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Public relations professionals do more than draft press releases and build relationships with key media representatives. They must also be familiar with the attitudes and concerns of consumers, employees, public interest groups, and the community in order to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships. In addition to fulfilling their traditional role of getting a company's message out to its audience, those who have completed their studies in communications and public relations may also be responsible for developing and running programs designed to keep the lines of communication open between company and organization representatives and their various audiences. This might include such activities as scheduling speaking engagements for key company staff and speech writing.
Why is Public Relations Important?
At its core, public relations revolves around this universal truth: people act based upon their perception of facts. By managing, controlling, or influencing people's perceptions, public relations professionals hope to initiate a sequence of behaviors that will lead to the achievement of an organization's objectives. When those in public relations successfully create, change, or reinforce opinion through persuasion, their primary objective is accomplished.
How Does Public Relations Work?
Public relations professionals follow a set of principles in order to achieve success. Most campaigns begin with the identification of the problem or challenge, then move on to setting the public relations' goal. In order to achieve the goal, the public relations specialist crafts persuasive messages and implements key communication tactics while monitoring progress and fine tuning as necessary.
