Developing strong skill sets are important as communication professionals to build a strong and successful career. According to me, the below skills mentioned are important to excel in the field and these are as follows:

• Good Storyteller & Big Picture Painter – The art of storytelling is present every day in various fields. Compelling storytelling affects a listener or reader’s brain and as a PR professional, communicating and strategise allows them to have a better connection with their audience and ultimately stimulate the audience’s feelings, ideas, and attitudes to align with their marketing goals. Remembering to evoke positive associations of your brand with your audience is the key to ultimate success. It is one such trend that will dominate in the coming years.
• Agility – As PR practitioners, being agile provides us the ability to deliver fast and respond quickly. In a fast-paced and ever-changing world, how nimble you are with your approach counts. It can offer a great customer experience by organising quickly and learning rapidly according to changing market needs. Today, agility is a prerequisite to successful PR. Relevance today goes hand-in-hand with the pace and know-how, and this concoction makes for rapid, impactful PR that clients just cannot get enough of.
• Understanding of Digital Era – Digital has come to the forefront and, to remain relevant, professionals should have a fair understanding of digital media. PR practitioners must be familiar with all forms of social media currently in use. Since social media platforms vary widely in terms of how they function and to whom they might appeal, each platform calls for a different strategy. A good professional not only knows which platform to use for what but has the skills to use each platform to its fullest potential. To sell something well, you need to understand it. Only then they will understand its potential and limitations and be in a position to intelligently counsel clients.

This blog post originally appeared on Nidhi Verma’s blog: thinkwithnidhi.wordpress.com

Nidhi Verma 

Nidhi has worked as a Brand Executive for national and regional brands. She has also completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Advertising & PR from MICA, Ahmedabad. Her goal is to be an indispensable member of a team facilitating PR function for passionate & audience-conscious brands at a global corporation, which has a societal ethos in place to drive sustainable change. She can be reached at @thinkwithnidhi on Twitter, and as Nidhi Verma on LinkedIn.