“I wish that the advice I impart…could guarantee you a career 

free of failures or mistakes, but I can’t. 

Failure is part of our existence, and in PR especially, 

the situations leading up to it can be out of your control.”

—Ed Zitron^[1]

“Every single thing we do on this planet, and in our jobs, and in our daily life is either—if you get really intense about it—is either helping save the world or maybe contributing to its death. And it could be 51% and 49%: It could be just the tiniest thing. Everybody is responsible, and brands more than anybody because a lot of times, they’re contributing to the unhealthy cycles of consumerism that contribute to the death of the planet.” 

—Doug Pray^[2]

First, a Story…

The year is 2050.

In the bustling metropolis of New York City, Emily, a seasoned Public Relations professional, begins her day with a sense of anticipation mingled with familiarity. As she sips her morning coffee, she reflects on how the landscape of PR has evolved since the early 21st century.

Emily’s day kicks off with a flurry of emails and messages flooding her inbox. Amidst the digital cacophony, she discerns urgent client requests, inquiries from journalists, and updates from her analytics dashboard, fueled by advanced AI algorithms. These tools provide valuable insights, streamlining data analysis and predictive modeling to inform strategic decision-making.

After triaging her inbox, Emily dives into a strategy session with her team. Together, they brainstorm innovative ways to leverage emerging communication channels and adapt to shifting societal trends. While AI-powered analytics offer invaluable support, Emily emphasizes the human element of PR—nurturing relationships, fostering trust, and crafting authentic narratives that resonate with diverse audiences.

As the day unfolds, Emily finds herself juggling multiple projects, from crisis management for a Fortune 500 company to spearheading a grassroots advocacy campaign for a nonprofit organization. While AI algorithms crunch numbers and predict potential reputational risks, Emily’s expertise lies in interpreting the nuances of human behavior, anticipating stakeholder reactions, and orchestrating strategic responses.

Amidst the whirlwind of meetings and deadlines, Emily carves out time for mentorship and professional development. She recognizes the importance of staying abreast of technological advancements and equipping herself and her team with the skills needed to harness the potential of AI and other emerging technologies in PR practice.

As the sun sets over the city skyline, Emily reflects on the evolution of PR over the decades. While technology has undoubtedly transformed the profession, she remains steadfast in her belief that the heart of PR lies in authentic storytelling, genuine engagement, and a commitment to ethical conduct.

The Takeaway

The narrative of Emily’s day in 2050 underscores the integral role of technological developments, including AI, in shaping the practice of Public Relations. While these tools offer unprecedented insights and efficiency, success in PR ultimately hinges on a balance of technical proficiency, strategic acumen, and human-centric communication skills. As aspiring PR professionals, it is essential to embrace the opportunities presented by technology while upholding the timeless principles of integrity, empathy, and authenticity in our work.

Introduction to the Future of PR and Strategic Communication & The Other Takeaway

In this chapter, every word in the “First, a Story” section, including “The Takeaway” was produced by ChatGPT in just a few seconds. This was done with a minimal set of prompts, using the free, publicly available ChatGPT 3.5 in an effort to document the technology in early 2024.

The response by ChatGPT correctly asserts that changes in technology will result in changes to roles and expectations, as well as the tools used by practitioners—but the foundation of PR and Strategic Communication will endure.

In this final chapter of the text, we’ll take a look at the present and possible future of Public Relations and Strategic Communication. To narrow that down a bit, the focus will be on jobs today and the job market of tomorrow.

Application & Areas of Expertise

Throughout the text, applications of PR and Strategic Communication concepts and practices have been mentioned directly and indirectly. There’s no definitive list of all the potential jobs available to someone who specializes in PR & StratComm. The next handful of paragraphs offers a glimpse at some of the more common areas in which you are likely to find work.

Event Planning involves elements of PR, Marketing and Advertising—and a whole lot more in terms of organizational and management skills than we’re able to cover here. Entire books have been written regarding the fundamentals of event management.^[3],^[4],^[5] There’s no shortage of tools, tips, and resources for virtually every conceivable event, so it’s worth taking the time to get a good grasp of the basics. An event planning guidebook created by Sam Houston State University contends that there are six dimensions to consider: anticipation, arrival, atmosphere, appetite, activity, and amenities.^[6] Events should be fun and engaging, and take the time to care about details can be the difference between merely hosting an event, and hosting an event that people remember and tell others about.

