Life is full of uncertainties, like whether Reading FC will ever be promoted to the Premier League again in your lifetime. But, there is one thing for certain, as the saying goes: you learn something new every day.
PR is a recognised and respected discipline, requiring proactive thinking and constant in-depth training, so that PR professionals can deliver the message a brand desires. As a result, many PR professionals have chosen to participate in focused professional training and to achieve accredited qualifications. Brands need to know that their PR consultants and agencies will give informed advice underpinned by a thorough understanding of their discipline.
This rings true at éclat, especially on a Friday when the éclat training sessions come into effect. Training sessions cover a plethora of different topics including:
• How to improve pitching techniques both written and verbal
• Building and maintaining relationships with journalists
• Creating engaging and well written content i.e. thought leadership pieces and online content
• Video production training i.e. filming and editing
• Time management skills
While at University, I studied the Japanese philosophy, Kaizen, which focusses on continuous improvement and is a long-term approach to work that systematically seeks to achieve small, incremental changes in activity in order to improve efficiency and quality. Training can be instrumental in achieving this; if one employee changes their way of working for the better as a result of staff training, it can have a knock-on effect and benefit the agency as a whole. To this end, some of the team here at éclat have embarked on studying for the CIPR Advanced Qualification with the PR academy. This has allowed us to fully understand the theory behind communications, and enabled us to think in a more planned, critical way by planning PR campaigns.
Having a clear view on the things you know you do a lot will highlight the key areas on which to focus your training and development. This will result in more efficient training sessions and productive employees – like ours!