I think creativity is the cornerstone of public relations. Writing is one offshoot of creative thinking. Young PR folks will need to bring bold ideas to the table to breakthrough the deafening noise of this fragmented marketplace. Clients, managers, etc. are too busy to spoon feed them ideas and content. Be inspired or get fired young ones.

Couldn't agree with you more. I think having knowledge of social media laws/regulations (FTC, etc.) and how it pertains to your business is important. Great article I will share with my colleagues.

Jeff Donald mentioned political/policy understanding. Public affairs is part of my background and my responsibilities and I'd agree this is critical. If your client's goal is to influence legislation, knowing the touch points and steps in the process are critical. Understanding the congressional calendar when you plan an event at which you hope to feature a Member is just one example. I'd add an understanding of community relations IRL as a corollary. - How do you understand who your community's influencers and leaders are, and how do you reach them? - What are the key community boards you'd advise your client or organization to plug into so your leadership is connected, for example? - Do you have a master list of key invitees for major events, sorted by organization and sector so you have a health care list, an education list, a manufacturing list, an arts list, and so forth? - Do you know who to sit down with for key briefings so they've heard the message straight from the right person and will communicate it to their circles of influence? This is good old-fashioned word of mouth work with strategic targeting, and it takes time and skill. I'd tell every new PR professional to pick something he/she is passionate about and get involved on a community board or in another leadership role (OUTSIDE the PR profession itself), as a way of starting to understand and plug in. @BarbChamberlain

Excellent list and comments...I'd add some background in Social Anthroplogy specific to how groups and organizations form. I find understanding social behaviour to be a great method of predicting how groups are forming and how to better engage with them.

Great list, as someone transitioning into the field this helps (got most of the attributes). I would understanding the role of Corporate Social Responsibility in the bigger PR picture and I would not stress ethics enough. Considering where the economy has been this past year, I think everyone needs a stronger moral compass.

I'd add skills in social media measurement as greatly improved measurement is one of the key advantages of new media over old. Knowing what measurements are valuable and which are bogus (# of hits) is a key skill.

Nice list. I might add some political skills or at least awareness. There aren't many industries these days that don't find themselves interacting at some point with the federal and/or state and local government. Knowing the players and processes can be crucial in deciding how to message an issue or develop a communications strategy.

You have shared an excellent information. It is really very useful for efficient running of the businessbusiness

Great post Dave. I don't really have anything to add but would reinforce the acceptance that PR, and especially agency PR, is not 9 to 5. In my 20-year career, I don't know how many times I've had a fresh-faced job candidate nod vigorously when I explain that it's not 9 to 5 only to have them complain about work/life balance when it's time to put it into practice.

How about balls, mate? I'm worried that we're turning the PR industry into one of much toothlessness (yes, I think that's the right grammar!), with fewer people willing to stand up for themselves because of how social media reacts. Instead of just deferring to someone's viewpoint, or taking heat, just because that someone has more armies than you, stand up and say, "No, you're wrong and here's why." There are too many apologies being made when there's scant need for the majority of them. And that's concerning.

Yikes...burning the midnight oil here in Chicago. That reference to "you graduates" should be "young graduates". BTW, I'm using the post for my first lecture of the semester tomorrow.

Dave -- Glad to see you commented back to Amy, Davina, Cassie, Stephanie. I was getting nervous. I have to say that the biggest disappointment of seeing you graduates is a fundamental lack of understanding how a business runs. I'll give props to my undergrad -- Central Michigan University -- for having the students run an actual PR agency for real clients. These students get to understand customer service, account management, finance, and what a client actually demands from communications to help run their business. As an adjunct professor I tell my students to take an intro to finance or economics class to at least know the concepts (better to even minor in either). Hopefully the next generation of public relations degrees include more business acumen in their programs. The profession would certainly benefit.

This is such an applicable article now in this social media and economic age. PR agents must be diverse and adaptable in their skills in order to relate to a wide spectrum of potential clients.

Thanks for the list, Dave. I would add basic video shooting and editing skills to this list - especially in an agency environment. Creating digital content doesn't just mean writing. PR pros need to be able to tell their clients' stories in other ways as well. Thoughts?

I didn't think you were seriously going to write this up. Thanks for doing it. Great list. I can now get back to the commenter who sparked this question on my blog.

Amy, Davina, Cassie, Stephanie - I completely agree regarding business fundamentals. What's more, I would also add math to the list - a basic competency that I find essential every day.

