 I don't think it'll be overly controversial for me to say that Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors in the in the world I just think he's fantastic The guy can can play anything. He's done so many different kinds of roles and been great at all of them sometimes wonder how he can Be so versatile as an actor to play these different characters and do them all Do them all justice and portray them all Well and convincingly that so Tom Hanks my hand is off to you, sir And I just really appreciate your work aside from that though at this video is not about Tom Hanks This video is about public relations and the different roles that people have in public relations It's very similar to we have to be the Tom Hanks public relations people Have to be the Tom Hanks in this field because you never know what's going to be thrown at you There are all different kinds of roles in public relations It's it's rarely ever one thing and one person rarely ever has the exact same job as somebody else Even if they're stepping into that in somebody else's position It's going to change slightly depending on that person because there are just so many different things involved here So anyway with that said let's take a look at some of the different roles that we commonly find in Public relations in the field of public relations. So Just again strictly just looking at broad categories of different roles that you might be asked to play In working in the field of public relations number one is writer Public relations people are often called on to write for a variety of circumstances and and contexts This could be in the context of just preparing a Message for an executive and an organization helping them put together a speech that they're doing it could be Drafting a response to some emergency situation or engaging in crisis communication Right, so we could be writing for the media in that regard We could just be writing for media in promoting a particular Project or we could be writing for you know, how are we gonna phrase this in the brochure or you know Something along those lines are on the website So public relations people are called on to write in a variety of circumstances and for a variety of contexts So they have to be fairly versatile writers often times Public relations people are often times also strategic advisors We discussed in a previous video that public relations really is a management role it should be a part of those executive decisions and And a decision-making role and it should be a strategic advisor Public relations person oftentimes is asked to see the big picture. How is this, you know a choice going to affect? Our engagement with our audience and how this organization relates to the audience how the audience views them or how our public sees that organization so We're going to be asked to as public relations people to offer Strategic input at times and think about things from a strategy and strategic perspective We're also expected to be marketing communications experts at times, right? How are we going to reach this audience? How are we going to understand this audience? How are we going to best engage with this audience? So a part of the job oftentimes is you know has some crossover with marketing It's not exactly the same marketing is different in some ways, but there is a lot of crossover here. So There are times when we're going to be called on to to serve in that role and to at least advise and assist in that role of marketing communications and be that person for an organization and At times we're the crisis manager, you know, we're the person Who is Engaging with the public of that organization and so when there is a crisis naturally public relations people are going to be looked to for guidance and for all those things right for doing some writing for Engaging in marketing and especially for strategic advice and how we can best navigate this crisis situation And so public relations folks can play a large role an important role in crisis management as well So you can see there's a lot of these are just broad categories There's a lot of specifics within this and there are other things that we're not really getting into but These are four of the major categories of roles that people find themselves in in a public relations sense So with that then there comes, you know, they need to have a variety of skills We need a lot of tools in our tool belt as public relations practitioners You've got to be able to have a lot of tools in your tool belt and be able to pick the right one and use it skillfully so So a couple of the broad again broad categories of skills We're not getting into detail here We'll have an opportunity to do some of that later But just broadly looking at what are some of the primary skills involved for public relations people for full media relations Public relations is not exclusively a publicist role and it's not always about media relations But that nonetheless is a big part oftentimes of the role of somebody in public relations You are by default or by design the media relations person So if there's an incident or if there's somebody, you know building those relationships with the media just in general In order to develop and cultivate that relationship It's probably gonna fall to the public relations person So you need to have some media relations skills oftentimes you may also be called upon to look at and develop employee communications because Not only does that organization have a story to tell their public External public through the media and through their relationship with just the community around them They also have to tell their story internally You have to communicate who you are and what you expect and things like that with the employees that you have so in public relations skills and oftentimes are Involved or required to have what it would take to communicate effectively with employees as well You're gonna need a Mind for research and strategic planning again public public relations people often serve as strategic advisors And that means first of all being prepared knowing how to research doing research. What's the best way to conduct this type of? Plan and to achieve the goals that we have That's gonna involve a lot of research and then of course it's gonna involve strategic planning How are we best gonna get to where we want to go? That that's a strategic function And so we have to have that kind of mindset as well So you need the skills of being able to effectively research and and then also to use that research in order to inform and Develop a solid strategic plan Finally you're gonna need and in this day and age you can need some social media skills And it's sort of part of media relations, but it's not reaching out to a separate organization That would be a media Outlet it would be now you're in charge of your own media the social media, right? And you can use that how you wish so you have to decide and help your organization decide, okay What kind of tone are we gonna have on social media? What kind of information are we gonna share? How are we gonna best use social media? You really almost have to have any organizations. It's gonna have to have in this day and age a social media presence of some sort So it's good to be intentional about how we're gonna use that. What are our goals here? Identifying those doing the research and then planning around that and developing effective social media for that organization and Then being able to implement that as well understanding the different platforms and and their use and their audience and and the best way to Extend your message and to tell your story using those tools then which are very very different So these are some of the again broad categories of skills that you're gonna be called on to use as a public relations Practitioner I also want to address that there are a variety of different career paths that that very Greatly, so we need to really understand what these different career paths are They all have positives and negatives and they're not as clear-cut as we make them out here but this is just a way to kind of Connect with the understanding of what these different career paths might involve so First of all, for example, you could you could