Letter to Cousin

September 6, 2011

Tara Knowles

123 Lane

Logan, Utah 84321

Dear Tara:

I know every time we talk about my major we always joke around about Samantha from Sex and the City and how it would be so glamorous to live that lifestyle. Well actually it isn’t as glamorous as the movies make it out to be. There is a lot more hard work and behind the scenes than just fancy dinner parties. I don’t think I have ever explained to you what public relations is, so I thought I would write you this letter to help explain it.

Public relations is a business that employees over 3 million people worldwide and it’s growing rapidly. There are different definitions just as there are different types of public relations from nonprofit to government agencies. Public relations is used as a tool to manage the image of a person, place, idea, or organizations to positively change someone’s mind.

You would be amazed at how many different definitions of public relations there are, and how many different names there are.  Each individual person has their own idea of what public relations is, that is why it is so hard to commonly define. Different public relation specialists focus on different key words in each definition that tailors to their specific field and their personal preference. Public relations can also be known as corporate communications, public affairs, corporate relations, external communications, and media relations, etc.

In my opinion my favorite definition of public relations is one I read in a textbook of mine.

            “Public relations is a management function that identifies, establishes, and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and various publics on whom its success depends.”

That is too long and hard to pin point clearly what it is. Personally it helps me to pick out key words that help me understand the definition. There are 4 words that stand out to me, 3 main action words that I believe encompass what public relations entails. In this case let’s look at it like publics is the noun which would be a client ranging from a person to an organization and the verbs would be identifies, establishes, and maintains. The action words can be used as a guideline towards the end goal.  First identify the situation whether it’s to council through a crisis or a plan a special event, next establish the process to accomplish the task, and lastly maintain a positive image.

  When thinking about public relations and the skills required people default to the cliché of ‘oh I love to work with people’, but there is so much more to it than just that. Obviously people skills are beneficial but you don’t always get to deal with the happy positive side of people, especially in a vulnerable crisis situation. Critical thinking and creativity are especially crucial in public relations. You always have to be thinking three steps ahead and out of the box. Being assertive and a hard worker go hand in hand in this profession, without one you can’t have the other. Additional skills needed are multitasking, team playing, and being business savvy.  The core of public relations is having the ability to write well.

Most people when thinking of public relations don’t even realize writing, let alone how much writing, is involved. They write a range of things from news releases, proposals, speeches, social media information, to press kits. Writing is obviously a necessity in this industry. You must know how to write effectively in many different styles and for all types of media.

Hopefully after rambling about how diverse the public relations industry really is, you can see how versatile and well-rounded such a major and career is.  Public relations can even be beneficial and useful in daily life.  After thinking about it Samantha totally deserves to have fun at all those events after all her hard work.

Yours truly,

Kandace