Media & Public Relations Professional Comprehensive Course

Introduction

Public Relations and Corporate Communications are at the heart of business performance. Modern methods, tools, and channels have greatly increased the speed at which communications can be experienced, from local to global. This programme looks at a variety of corporate communication tools and models before examining in detail the potential value and role of key stakeholders in corporate affairs and public relations processes. It looks at approaches that will permeate the whole organisation as well as the specialist disciplines within public relations and corporate communications.

Course Objectives

• Set Corporate Affairs in its strategic anticipatory and effective context.
• Develop an understanding of stakeholder programs for regular, focused communication activities.
• Examine the development of Corporate Affairs tools.
• Understand how to develop and coordinate strategy, plans, and tactics.
• Evaluate the use of research.

Course Outlines

Day 1: The Power of Communication

• Programme overview, design, and options.
• Opening exercise: goal setting.
• The Big Picture: overview and PR strategy.
• When Public Relations should be used.
• Corporate identity and image: establishing a positive image and identity.
• Becoming a neighbor of choice: external reputation management.
• Leaders’ role in managing communications.

Day 2: From the Inside Out: Crafting Consistent Messages

• The expectations of employees and employers.
• Understanding audiences: segmenting and prioritizing.
• Plotting the stakeholder communication journey.
• Getting the message out to audiences.
• Storytelling: creating an unfolding story people pay attention to.
• Empowering employees through social media.
• Steps for creating clear content that has an impact.
• Developing trust and credibility with senior leaders.

Day 3: Risks & Threats: Their Identification and Management

• Planning for the unexpected.
• Using communication activities to manage risk to reputation.
• Repairing a damaged reputation.
• Identifying opinion formers and influencers.
• Engaging with key decision-makers.
• Principles for building sustainable relationships with decision-makers and influencers.
• VIP and political contact programmes.
• Monitoring political activities.

Day 4: Corporate Communications / PR in the Corporate Mix

• Media Relations best practices.
• Effective event management.
• Developing a crisis management toolkit.
• Hosting VIP visits.
• Protocol in practice.
• Financial PR activities and roles.
• Multinational and global communication challenges.

Day 5: Powerful and Persuasive Planning

• 10 stages of PR planning.
• Using market research to plan PR activities.
• Developing measurable objectives for activities.
• Identifying core messages.
• Developing practical communication toolkits.
• Creating a schedule of PR activities.
• Measuring outputs, outcomes, and value.

Day 6: The nature of public relations and how it intersects with media and journalism

• An overview of business communication and public relations.
• The six points model of public relations planning.
• How media and journalism fit into public relations.
• Managing traditional media and electronic media relations.
• Understanding the importance of the audience.
• Establishing objective communication efforts.
• Budget - staff, time, material, and money.
• Evaluating the communication program's success.

Day 7: Press release and news release, international standards

• Media handling.
• Press release vs. news release.
• The art of writing a press release using the 6 C's of communication.
• The journalism code of truth.
• Public relations society in America and its norms.
• PRSA code of ethics and public relations industry ethics.
• Trading between PR international norms and own interests.
• Society of Professional Journalism (SPJ) international standards.
• Public opinion and how to measure it.
• Propaganda models of communication.
• Media handling during the process of crisis management.

Day 8: Business communication and public relations as a part of it

• Corporate communication and public relations.
• Marketing communication vs. public relations.
• The internal audience and employee relations.
• Consumer relations and effective customer relations management.
• Multicultural community relations.
• Government relations.
• International relations.

Day 9: Globalization and its effect on public relations

• The environment's complexity, globalization, and the effect of technology.
• Social media platforms, and how to handle them effectively.
• Multimedia age of business communication.
• Events as part of your public relations.
• The importance of events, types, venues, and purposes.
• Employing events to serve the overall organizational message.
• Corporate social responsibility and how it serves the message.
• Building a supportive community for your core message.

Day 10: Designing a united campaign theme, bringing it all together

• Understanding the core message(s).
• Assessing the need for PR efforts and researching your audience.
• Planning the campaign/program with standards of quality and theme.
• Choosing the best strategy to deliver your message.
• Implementing the campaign/program.
• Evaluating the campaign/program's effect on the audience.
• Keeping the core message in each stage.
• Virtual campaign design based on trainee capacities and professional background.