Working for a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization can be one of the most rewarding positions in PR and StratComm because you have the opportunity to advocate for a cause. It can also be stressful, as practitioners often face a perpetual need for resources while being tasked with many communication roles—usually with lower pay compared to similar positions at for-profit companies. Typical tasks include creating content, recruiting volunteers, engaging the community, building and maintaining the brand, crafting fundraising campaigns, and “development,” or building relationships with key donors. Various political and advocacy groups can fall under the “nonprofit” umbrella, and tend to have a more targeted focus and—depending on the group—greater access to financial resources and personnel than a more traditional charitable organization.

Sports and Entertainment is “one of the hardest areas to break into right after college because so many people would love to work for the athletes and celebrities they already enjoy following.”^[7] It’s simply not enough to be a fan, because that status will not separate you from any other applicant. Successful applicants tend to work harder and find opportunities to show off their talent—even if it isn’t for their dream job at first.

That may mean doing work at high schools, minor leagues, or for local bands and micro-celebrities for little or even no pay, just to build a portfolio and make connections. There can be a gap between an applicant’s high expectations of the job, and what that job actually entails—whether it’s due to something as common as differences with co-workers, something larger such as unethical decisions, discovering that the pleasure of being a fan is diminished after transitioning to employee status. The key is to seek out opportunities, no matter how small, and use those experiences to build your network and portfolio.^[8] In other words, this is a “foot in the door,” not “door in the face” industry.

Sports teams often employ a sports information director to promote and craft narratives for athletes, teams, and leagues, as well as build relationships with the local community. In the entertainment realm, a publicist represents a celebrity and will pitch stories to news media, develop partnerships, and navigate crises.

Health Care is an area with significant demand for communication specialists. The range of potential positions in health care is vast, and includes everything from research institutes and family planning clinics to pharmaceutical companies and end-of-life facilities. This role may involve internal or external communication—or both—with employees and the local community.

Education has been another area of growth for communication specialists. This includes jobs at K-12 schools and local school districts, as well as jobs in higher education. Typical duties include internal communication to employees, as well as external communication to targeted audiences, the local community, and general public. See the interview with Mary Knight in Chapter 13.

Corporations is an area where PR and Strategic Communication professionals can be employed in-house by their client. In the corporate setting, communication professionals can be involved with everything from internal to external communication. Professionals charged with internal communication tend to focus on day-to-day communication between managers, senior leaders, executives, and front-line employees. These types of communication can include emails, newsletters, speeches, and annual reports. In the external setting, professionals can be charged with reaching out to media organizations with news releases, responding to interview requests, training leaders on how to answer interview questions, or taking charge of social media accounts.

A common communication-related position in Government work is that of a public affairs professional. They are responsible for communicating with the public on behalf of a government entity at the local, state, or federal level. A communication job at the federal level may be for a branch of the military, programs such as NASA, or regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency. Duties typically include communicating more frequently with the general public rather than narrow target audiences, fielding questions, as well as promoting and maintaining a positive public image for the organization. In addition to working for the government, PR professionals are used by corporations, nonprofts, and regular citizens to lobby lawmakers for the purpose of influencing public policy at the local, state, and federal levels. See the interview with Tegan Griffith in Chapter 11.

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world, and communicators are typically tasked with finding ways to attract visitors to a location, whether it’s a single resort, a larger city, or an entire nation. This is one area of specialization in which strong social media skills are a necessity, as online communication is now the primary means of promoting tourism for most entities. Understanding the importance of visual storytelling and having a grasp of the psychology of persuasion are therefore critical to success.

Again, these areas of expertise are not comprehensive, and many of the categories overlap in practice: A sports information director may work at a high school or university, for example, while someone working in tourism could be a state or federal employee. Think of these general areas of expertise as you would think about different types of music. There’s natural overlap between different genres, with no single agreed-upon list, and if you were to walk into a few different record stores, you’d probably have a few different lists.

One final distinction worth noting is perhaps the most common in PR and Strategic Communication, which is working “in-house” or at an “agency.” Working in-house means someone is employed by an organization, and works in a communication role for that organization. Working at a firm or agency means someone is employed by a PR firm that has a roster of different clients. Some agencies are a one-stop-shop and offer nearly every service imaginable, while others specialize in certain areas, such as video production or crisis communication. For more, see the interview in Chapter 1 with Alyssa Giaimo, who described her experience working in-house and at an agency.

Now Hiring: Sample Job Listings

What do employers look for?

