10 key emotional & social skills all PR professionals need for career success
13 March 2023, Cape Town - One of my professional passions is to interact with aspiring young PR professionals from all over Africa and to have robust discussions about the future of PR and the skills required to become a thriving, award-winning PR professional. Yes, there are technical skills one can learn, but I believe it’s far more important to hone certain social and emotional traits to become an exceptional PR professional. Here are my top 10 pieces of advice for those who want to make their mark in the PR industry today.
1. There is no early success without exceptional grit
The first 10 years of your PR career are all about knocking your first internship out of the park and then working towards earning regular promotions until you reach management level. This kind of growth at a young age is exponentially valuable for your career trajectory and future earning potential. Anyone can do it, but what separates the corn from the chaff is an enormous internal commitment, determination, grit and willingness to put in the work. These are sacrifices young people must be willing to make. No-one is entitled to anything - you must work for your future. The good news is that if you cultivate a roll-up-your-sleeves attitude, you will gain the trust of those around you and you will develop a real passion and love for your work, your team and your clients. Do this and you will have a very fulfilling, satisfying and upwardly mobile career.
2. Learn and Unlearn
There are huge disparities between what you learn at school and what you will learn in the industry. Your studies will teach you invaluable interpersonal skills that you can take with you into the professional environment, like understanding teamwork, accountability, responsibility, ownership, planning and effective time management. It will also teach you to do proper research and to ask the right questions. So when you enter the industry, come with an open mind, because you will be forced to unlearn and re-learn in a very positive way. Also make a commitment to learn about the ethical standards and requirements of the job, and to tune your ear for tone-deaf messaging. This transition and growth can be hard, but there is no pain without gain and no wisdom without integrity.
3. The Media needs PRs
Raise your eyes to look beyond just your own world and the social media you consume and spread your gaze to all the media and world news you need to take in for your work. I only realised the importance of really knowing the media in the year of my in-service training. The agency I work with is a PR agency and media relations is our business, so if you wish to pursue a career in an agency environment, pay extra special attention to getting to know the media landscape and maintaining broad general knowledge every day. You must make a concerted effort to consume more media by listening to different radio stations, reading a variety of newspapers, magazines, and news websites, following news podcasts and so on. Social media (and its Cancel Culture) is no substitute for real insight. Visit as many media houses as you can. And as you start talking to journalists, make an effort to understand how their newsrooms work, what kinds of stories and story formats they want to receive, and what important events or issues they will be focusing on. All of this is part of your emotional and professional maturation as a PR consultant.
4. Remember, it’s never personal
I think as a “fresh out of college” intern, I lacked the EQ to know that in a professional environment when things get stressful and intense in the office, it’s almost never personal. Thinking back to the early days, I internalised people’s emotions but soon realised it’s not personal. Decide now that you won’t be emotionally immature about constructive criticism. Maintain your etiquette and respect. Stay focused on your ability to do your job and service the client to the best of your ability. This is how you build trust and credibility with no room for self-pity.
5. You are the master of your own (digital) growth
I sometimes look back on my career and wish I did more when I was younger to be a digital nomad or to find other practical everyday ways to hone my digital skills. At the pace at which the world is evolving, it’s important that you create opportunities for your own personal growth in the digital space. Offer to run your community or church’s social media pages, start a page for an NGO, or create content for a friend’s small business. Then look at the analytics, follow influencers and their campaigns and get a feeling for how different social media audiences behave and consume content. Understanding trends can give you a competitive edge.
6. Always work on your craft
Don’t expect any career growth if you are disorganised and unable to evolve at work. Those that grow in their careers practice good daily habits, such as organising their daily and weekly to-do lists, following what’s in the news in their clients’ particular industries, making sure they manage their deadlines and clients’ expectations, and constantly learning new skills and insights that match the client and job description. For some clients, for instance, you will do more than just external PR. You might be called to craft and manage their social pages, issue their internal newsletters, manage campaign plans and budgets, or present to the CEO. Embrace the hard new stuff, because multi-skilled PR professionals are highly valuable and sought after.
7. Do it right or don’t do it
In your daily profession its more than just ticking boxes for the sake of it without any strategic or intentional thought, you’ll instantly regretted it. I am sure many young professionals can relate. To grow, one needs to become more emotionally mature in your work, and make a commitment to yourself, your colleagues, and your clients to always do things properly the first time. Chances are, you will either not have to re-do it, or if you have to re-do it you will really learn something. That commitment to doing things right is so important for developing your own integrity. It taught me to take initiative, deliver consistent results, and that everything I did was a reflection of my attitude – which determined how much other people felt they could trust me and hand me more responsibility.
8. Voice your Ideas
In the workplace, there is nothing more refreshing than a new perspective. Older professionals look to Gen Zs for new creative thinking. But this comes with a big caveat. It’s a two-way street and Gen Zs should never come into an environment with more experienced people thinking they can’t be taught anything. Rather strive to connect authentically and with vulnerability. A professor I know always said, “there is no-one smarter than a first-year student, and no-one humbler than a second-year student”. Blind naive arrogance and ideological blinkers bring us nowhere. Share ideas, listen to others, and come up with the very best ideas together.
9. Know when to play it cool
The professional environment is very fast-paced and your learning curve is quite steep, especially in the early years. Know and accept that you have to learn a lot - and quickly. Try not to be in a constant state of panic or anxiety. Don’t lash out at those around you. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Manage up, know your capacity, meet your deadlines and ask for help and guidance if you struggle. There are mentors who can help. You are human, so take care of yourself and find ways to breathe and stay healthy.
10. Celebrate all the wins
My career took off at such lightning speed that looking back, I forgot to celebrate the small wins. I forgot to keep the clippings from the best coverage I landed, record happy client testimonials, or kudos at work or from the industry. You’ll never forget the first Bruce Whitfield interview you landed, your first Financial Mail front page or the first client feature on Bloomberg. Keep it, because you might need it later, for your CV, for new client pitches or even for your website or LinkedIn. And who knows, maybe one day, it will be fun to look back and show your kids, employees or students what you’ve achieved - to inspire them for their careers one day.
Cherná Lutta graduated in 2012 and today, more than 10 years later, is a member of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) Africa. She serves as a founding member on the PRCA Africa NextGen committee, she is a guest lecturer at her alma mater, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology PR Department, and she serves as a CPUT PR Industry Advisory Committee member. In 2022 she was named the South African PRISM Awards PR Practitioner of the Year. She works full-time as the PR Operations Director at Dialogue, which was named Best Mid-Sized Public Relations Consultancy at the 2022 PRISM Awards.
About Dialogue:
We are a strategic communications agency that listens closely, teases out the details, answers the brief, and spreads the word. We create better dialogue for brands more human than ever, for humans more complex than ever. When dialogue begins, better stories are born. Stories that tell us who we really are, that invite players old and new.
Stories that make ripples in culture. A tweet to change us all. A post to unite us all. A revolution. By a teen. On an app. Dialogue begins with two equal dots on the same line. We make sure everything after that is gold.
We are proud members of the Public Relations Communication Association and PRISMS Best Mid-Sized Agency for 2022 (Silver).
