Top 5 Vital Skills Every PR Practitioners Needs

The PR industry has changed drastically over the past few years which calls for new or enhanced skills. For you to succeed in the communication industry it takes more than just a good degree. There are certain skills that you need to learn so as to keep up with these changes. The following is a list of the top 5 most basic skills that will go a long way in improving your personal and professional life and ensure uniqueness.
Broad communication capabilities
Communication is key when it comes to public relations. As a PR practitioner, you not only need to be able to speak concisely and clearly and be an excellent listener but you also require to be sensitive to subtle nuances in language and culture because you will need to tell your story to different people via various mediums (new media, emails etc)

Technical skills
The world is evolving and becoming sophisticated at fast rate in terms of technology and so is the PR industry. Over the years the industry has grown to adapt to the digital age. New technology has had momentous implications in the way practitioners do their work and how people access information.  Technical skills upsurge the quality and quantity of work done.  It is important for practitioners to be tech savvies and learn how to tap into new technology whether inform of gadgets or soft wares so as to improve their output and get to a larger audience.

Writing skills
As Malcolm Gladwell said ‘Good writing does not succeed on the strength of its ability to persuade, it fails or succeeds on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else’s head.  As a PR practitioner you will be expected to generate content for your clients, may it be a press release, a pitch, or a blog post and since writing in PR differs greatly from writing for a magazine or writing a novel, you need to learn and improve your writing skills. For example you will need to know how to write compelling lead and how to say more with less. Also reading and writing more will definitely improve your writing skills in the long run.

Creativity
Some people don’t think of PR professionals as particularly creative apart from when pulling crazy PR stunts, yet creativity plays a crucial role in the daily work life of a PR professional. In the digital world we are living in today, there are many opportunities to innovate but still there is so much mundane and uninteresting content that many people do not want to engage with.  With all this content out there it is important for PR professionals to cut through the noise by being a bit creative in the way the deliver their content. Also creativity aligns your company’s mission and the market, this can be done through the use of creative PR campaigns which in turn brings your message to the right audience

Research skills
As a PR practitioner you need to be naturally inquisitive so as to be conversant with your area of expertise, know the current trends in the industry, keep track of your market and know your clients’ needs.  Research also makes communication a two way process by collecting information from the public rather than the simple dissemination of information

The above skills are just a few, there are many other skills that you need to focus on for you to build a successful career in public relations