It depends, of course, on the employer and the situation, but below are a handful of sample job listings curated from the first two pages of search results of Indeed.com in 2024—starting with some entry-level positions, and moving on to more senior positions.

These listings are not intended to be comprehensive or exhaustive, and are provided only to lend a sense of job titles and descriptions as well as what employers tend to value in prospective employees. Click the job title for an archived version of the listing.

• Marketing and Communications Associate
  • University of Utah
  • $46,000-$53,000
  • 1 year experience or 2 years education required
• Public Relations Associate
  • BOLD, LLC
  • $59,000-$70,000
  • Bachelor’s & 3+ years of relevant experience
• Marketing Content Specialist
  • Exact Sciences
  • $61,000-$98,000
  • Bachelor’s & 3+ years of relevant experience
• Public Relations and Marketing Strategist
  • Utah Transit Authority
  • $62,500+
  • 6+ years of experience
• Marketing & Communications Director
  • Special Olympics of Missouri
  • “Salary commensurate with experience”
  • 5+ years of experience
• Director of Marketing and Communications
  • Southern California Orthopedic Institute
  • $150,000-$205,000
  • Experience requirement not listed

Eagle-eyed readers of the text will also tell you that in each chapter, the interview with an expert always concludes with advice for students who are about to enter the field. In many cases, that person has been where you are right now—so it makes sense to heed their advice.

Future Directions

Any attempt to predict the future is audacious and a bit silly. There are simply too many known and unknown factors and intervening variables at play. Still, it’s worth a brief follow-up on three major themes that have risen in prominence in recent years, as they are likely to endure.

The first is customer experience. Customer service is part of the customer experience, but so is the ambiance and atmosphere of moving through a physical space, and the navigation of a company’s website. In an era where it’s easy to copy an idea or a business model, it’s more difficult to replicate a truly exceptional customer experience at every touchpoint. Consumers appreciate companies that are detail-oriented and find ways to maximize the joy and minimize the points of friction at each of those touchpoints, and tend to reward those companies with their loyalty and positive word-of-mouth.

The second theme is of the twin concepts of authenticity and transparency. By now, these concepts aren’t new, but they remain an important philosophical approach that forms the bedrock of an ethical and effective communication strategy. The way in which a company communicates with stakeholders and non-stakeholders contributes to its brand image, and becomes part of the customer experience as well. Just think about the companies, brands, or celebrities that you gravitate toward. Many of the most popular tend to have an authentic style that is believable and trustworthy.

The final theme is adapting to new technology. Just as you might be reluctant to hire a carpenter who doesn’t know how to use a nail gun, you might also be reluctant to hire a carpenter who doesn’t know how to properly use a hammer. Ideally, you want someone who is familiar with both, and appreciates when, why, and how to use one tool rather than another. The same can be said of new technological tools and social media platforms: It’s easy to be enamored with and distracted by flashy innovations. In the final analysis, they are ways to reach and communicate with an audience.

There is, however, one technological advancement deserving of its own section: AI.

Generative Artificial Intelligence^[9]

Amara’s Law states that there’s a tendency to overestimate the effect of technology in the short-term, and underestimate its effect in the long-term. Artificial Intelligence was first conceptualized in the 1950s, and by 1970, a prominent computer scientist predicted that “In…three to eight years we will have a machine with the general intelligence of an average human being…able to read Shakespeare, grease a car, play office politics, tell a joke, and have a fight. At that point, the machine will begin to educate itself with fantastic speed. In a few months, it will be at genius level and a few months after that its powers will be incalculable.”^[10] That prediction wasn’t necessarily an outlier, as others working on AI felt that timeline was only slightly optimistic, replying “Give us 15 years.”^[11]

What followed instead were decades of modest improvements. In the 2010s, common applications of AI included the development and deployment of chatbots, targeted ads, SEO optimization, and the monitoring and management of content on social media platforms.^[12],^[13] Practitioners who used tools like Google Analytics often did so without thinking of it as a form of AI, but it had already become part of their daily routine.^[14]

Fall 2022 changed the way the public and practitioners viewed AI, as Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) services like ChatGPT, Google Bard, Copilot, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney were made publicly available. To be clear, certain analogues including chatbots are characterized as GAI, but the fundamental difference is that the new “GAI tools aren’t just guiding and helping you search or find things; they are creating something new.”^[16] Together, GAI constitutes “the most accessible and useful form of AI for the average, non-technical person.”^[17]

