Over the last couple weeks there have been several blog posts and stories written about the skills that PR pros of tomorrow will need. Here is one by Arik Hanson. I agree with many of the points that were raised in Arik’s and others’ posts. If you have perused posts here in the past or listened to the Comet Branding Radio show, it’s no secret that we advocate for the evolution of PR.

crystal_ballWe need to be pushing this conversation about an improved skill set forward so it is heard at the highest levels of the PR industry and in the universities and colleges who are teaching our future PR pros.

I am not writing this post to be a “me too” blogger. I am writing this post because the skills outlined in many of the “skills of tomorrow’s PR pros” posts are needed TODAY. We should not be waiting for tomorrow or for younger pros to figure these things out.

If we don’t all start employing these skills today, we will continue to read blog posts that PR is dead.

Social media and other forms of the read-write-web are creating significant opportunities (not challenges) for PR that weren’t possible a few short years ago. But, for us to leverage all of these new opportunities there are a few skills that will always be needed:

1. Strong journalistic writing and storytelling - We must always be able to tell a strong story with all of the relevant information beyond the what, when, who and where. Craft an engaging and relevant story.  We have to work hard to determine and then tell the story of the why, how and the why does it matter. For full credit we should be figuring out different angles to the “why does it matter” question for different audiences and publics. As the opportunity grows for companies to connect directly with customers these skills will continue to increase in value. Developing strong journalistic content will be paramount.

2. Relationship development – PR is so much more than media relations and pitching. We need to be able to develop relationships on multiple levels of an organization, with the media/bloggers, with customers and with people who have opposing views.

3. Business acumen – Access to C-Suite level discussions and decision making is only possible if we can offer well-rounded and strategic business recommendations. This ability can only come from experience and practical knowledge. If we can look at a business and figure out what it needs to grow business and sales and help make that happen through PR/communications/social media – that’s when all of us will have a seat at that table. If we are only seen as flacks or a media relations vendor, then that journey is going to be seriously difficult.

4. Curiosity and restlessness - Within every industry, there are people who are constantly curious and restless about what they do. They lead the pack. These people are always keeping tabs on new developments and trying to find new ways to do things. The moment we become comfortable and satisfied with the current state of things, that’s the exact moment to be significantly concerned. We, the PR industry, should always be thinking about what comes next and progressing what we do.

As the current forms of media continue to fade, and social forms continue to evolve, PR pros have the opportunity to help their company (or clients) connect more directly with their customers/publics TODAY – not just tomorrow. But, to do this, we need another set of skills that we haven’t needed before:

5. Programming and design – We all need an understanding of web programming so we can communicate with programmers to get what we need to build a web site and contribute/edit and customize content. It would be ideal to know some coding ourselves, but a lot can be said about having someone who is truly skilled take the lead. As blog platforms continue to evolve and become easier to use, we still need to have an understanding to communicate changes or the ability to make tweaks and changes on our own.

6. Working knowledge of social media distribution platforms - For all of the great elements of social media, one drawback is that the social web has many gather places. I am sure you could name 10 sites right off the top of your head. It has become burdensome to push content onto so many sites. Thankfully, applications for social media publishing continue to evolve and distribution platforms like Shoutlet are coming to the forefront to help communications pros distribute content across many channels (email, Twitter, Facebook, widgets, etc.) instantaneously. We all need to know how to use these tools because they put the true power of the social web at our fingertips.

7. Video creative direction, writing and production - The social web is fueled by engaging and relevant content. One of the most attractive forms of that content is video. The caveat within this element that is interesting is that video for the social web needs to be very good, but it does not have to be great. Frankly, the slicker the video looks the less authentic it feels and the less accepted it will be in the social web. Because of this, we don’t need to be super-duper Grade-A class video producers, but we need to be pretty good. There are many programs out there that make video production relatively easy. You might want to look into these, because it’s more likely than not that you will need to produce a web video before the end of the year.

8. Community gardening – Many people refer to this as community management, but a friend of mine recently shared with me that he doesn’t think we can fully “manage” a community. I liked what he had to say. If you think about it, the masses probably don’t want to be managed. In this, a PR pro needs to be able to help grow a community and foster activity and conversation within it.

9. Walking the talk - There are many lessons that can only be learned within the art of social public relations by doing it for yourself. There is no better teacher than personal experience. If we aren’t out there writing blogs, doing podcast/videocasts and growing a community for ourselves or our own agencies/companies, all we can do is talk. And how far will that get us? If we are doing all of these things, we are learning every day and those learnings can then be used to drive strategy for our clients and others.

10. Proving Return on Investment – This is an area that I will leave for Sara Meaney to handle as the Left Brain of Comet Branding. All though I’m not fully a numbers person, I do understand and value how important they are. If we can’t prove to our clients that the programs we are running for them are worth it, then it’s not worth a heck of a lot. We have to show proof, proof, proof and more proof.

While this isn’t exhaustive, this is a list of the things that I feel are important and relevant today. Not tomorrow. We all need to be evolving and progressing every day or our industry will die and the only people we will have to blame is ourselves.

What would you add to the list?

What are the skills you wish you had today?