PR 101 Training Session

After spending four hours in this 101 session I must say I felt pretty tired toward the end, but for the better as it had been such an intense crash course in the basics of PR, which I personally had very little prior experience in. Once the group had introduced themselves a brief introduction was made and key figures in the history of PR were touched upon, inspiring quotes were discussed including one of my favorites from Bill Gates, “If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on PR…”

The first part of the session allowed the speaker to give us all a basic understanding of PR and we were asked to summarize the field into one word. What seemed like quite a trivial task actually ended up being very beneficial as cleverly the speaker returned to these words at the end of the session. We were again asked how to summarize PR in one word and all of us highlighted different factors, proving the session had somehow impacted us all.

What was also very interesting was the use of local case studies that were included in the session. We were able to see how PR affects the majority of companies today and especially those more localized ones in this particular region. Another effective strategy used to explain the basics of PR was to use the comparison of advertising. By discussing PR via an advertising vs. PR perspective allowed us to make direct comparisons and see the major points in a more concise way.

Once the basics were acquired we then moved on to move interactive tasks which allowed the delegates to apply the previously acquired knowledge. We conversed on what key tools are vital for PR professionals and finally ended the session with different groups developing different PR strategies for certain scenarios. I found this the most valuable part of the session as all the previous knowledge acquired could be put into practice and ideas could be bounced off team members with different backgrounds and expertise. Overall a very constructive, practical session which I would highly recommend for those, who like me know the basics and would like to become more informed and gain further skills in the field.