The big question

What is PR?

If you had asked me this question a year ago, I wouldn't have had an answer. In fact, even when I picked the major, I still didn't really understand what PR was. Friends and family would ask me about school, whether they actually cared or not, and question me when I brought up PR, asking me things like, "What's PR? Is that like HR? What do you plan on doing with that?" They didn't understand what PR was. But who was I to judge? Neither did I.

I would always give them a vague answer like, "It has to do with communications and writing and stuff." Practically a textbook definition, I know. But it wasn't until I began taking courses on the subject that I finally had an understanding of what public relations is.

According to PRSA, “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

What does that mean exactly?

To go a step further, PR is essentially informing, persuading, and integrating people. As long as there has been civilization, there has been PR. It's something everyone needs. Public relations is a field with many aspects, but what it boils down to is image management and effective communication. In PR, the objective is to not only build but also maintain positive relationships and healthy environments for clients.

In addition, PR professionals have to be versatile. They have to think both strategically and creatively, be negotiators, speakers, and planners. People working in PR need to be writers, researchers, and problem solvers. They need to have business knowledge and more notably in today's world they must be tech-wise and social media savvy. What I'm trying to get at is that PR professionals do so many things.

From writing press releases and pitching stories to running blogs and managing social media, people working in public relations must ultimately be able to maintain positive relations between their client and the public. Whether their client is a company, organization, or a public figure, the goal is always the same; manage or be managed.

Even though I've only been practicing PR just a few short months, I feel that I've already learned so much about the field. Considering a year ago I had never even heard of it, I feel like a public relations expert now. While that is far from reality, I do have a more firm grasp of what it takes to work in the industry. There is so much experience I have yet to gain and knowledge left to learn as my journey in PR has only just begun.