work in a public relations agency So an organization a business that is specifically dedicated to public relations works with external clients Some of the advantages here are that first of all it has a has a public relations focus So you're with people you're around people who are public relations focus It's it's you know that are gonna understand what that is And have the tools probably that you need to do that effectively So it's gonna I don't have an inherent public relations focus when you work for a public relations agency You also a larger support network Oftentimes when you work for an organization You may be the only public relations person or you may be in part of a small department or even if it's a larger department you know At an agency you're gonna have again be surrounded by people who understand what public relations is That's not always the case when you're a piece of a larger organization when you're working for an organization Or a nonprofit or the government or whatever You're surrounded by people who aren't public relations people But when you work in an agency you have that larger support network surrounded by people who are public relations professionals themselves But one of the downsides and the kind of the negatives is that the market can be less steady when you work for an agency you're kind of you know stuck with the ups and downs of what the market is and and and what your Services are worth as an agency and sometimes, you know, especially in down economic times Having a PR agency can seem like a luxury to a lot of organizations So the market can be less steady the work may not be as consistent and and So that that's one potential downside of working in an agency But you know so again positives and negatives here But that's what it kind of get an impression of what it would look like to work in an agency You also have the opportunity maybe to work in corporate public relations meaning you work for an organization That's not a public relations firm. They're they're a company that has some sort of other product or service But then public relations is a part of that organization and so one positive here is the compensation tends to be better in these types of situations So the money tends to be better in the corporate world. That's probably not surprising There does tend to be more stability You're working for an organization. Hopefully that's not as affected by whether that service is a luxury or not And that company sees it as a necessity and so there may be more stability And not quite as volatile as it extends to the market in that type of position The downside is that a corporation you're gonna have a smaller PR staff You're not gonna have that large support network of people surrounding you who are public relations people Depending on the size of the organization You may be the only public relations person there or you may have a small staff or even a larger staff But you're gonna be a small part of a large organization And the purpose may be less understood when you work in an agency again when you're surrounded by people who are In public relations and work in public relations Then they understand that your function they understand the value of that But when you work as part of a larger organization You can have people there don't really understand what your job is or what the function of public relations is they're going to think you're in advertising They're gonna think you're in marketing or something like that and may not fully understand the role and the importance of public relations So you may have to battle that so You may also think about nonprofit work and there's a lot of rewarding things about working in nonprofit You get to work in an area theoretically that That provides you with a passion and a purpose if you're choosing that nonprofit It's probably because you believe in that cause. So you're you're gonna have a real fire For for what you're doing right and a real belief in what you're doing in a nonprofit. Usually that's the case, right? And nonprofit you're probably gonna be as part of a small staff So you're gonna have a broad range of activities if you're somebody who wants to really Do everything in the realm of public relations that a nonprofit can be a great place to do that because you're gonna be called upon to Do all of these things you may be the only person there who has that expertise But you're gonna be called on to do a lot of different things as opposed to it like at a large corporation For example, you may be very specific You may be just the media relations person and that's it or you may just be writing and that's it Or you know one of those other things you may have a very narrow focus in terms of what your role is in Public relations in that in that position and a nonprofit. You're probably gonna be doing a little bit of everything And so if you like that that broad range of things then that could be a good Good fit for you a good spot for you And a nonprofit you're probably also gonna have fewer resources though. That's the downside nonprofits Don't by definition make a lot of money usually so you're probably gonna be a little more limited in terms of the money that you Have to spend your budget's gonna be smaller You're not gonna have all the fancy tools and the fancy Technological bells and whistles and things you're gonna have to make do with less and a nonprofit typically so you get a fewer resources But again, there's a you know, you got to weigh all that out decide if that's for you One last little career path that you could look at is with the government the government is a large Large organization and there are a lot of opportunities. There are lots of people work for the government at all different levels federal state local There are lots of opportunities there in the government There is fair stability in the government the government's not going away They're right, you know, I wouldn't think so so that that there's gonna be jobs there And they're probably gonna want people in those roles and those in those public relations type roles as community relations Roles public information roles. So there's fair stability there There's also the idea of public service if that appeals to you if that's something that is important to you It certainly is important overall. And if that's something you feel passionate about again, there's that there's that purpose and that passion That's involved with public service that can be very rewarding about working with the government on the downside And can you like a nonprofit? You're gonna have a smaller staff You may be the only person in that and that that works in that area In that particular department or there may be one or two other people. It's probably gonna be a smaller staff though And you're gonna be more limited in scope the government doesn't do the broad range of public relations Activities that maybe a corporation would or or that you would get into with an agency or especially in a nonprofit You're gonna be more narrowly focused to things like public information And those types of activities Developing those types of relationships with just the community. So it's more limited in scope But but that may appeal to you as well So there are lots of different ways you can get involved in public relations and lots of different things that you can do with So hopefully now you see that public relations involves wearing a lot of different hats public relations practitioners can wear a lot of different hats You were it requires a lot of different skills and there are different roles that we play, right? Ideally as a public relations practitioner You will have the opportunity in finding the right fit for you to become kind of the Tom Hanks of public relations, right? And excel at those different roles and excel in one that is the right fit for you If you have questions about the public relations role or the different roles that people have anything related to public relations at all Please feel free to shoot me an email. I'd love to talk to you there in the meantime I hope you have a better understanding of the variety and the different Roles that that that people play in public relations and where you might find a good fit within that