Successful Public Relations

PR has moved from a fringe activity to centre stage, the driver on which growth and reputation depend. In a world in which global communication is instant, PR is critical to the success and – in times of crisis – the survival of organisations and individuals. Professionalism is everything. You don’t get a second chance to put it right.

Falconbury’s PR course offers you the experience and guidance, tips and techniques of three highly successful professionals. It has been specifically designed to offer a step-by-step guide to the essential knowledge and skills needed to design, plan and implement successful PR campaigns. If you are new to PR, working in the role of a PR assistant or a marketing assistant or executive wanting to develop your understanding of effective PR, then this course is for you.

When you have completed the 6-module programme you will have a proper grasp of the all the key functions that are crucial to success.

NB: Hard copy versions are available, professionally printed and bound. To find out more call customer services on +44 (0)20 7729 6677.

How does this on-line programme work and what do you get?

• Course access from anywhere through your own personal login and administration suite
• Keep track of your progress as you go
• Easy to use note taking and bookmarking facility to return to areas of interest and re-study
• Individual modules or the full course can be downloaded as PDF files to print or file as you decided
• At your convenience: at your desk, from your tablet or from your home computer
• An optional on-line multiple choice assessment at the end of the course for you to ensure you are satisfied with the completion of your training
• Certificate of completion awarded for your training records

This distance learning course will:

• Provide a step-by-step guide on how to design, plan and implement a successful PR campaign
• Show you how to get more column inches and airtime – media, timing and pitch
• Teach you the different needs of consumer PR, B2B PR, internal communications and public affairs
• Empower you with the confidence, skills and techniques to successfully manage a crisis
• Enhance your skills and techniques for planning and creating press releases, sales letters and direct mail campaigns

Who should enrol?

• PR assistants and executives who wish to become top professionals
• Marketing staff in private, public and not for profit organisations who want to become proficient in PR
• Managers of SMEs or those running their own business who need PR but don’t want to employ outside consultants

Structured to fit into your working day

The course is designed to fit around your current commitments with each module requiring an average study time of 3-4 hours. Course content can be studied on-line via our unique Learning Management System or sent to you in hard copy format anywhere in the world. This offers the flexibility of studying at work, at home or on the move, while having access to confidential help and support from our experts.

On-line final assessment

The course has an optional on-line multiple choice assessment at the end, with a certificate on successful completion.

Caroline Black runs her own consultancy and is also an experienced trainer, mentor and speaker. Her specialist areas include corporate, consumer, business-to-business issues and crisis management communications. She has worked for a wide range of clients and brands, including Sainsbury’s, Investors in People UK, Mobil, Mars, Pedigree Petfoods, Ufi Ltd, British Gas, Smith & Nephew, the European Union, and the National Society for Epilepsy.

Jim Dunn founded his own PR consultancy in 1969 and over 25 years built TPS into one of the most successful travel, leisure and general consumer PR companies in the UK, before selling it to the Shandwick Group.

Paul batchelor is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He has twenty years’ experience in senior roles in the UK retail financial services sector, recently specialising in internal audit, compliance, special investigations and risk management. Over a five-year period, he was responsible for creating, maintaining and testing the business resumption planning capabilities of a leading UK financial services group.

Falconbury’s distance learning programmes have been certified by the Academy of Distance Learning (ADLiB). ADLiB supplies an unbiased authentication of, and quality assurance for, distance learning programme providers.

Upon course completion, distance learning participants are invited to undertake a final external assessment in the form of an online multiple-choice paper.

Participants are required to achieve a pass rate of 80% and above to ensure that a high level of competence has been achieved within the subject area and to receive the advanced ‘Certificate of Excellence’. The final external assessment can be taken up to three times, thereafter the ‘General Certificate of Course Completion’ will be issued.

NB: The final external assessment is an optional appraisal and those participants not wishing to undertake it will automatically receive the ‘General Certificate of Completion’ for their personal development/training profile.

Find out more about ADLIB here.

The International Association for Distance Learning (IADL) promotes excellence in open, distance, and online learning worldwide, and provides a benchmark through which global consumers can gauge the quality of courses offered by their members.

The IADL is an independent, non-profit organisation with its principal administrative offices in London in the United Kingdom. Find out more.

Falconbury are an Approved Member of the International Association for Distance Learning. Please see our

Successful Public Relations

MODULE 1 - The Role of the PR Function

The public relations practitioner

Ethical and legal issues for the public relations practitioner

Planning and evaluation for public relations

PR and the marketing mix

Tactics and techniques for PR

MODULE 2 - Media Relations and Public Affairs

Media relations

Managing public relations

Public affairs

Feature articles and photography

MODULE 3 - Special PR Functions

Public relations specialisms

Event Management

International public relations

MODULE 4 - Understanding Promotion and Marketing

Choosing appropriate advertising media

Direct mail promotions

Choosing and using a mailing house

Writing a sales letter

Effective advertising

Using point of sale materials

Choosing and using a graphic designer

MODULE 5 - PR and the Small Business

Public relations and the small business

Choosing and using a PR agency

Personal selling skills

MODULE 6 - PR and Crisis Management

Defining crisis management strategy

Command and control

Communications

Organising the media interface

Action teams/plans

Maintaining the crisis management infrastructure

Appendix 1: Crisis management team checklist

Appendix 2: The crisis log

Appendix 3: Departmental action plan

Appendix 4: The contact register

Managing People

Positive Persuading and Influencing Skills

Tools, Techniques and Tactics for Effective Negotiation

Successful Marketing

Advancing in Marketing

This course qualifies for the following CPD programmes:

• Cert: 0.00 hours