Public Relations

Dear Alyson,
Hey there! You wanted to know more about what Public Relations is, so I will do my best to explain what Public Relations entails. The definition of Public Relations can be found here http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/public+relations.
Public Relations is basically representing a person or a company and portraying the person, company or product to be appealing to the public.
Working in Public Relations you spend a lot of time researching and gathering information for whatever it is that you are representing so that you can gain knowledge about the company or product. By doing so you will gain a better idea on how to influence the media and public to entice them to give interest to whatever it is you are representing.
In Public Relations you gain relationships with media, customers, investors, community leaders and government agencies dependent upon what kind of Public Relations you are involved in. To name a few PR jobs their are agencies, client, management, writers, media specialists, trainers, researchers, international and internet.
In my opinion to do well in PR you must be able to communicate effectively whether it is in writing or public speaking. As well as group leadership and event planning. Networking is also a big part of it because networking is how you will be able to voice out your opinions and ideas.
As you can see Public Relations is a very broad term that can be used in about any kind of way you can think of, and it is important to individuals or companies because they care about having a good name for themselves. Getting your name out there and having a good reputation is everything in the business world and that in a nutshell is the basics of what your doing in Public Relations for somebody else.