Great post, Dave. I'd add two additional elements: a fundamental understanding of business financials and operations and an ability to multitask (or juggle). As mentioned previously, PR pros should understand how a business operates, business "lingo", how business performance is measured and how PR contributes to this performance. They'll have to be able to justify their activities and budgets, showing concretely how they believe they could impact lead generation and ultimately, the bottom line. I don't believe I've ever had a day as a PR professional when I was able to focus on one thing and one thing only. The "to do" list shuffles perpetually as new tasks or "fire fights" arise. Good news: keeping several balls in the air successfully is a trick that can be honed on the job. It may take some longer than others, but it can be learned.

I second the comment @amymengel made about business savvy. There have been many times where my two years in a business program have helped me effectively communicate a concept or an objective to an executive. Understanding basic business terms and knowing how to use them is essential.

Linda - I agree. I've included social media ethics here to illustrate that there's a different set of situations and nuances in online media, but you're right - it's important in general.

Dave, This is a great list, but I'd add ethics to it. Without some sort of moral compass, you're going to get new PR pros who will say anything and never think twice about it. (I'm thinking Reverb here.) Thanks for the discussion on this!

I'm still adding skills, improving talents as an "old" PR professional. A lot of the old abilities like writing, research and attention to detail relate to the new; learning how writing a release is different than writing a blog post. ITA with Amy Mengel that PR practitioners needing business skills, and should have an understanding of finance, marketing, economics, etc. to know how the communications program is part of the business.

Great advice for new grads, Dave. The social media skill set is increasingly more important; especially as employers expect the new generation to be net and tech savvy as they enter the workforce. Employers are looking to younger employees to bring them up to speed. Your list also serves as a good reminder of what those of us who have been around for a while might need to brush up on or review.

I'd definitely add "business savvy" to the list and argue that PR professionals need a solid understanding of business financials and knowing what levers drive performance within a company. They need to be able to show that what a PR or communicaitons professional does (traditional OR new tactics) impacts performance/bottom line. They need to be able to speak business language, and that includes being comfortable talking about their work using the metrics and definitions that business operations managers use. I see too many professionals who, for whatever reason, are uncomfortable in this area and then end up creating metrics or rationale for their work that they are comfortable with (the most common example lately is the notion that you can swap out terms like "Return on Engagement" or Return on Interaction" for true business metrics like Return on Investment). The problem is that these "squishy" business terms and measurements, while fun in a conceptual way, aren't actually how companies evaluate performance and make decisions about funding projects.

Very relevant stuff here... Especially the 'small c' communications. I'm always surprised by the number of PR pros that have issues communicating w/ clients.

Couldn't agree with you more. I think having knowledge of social media laws/regulations (FTC, etc.) and how it pertains to your business is important. Great article I will share with my colleagues.

Jeff Donald mentioned political/policy understanding. Public affairs is part of my background and my responsibilities and I'd agree this is critical. If your client's goal is to influence legislation, knowing the touch points and steps in the process are critical. Understanding the congressional calendar when you plan an event at which you hope to feature a Member is just one example.
I'd add an understanding of community relations IRL as a corollary.
- How do you understand who your community's influencers and leaders are, and how do you reach them?
- What are the key community boards you'd advise your client or organization to plug into so your leadership is connected, for example?
- Do you have a master list of key invitees for major events, sorted by organization and sector so you have a health care list, an education list, a manufacturing list, an arts list, and so forth?
- Do you know who to sit down with for key briefings so they've heard the message straight from the right person and will communicate it to their circles of influence?

This is good old-fashioned word of mouth work with strategic targeting, and it takes time and skill.

I'd tell every new PR professional to pick something he/she is passionate about and get involved on a community board or in another leadership role (OUTSIDE the PR profession itself), as a way of starting to understand and plug in.

@BarbChamberlain

Excellent list and comments...I'd add some background in Social Anthroplogy specific to how groups and organizations form.

I find understanding social behaviour to be a great method of predicting how groups are forming and how to better engage with them.

Great list, as someone transitioning into the field this helps (got most of the attributes).

I would understanding the role of Corporate Social Responsibility in the bigger PR picture and I would not stress ethics enough. Considering where the economy has been this past year, I think everyone needs a stronger moral compass.

I'd add skills in social media measurement as greatly improved measurement is one of the key advantages of new media over old. Knowing what measurements are valuable and which are bogus (# of hits) is a key skill.

Nice list. I might add some political skills or at least awareness. There aren't many industries these days that don't find themselves interacting at some point with the federal and/or state and local government. Knowing the players and processes can be crucial in deciding how to message an issue or develop a communications strategy.

