitely “move to corporates as the grass has darker tone of green there” …not to nitpick, but I think because of the intense competition among the agencies, i think today it is actually the agencies today that offer aggressive career growth and money. i can expect a 50-60% hike in one year in an agency, not in a corporate. A corporate binds you down to something specific, an agency provides you wide exposure.
We had an overseas colleague visiting us some time back, and he said in the mature markets, PR professionals want to stay more with agencies and stay as consultants, not work for a particular company. India will see that trends too. What do you say?
On Jun 8, 2008, Ria said:
Hi Palin,
Agreed agencies are the best training grounds for budding as well as seasoned PR professionals. But mostly the PR agencies in India do not offer growth prospects beyond media relations. PR is much broader in scope and in India its largely untapped beyond media! We need to qualify where we can grow as strategist, a thought leaders or a consultant and move away from being mere arms and legs staff. I have worked both sides and my agency experience outweighs my corp comm experience but even then I would say that there is more scope of growth in a corp comm role as you get to dabble with much more than PR and can bring more value to the table
On Jun 9, 2008, Rajul said:
I would like to add to the list a good handy knowledge of latest technology. In a world of second life, social media, blogs, and wikis, its amazing how most PR institutes do not offer courses in these fields. Be it an agency, corporate, or non profit, everybody is asking a facebook page. Even if all we do is media relations (thought I strongly believe what we do goes beyond getting our press releases published)it is essential to get our fingers wet in the emerging/new media.
On Jun 9, 2008, himanshu kapadia said:
thanks hemant, just a thought, why does not pr blog start an offline pro bono service for youngsters and also some one who requires pr services but really cannot afford or something we should do but cannot do because it does not come PAID. I am willing to sign up for free service for a cause..
On Jun 9, 2008, Shashank Jaitely said:
@ pallin: I think I will have to agree with you..:-). The trends have changed but very recently. There is a one-time good jump when one moves from the agency to corporate and then the money growth is not as volatile as the agency’s. The only way is to then jump from one corporate to the other…!! And for the human mind the grass always has the greener tone on the other side of the fence, whereever you are. So this fact stands true for the folks who have crossed the line.
I myself moved to a corporate after spending considerable time at an agency and last week I had a dream of sheeps jumping the fence…:-D
On Jun 9, 2008, Hemant Arya said:
Rajul, agree with you. We need fresh people with fresh ideas, who are future ready. They also need to be experts in using the new ammo (like you mentioned) available to them!
Himanshu, brilliant idea! We should discuss this with the IPRB team.
On Jun 15, 2008, komodo dragon said:
NICE ! way to stick it to the man and give us those useful pointers!
On Jun 29, 2008, Msn said:
We had an overseas colleague visiting us some time back, and he said in the mature markets, PR professionals want to stay more with agencies and stay as consultants, not work for a particular company. India will see that trends too. What do you say?
On Dec 17, 2008, VIKRAM said:
as far as i concerned if person is dealing with PR person should have vast knowlege as i believe in to know is to win apart from that u should know how to present stuff….
On Jan 1, 2009, Antara said:
I feel that an agency offers more scope for developement in skills as you need to tackle clients spread across various industries. When you jump the fence, its important that more than the work profile or pay, you are choosy about the sector that you join. If cements or infrastructure don’t excite you then its better to watch out before your are enticed by the much coveted tag of ‘Corp Comm.’ You need to select something you would like to specialize in….coz you can’t afford to feel bored at that level.
On Jan 5, 2009, chintan buddhadev said:
Hi hemant,
I am a first year student of Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communications, Pune and specialising into PR.It was really nice to read articles written by the professionals for the students. We at SIMC do have a lot presentations that we do which help us to improve our Powerpoint skills, speaking & presentation skills as well as we tackle question & answers sessions post the presentation. But something that is a miss is the practice to practically write press releases, and press invitations.Though we have a had a mock press conference wherein we wrote all of these, but If you could suggest a way to go about practicing writing press releases then it would be great. You could may be give a few instances where press releases are to be written from different point of views to give more scope of exposure to the company and its key messages.
On Jan 6, 2009, Sandhya Raju said:
Great tips! I would also like to add “Stay informed”. I think you can make a great difference and earn respect in media when you are clued into the industry (client business)and seen as a value addition. After all PR is just not “Press Release”.
On Feb 8, 2009, Harshendra said:
@Hemant & palin…
Very Informative Isights..I said “Insights” as they are the basic tricks which can make you the master of the trade. I never learnt these things in my PG college and i think we absorb them when we start working and its all about exprnce. Indeed,PR is just not Media Relations but its a vast canvas..Events, Sponsorship, Conferences, Road Shows n lot more..I would like to add that SHARP IT Skills in this Web2.0 era is must. The Negociation skills is a value addition.
I worked for 2 agencies for 8 months and my account directors tought what i never learnt in mi school & now i am on the oder side of the table and using all those traits in mi current position.
I will appreciate if such kind of Knowledge sharing programme will be initiated.
On Feb 12, 2009, Vijay Kapur said:
Interesting thoughts and views, but with over a decade and a half in the “PR” industry, i am yet to be convinced that PR has moved from press relations to one of strategy or strategic consultation.I do not know what one teaches in Indian PR institutes but the accredited ones abroad imbibe both theory and practice in their courses.They do not teach you how to speak english or how to write english as that is taken as a basic requirement one posess, neither is any emphasis given on how many business suits one should have. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on ‘grooming’,in this article.
What about the intellectual capital? That will be the differentiator in both the individual and industry level.The industry will only then be able to move out of being called ’spin doctors’ or worse.