In the short- and medium-term, the production of text, images, and audio/video will be augmented and likely supplanted by the use of GAI.^[18] Early results of text-to-video GAI tools also show promise and are projected to circulate and improve rapidly.^[19] Taken as a whole, the magnitude of technological changes in the first 18 months are staggering. And these Large Language Models (LLM), which scan and generate text, are improving quickly. Experts estimate that the rate of improvement is such that the overall capabilities will double every 5 to 14 months.^[20]

The implications of AI on the job market for PR and Strategic Communication practitioners is unclear. It’s possible that “AI isn’t going to take your job. A person skilled with AI will take the job—or jobs—of people not skilled with AI.”^[22] There is widespread belief that GAI will expedite routine and creative tasks, and that this won’t result in job losses—rather, practitioners will spend time crafting stories, building relationships, and working on big-picture strategies.^[23] A recurring claim is that creativity and a “human touch” cannot be mimicked by a machine.^[24],^[25],^[26]

It’s difficult, however, to reconcile this optimistic vision with the reality of GAI tools enabling work to be done in a way that’s better, faster, and cheaper. A sobering analysis called out such idealism as “a rose-tinted dream that AI will free up practitioners to focus on strategic counsel, even if this means the loss of many junior and technical PR roles, once they are delegated to robots.”^[27] This prediction presaged GAI and the oncoming wave of “EZ Bake” creative content that can be generated by a few well-placed keystrokes. GAI tools are in various stages of development and effectiveness, and successful practitioners will adopt and adapt accordingly—but GAI has arrived, and it’s here to stay.

When GAI tools enable anyone to have immediate access to a synthesis of data that simulates knowledge, and the ability to instantly generate text, audio, and video, it can change our collective notion of what it means to be an expert and content creator.

To put it bluntly, if these tools allow nearly anyone to create average-looking content instantaneously, what expertise do you bring to the table that justifies your paycheck? This is no longer a hypothetical question.

For all the changes that the social media era brought about, we may one day look at that decade or so with wistful nostalgia, thinking of how simple life was before the disruption of GAI.

An optimistic view may hold that human connections become more valued, in which case authenticity, transparency, and ethical behavior by individuals and organizations may be rewarded. At the very least, prioritizing such qualities will result in more enduring and meaningful relationships.

As with any other relevant trend or innovation, prudent practitioners will continue to track developments and expand their working knowledge in this area to understand when, where, why, and how to use GAI to their advantage.

Experts Talk Back:

Three Questions with Karine Delage, President of Karyzma Agency in Toronto.^[28]

Karyzma Agency specializes in entertainment PR, and has represented a range of cultural figures, including actors, fashion designers, musicians, and athletes. Delage began in the industry at age 8, writing for her school newspaper, and soon covered the MTV Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards. She later founded Karyzma Agency, and in recent years received a “40 Under 40” award.

It’s changed a lot, even in the past 10 years.

Your pitch has become more important because media members don’t always have the time to read a full-on press release, and they also may not take the time because they’re short-staffed.

They may not have time to talk to you on the phone either, so you must have proper etiquette with email. You have to be very specific and to-the-point, because if you send them a long pitch or two, you could be put on their “Delete” list…You can write in your pitch the angles you want to cover, and base that on the specific journalist.

You need to do research all the time. With journalists…a lot of people have been let go, a lot of people like to go off on their own and freelance where they have five or six different publications they’ll work for—it’s a whole new era.

It’s important to do research because say there’s a journalist who covered Usher last week—and your artist is similar to Usher—you could hit them with a nice DM if you don’t know the person, and ask them kindly if it’s possible to send an email and pitch you something. And more than likely if you send them a DM over LinkedIn—and LinkedIn is my best friend, too—it depends on how you approach media, but most of the time, they’ll be nice enough to give you their email and you can pitch to them if you don’t know the actual person. Because there’s a million journalists out there and you can’t know every single one, especially if you’re trying to pitch in another part of the country.

That’s what I try to tell everyone, because they’ll say “Oh, you’re getting so much coverage for the client this week or next week,” and they think it will continue to be that way the following week, and I tell them “No,” because it’s going to die down a bit.

