PUBLIC
RELATIONS

"PR" is a broadly understood — and often, misunderstood — industry. In our first lesson, we'll outline the role of PR in today's business world. We'll talk about the differences between advertising, social media, and PR and the skill set you'll need to possess as a successful PR professional.

Assignment #1: Complete the introduction exercise and answer the following questions: Why is PR important for a brand? What do PR practitioners do and what does it take to become successful? What PR competencies do you currently possess? What PR competencies do you hope to work on in the near term? What do you hope to get out of the course?

As a PR professional, your first job is being your industry's biggest fan. I'll teach you a process for defining trends and key PR opportunities that can be applied to any industry. Then, we'll do some basic competitor analysis using tools I'll share with you in class.

Assignment #2: Conduct a brief analysis of your given industry. Identify data and insights that set the backdrop for PR strategy. Pay attention to the brand’s main competitors and how they are positioned in the market. What are the latest trends in their industry? Where is there an opportunity to be a leader?

What differentiates you in the marketplace? What are the core values of your company? What do you promise to your customer? The role of a PR manager is to illustrate the answers to these questions with impactful stories. In this class, we'll learn how to identify your brand's USP. Then, I'll lay out the methods I use to translate USP into compelling stories that resonate with the target audience:

Assignment #3: Create a USP of your company (or a company of your choice) and present your brand’s objective.

Before creating a PR strategy or a campaign, the brand needs to know who its target customers are. What’s important to them? What do they believe in? How do they consume their media? What are their habits and hobbies?
Today, I'll introduce tools and strategies to answer these questions effectively. Then, we'll learn how to take the next step: turning answers into insights that help you reach your TA effectively and authentically.

Assignment #4: Begin initial market research, focusing on identifying your target consumer. Create a portrait of your target consumers and list three insights based on that portrait.

Today, I'll introduce the steps and metrics needed to create an effective and powerful PR plan. We've already worked with some of these in previous classes, so today we'll be building on what you have learned — and then putting it into practice.

Assignment #5: Building off of the previous assignments, start to outline a PR plan for your company, brand, or product.

Clear and consistent messaging is a critical component to the public relations process that is often overlooked or simply bypassed altogether. In this class, we will learn why successful PR professionals obsess over the message, and how to get it right.

Assignment #6: Using what we've learned, create a messaging framework for your company, brand or product.

In this lesson, you'll learn techniques for writing that expand reach and increase shares. We'll outline pitches, press releases, backgrounders, op-eds, and other PR writing. Then, I'll share with you my personal do's and don't of tone and style that help me keep the media and consumers engaged.

Assignment #7: Develop a press release for your company or the company you've been using throughout the course.

Part of effective PR is knowing how to sift through the media sea to find the right outlets for your brand. Today, I'll share a strategy for doing that which can be applied to any industry, and tips for getting journalists to bite.
Then, we'll tackle the organizational skills and tools that will help you get out your message to the right audience at the right time throughout the year.

Assignment #8: Identify three target media for your brand and briefly explain your choice. Then, draft an email pitch to a journalist you hope to cover your brand.

Traditional media outreach is just a part of PR. Today, we'll dive into how to keep your brand top-of-mind via events, influencers, content, and more.

Assignment #9: Choose the 2 most relevant tactics for your brand and describe the best way to use those tactics, taking into account your brand needs (e.g. event - What kind of event could it be? What is the creative concept of that event? Where would it take place? Who would attend? etc.)

Effective crisis response means fulfilling the expectations of the audience while protecting the reputation of the brand. Today, I'll lay out my strategy for rapid, effective crisis response and take you through one of my own crisis responses point-by-point.

Assignment #10: Analyze 2 cases of companies that are going through a crisis and propose a PR intervention to resolve those crisis situations.

In this class, we'll dig into a topic that can be scary for some PR practitioners: interviews. We'll dissect the different types of interviews and how to use this medium to drive your brand goals as a brand spokesperson. Later, I'll follow up with each of you on your mock interviews and provide some pointers.

Assignment #11: Record yourself (2 min. max) answering questions about your company in an interview setting.

By now, you know that PR includes a whole lot more than the straightforward "PR Manager" role. Today we'll zoom in on the various positions in PR and the strengths and personalities each of them play to. I'll share with you insights from my journey up the PR career ladder and advice on how to promote yourself, promote your career, and keep your motivation high in this fast-paced industry.

Assignment #12: Using what we've learned today, update your resume for the type of position/business you want to pursue.