Public Relations (PR) is a term that many of us, including me, aren’t familiar with. In the beginning, I had no clue what was all about. I wanted to go back to school and escape from the 9-5 job that I have and discover something new. While surfing on-line about different programs offered by CEGEPs and university, I discovered this program about PR and Communication Management and it was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. Since I wanted to do something that suits my personality and my skills, I decided to apply for this program without any hesitation. I am almost done with the Certificate (30 credits) at McGill University and I have an idea about it. I have to admit that I chose the right program because I just love it. I want to share with you what I have learned I also want to share the five things in PR that I consider important and I will also describe my personality that belongs to each point.
What is Public Relation ?
Definition ( Merriem-Webster Dictionary )
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: the activity or job of providing information about a particular person or organization to the public so that people will regard that person or organization in a favorable way
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: the relationship between an organization and the public
Communicating
To begin let’s have another definition of what is communication. According to the same dictionary; communication is :
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: the act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviors to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., to someone else
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: a message that is given to someone : a letter, telephone call, etc.
How much am I familiar with communication ? People who knows me. will also know how I communicate well and interact with others. I have always been very social and an outgoing person. It doesn’t take much to make new friends. My social skills sometimes put me in trouble, well I guess this is the negative side of being too much social. But on the other hand, I just do what I love : communicate and interact with others.
Communication is about everything in life. If we don’t communicate with others, the world will not be as it is now. It exists many types of communication; written, verbal, informal, formal and moreover body languages is also a type of communication. In PR, written communication is one of the most important types. One must be able to write and write to be able to communicate.Communication includes listening as well. In order to proceed the transfer of the information, we do need a receptor too, which is the person who we want to communicate the information.
Public Relations is mainly focused on effective communication and is about transferring the correct message with the correct tool(s) to develop and maintain a good relationship with the public or within the organization.
To be continued…..
Part 2 -Research and Planning