In each of the 50 states, there are about 10 morning shows—at most, 20. But for easy math, let’s just say there are 500 morning shows at a bare minimum. Even if you get 10% of that, that’s 50 pieces of coverage. Even if you get 5%, that’s 25 pieces of coverage. It’s just a matter of doing your research. It’s time consuming, but it’s worth it because those morning shows always need content to talk about. And of course, you’re not always going to get Good Morning America—you have to be realistic. It depends on your Client. But if you go to one of the Dakotas or Wyoming or the smaller states, they’d love to cover it. And when you build that coverage up, you’re building your portfolio and your Client’s profile as well.

So what I did a couple of months ago is I went through all of the states and made my own list of morning shows. You can’t always think that you know everything. You have to set aside time to research—especially in PR because things change so quickly.

PR is so diverse that your day-to-day will switch around. Like you have a music festival for example, that you need to do PR for. That may be unlike what you did yesterday, which was call-backs for brands. So it’s very diverse, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat because there’s something else happening.

I have a monthly calendar and a daily planner, and usually plan out what I’m going to do in the morning and the afternoon.

Early in the morning, I’ll usually do all my media follow-ups, so that way you have the rest of the day to answer emails versus having to go back and forth. And then in the afternoon, I’ll usually have a project I’m working on, or contacting someone about a partnership or something like that.

That being said, when I wake up, I go to the gym or pool. I always find time to work out a little bit and go for a walk because even if you’re busy, you need to set aside time to take care of yourself. You’ll find in PR that we’re always pretty busy, and most of the time we’re sitting in front of our laptops. So I always try to keep a balance between Normal and the crazy-busy PR side.

And I work in a different time zone (Montreal), so time zones are something you need to be aware of. When you start working in different time zones, you need a schedule.

Be creative. Be the person that brings ideas to the table.

That’s what’s going to separate the intern who is just doing what needs to be done for the job versus the intern who wants to grow and it’s going to show in your results in the end.

If what you’re doing is not working, try to think of other angles. Basically, stay in your own lane, but create stuff—don’t follow. Just keep on learning.

And I know I keep saying this, but it’s so important: I have a lot of experience now, but I keep pushing myself to research and learn more, and stay up to date on trends. There’s a tendency to think you know everything because you went to school, but the danger is that you’re trapped in a box. You need to think outside the box, since that will make you so much better than someone who is working inside this little box, thinking “oh, this is the way things should work. I’m not going to seek out an idea outside of this box.” That’s how I see things

Summary: Putting it All Together

Successful practitioners tend to be good at many things and outstanding at a few things.

In the years to come, those who are able to leverage new technological tools to their advantage will find themselves in demand. The summary from Chapter 1 serves as a relevant reminder here, so let’s end where we began:

The roles, expectations, and idea of what it means to practice PR has always been in flux alongside changes in technology. As technological tools evolve, so do the ways of attempting to engage a particular audience. Those changing roles for PR practitioners leads to a demand for new skills and training for those roles.^[29] Over time, the contours of PR and Strategic Communication are determined by these changing conditions.^[30]

At the same time, the functional aim of Public Relations and Strategic Communication remains the same: To communicate the right message at the right time in the right place to the right audience.^[31]

Public Relations and Strategic Communication has been, is, and will continue to be part art, part science. Any strategic approach should be rooted in science—or a solid theory about what will work and why—and the tactics to carry out that strategy should then be executed creatively.

There’s a balance between the two. Too much science, and you may wind up with bland messaging that is little more than background noise. Too much art, and you may wind up with scattershot messaging that could cause someone to crack a smile, but doesn’t compel them to act.

PR and Strategic Communication is also about building relationships that endure and connecting with the local community. Those relationships include everything from clients and co-workers to your extended professional network. So-called “soft skills” will continue to separate the exceptional practitioner from the average practitioner.

As parting advice, a number of things spring to mind, including curating a portfolio, establishing a professional online presence, following industry leaders, applying for internships, volunteering, getting involved in PRSSA, finding your passion, having a moral compass, acting ethically, and constantly learning and being open to new ways of doing things—and all of those are important.

But for all the knowledge and specialization that’s required to succeed in the field, be sure to allow yourself the grace of enjoying a healthy work-life balance. After all, “life moves pretty fast: If you don’t look around once in a while, you could miss it.”^[32] We’re all stranded on the same spinning ball of mud hurtling through space, and none of us have made it out of here alive—so, yes, be kind to others, but remember to be kind to yourself.

Take a deep breath. You’ve got this.

P.S.: This text is a living document, and the intention is to update it at least once a year with different anecdotes and ways of introducing concepts. If you’ve made it this far, I’d appreciate your feedback! 

Drop me a note at nathanrodriguez@weber.edu