You have shared an excellent information. It is really very useful for efficient running of the businessbusiness

Great post Dave. I don't really have anything to add but would reinforce the acceptance that PR, and especially agency PR, is not 9 to 5. In my 20-year career, I don't know how many times I've had a fresh-faced job candidate nod vigorously when I explain that it's not 9 to 5 only to have them complain about work/life balance when it's time to put it into practice.

How about balls, mate?

I'm worried that we're turning the PR industry into one of much toothlessness (yes, I think that's the right grammar!), with fewer people willing to stand up for themselves because of how social media reacts.

Instead of just deferring to someone's viewpoint, or taking heat, just because that someone has more armies than you, stand up and say, "No, you're wrong and here's why."

There are too many apologies being made when there's scant need for the majority of them. And that's concerning.

Yikes...burning the midnight oil here in Chicago. That reference to "you graduates" should be "young graduates". BTW, I'm using the post for my first lecture of the semester tomorrow.

Dave -- Glad to see you commented back to Amy, Davina, Cassie, Stephanie. I was getting nervous. I have to say that the biggest disappointment of seeing you graduates is a fundamental lack of understanding how a business runs. I'll give props to my undergrad -- Central Michigan University -- for having the students run an actual PR agency for real clients. These students get to understand customer service, account management, finance, and what a client actually demands from communications to help run their business. As an adjunct professor I tell my students to take an intro to finance or economics class to at least know the concepts (better to even minor in either). Hopefully the next generation of public relations degrees include more business acumen in their programs. The profession would certainly benefit.

This is such an applicable article now in this social media and economic age. PR agents must be diverse and adaptable in their skills in order to relate to a wide spectrum of potential clients.

Thanks for the list, Dave. I would add basic video shooting and editing skills to this list - especially in an agency environment. Creating digital content doesn't just mean writing. PR pros need to be able to tell their clients' stories in other ways as well. Thoughts?

I didn't think you were seriously going to write this up. Thanks for doing it. Great list. I can now get back to the commenter who sparked this question on my blog.

Amy, Davina, Cassie, Stephanie - I completely agree regarding business fundamentals. What's more, I would also add math to the list - a basic competency that I find essential every day.

Great post, Dave. I'd add two additional elements: a fundamental understanding of business financials and operations and an ability to multitask (or juggle).

As mentioned previously, PR pros should understand how a business operates, business "lingo", how business performance is measured and how PR contributes to this performance. They'll have to be able to justify their activities and budgets, showing concretely how they believe they could impact lead generation and ultimately, the bottom line.

I don't believe I've ever had a day as a PR professional when I was able to focus on one thing and one thing only. The "to do" list shuffles perpetually as new tasks or "fire fights" arise. Good news: keeping several balls in the air successfully is a trick that can be honed on the job. It may take some longer than others, but it can be learned.

I second the comment @amymengel made about business savvy. There have been many times where my two years in a business program have helped me effectively communicate a concept or an objective to an executive. Understanding basic business terms and knowing how to use them is essential.

Linda - I agree. I've included social media ethics here to illustrate that there's a different set of situations and nuances in online media, but you're right - it's important in general.

Dave,
This is a great list, but I'd add ethics to it. Without some sort of moral compass, you're going to get new PR pros who will say anything and never think twice about it. (I'm thinking Reverb here.) Thanks for the discussion on this!

I'm still adding skills, improving talents as an "old" PR professional. A lot of the old abilities like writing, research and attention to detail relate to the new; learning how writing a release is different than writing a blog post.

ITA with Amy Mengel that PR practitioners needing business skills, and should have an understanding of finance, marketing, economics, etc. to know how the communications program is part of the business.

Great advice for new grads, Dave. The social media skill set is increasingly more important; especially as employers expect the new generation to be net and tech savvy as they enter the workforce. Employers are looking to younger employees to bring them up to speed.

Your list also serves as a good reminder of what those of us who have been around for a while might need to brush up on or review.

I'd definitely add "business savvy" to the list and argue that PR professionals need a solid understanding of business financials and knowing what levers drive performance within a company. They need to be able to show that what a PR or communicaitons professional does (traditional OR new tactics) impacts performance/bottom line. They need to be able to speak business language, and that includes being comfortable talking about their work using the metrics and definitions that business operations managers use.

I see too many professionals who, for whatever reason, are uncomfortable in this area and then end up creating metrics or rationale for their work that they are comfortable with (the most common example lately is the notion that you can swap out terms like "Return on Engagement" or Return on Interaction" for true business metrics like Return on Investment). The problem is that these "squishy" business terms and measurements, while fun in a conceptual way, aren't actually how companies evaluate performance and make decisions about funding projects.