Public Relations Manager Resume Skills: With Examples

Updated 10 February 2023

Public relations (PR) managers require a comprehensive set of skills that allow them to clearly communicate brand messages to the media and manage a brand's reputation. If you're applying for PR manager jobs, it's helpful to understand how these skills contribute to fulfilling the role. Knowing how to present these skills on a professional resume can increase your chances of securing a job. In this article, we discuss the definition of public relations manager resume skills and provide some examples, along with a guide to improving these skills, using them in the workplace and presenting them throughout your application.

What are public relations manager resume skills?

Public relations manager resume skills refer to the skills that PR professionals include on their resume when applying for a managerial position. These skills allow PR managers to fulfil their duties and communicate organisation messages effectively to media outlets and on social media platforms. Professionals in this role typically work to promote a brand before a campaign or release or in response to unfavourable publicity. To do this, they collaborate with marketing, content and PR professionals and liaise with media professionals, such as reporters.

Through calculated strategies, these professionals manage a brand's image, ensuring that the public has a positive perception of the brand or organisation. This involves using their communication skills, creativity and tactical understanding of people and the press to alter messaging and positively influence public perception. On their resume, a PR professional typically uses a dedicated section to explain the value of their skills and how these support them in their primary duties.

Examples of PR manager skills

Here are some examples of the skills that PR managers require to conduct their daily duties:

Communication

PR managers use their written and verbal communication skills daily to help them effectively distribute important information to media professionals and their PR colleagues. This ensures that their press releases provide all the necessary information to influence public perception or promote a brand. These professionals use these skills to write effective and engaging content and social media posts to attract the consumer's attention.

Sometimes PR managers may deliver speeches to the media. To do this, they use their communication skills to speak clearly and concisely. Hiring managers typically expect PR managers to have exemplary communication skills, as so much of their role relies on the effective distribution of information.

Organisation and planning

PR managers require strong organisation and planning skills to help them create campaigns to improve the organisation image. A key part of their role is producing necessary content such as social media posts, press releases or speeches and ensuring that their messaging provides clear and well-structured information. Careful preparation is critical to portray an organisation as professional and competent during speeches or press releases.

Planning skills also help managers plan for scenarios where an organisation may receive unfavourable publicity. It ensures that managers know how to respond in the most positive way to strengthen relationships with their audience. This means that if such a scenario occurs, they can respond proactively with pre-designed strategies.

Knowledge of media structures and networking

To interact with the media and understand how they're likely to respond to messaging, it's important for PR professionals to have an in-depth understanding of media structures. This ensures that managers understand who to contact to promote a message and which media professionals to prioritise for quotes and questioning.

PR managers typically develop long-lasting relationships with media professionals. This ensures that they have close contacts within the media industry who can promote organisational messaging and respond when brands require more publicity.

Proficiency with social media

On some occasions, PR managers may use social media platforms to promote brand messaging. To do this, they require comprehensive social media skills and an understanding of how to boost engagement on social platforms to promote a positive organisation image. This skill ensures that managers and associated PR professionals understand how to connect with certain demographics on social media. It also enables them to use short messaging to influence the public perception of a brand.

Creativity

Creativity allows PR managers to create exciting and engaging press releases that portray brands in the most positive way possible. They may also use their creative skills to design PR campaigns and events, which can build interest in products and services and effectively boost consumer engagement. Creativity also supports effective problem-solving and allows PR professionals to generate innovative ways of addressing unfavourable publicity, helping them find ways of transforming this into positive press.

How to improve your PR manager skills

Here's a guide to improving your PR manager skills to ensure you can confidently present them on your resume:

1. Practise presenting and communicating

As PR managers frequently deliver speeches on behalf of an organisation, it's helpful to improve your communication skills. One way you can do this is by practising presenting aloud. When delivering a speech, rehearsing it ahead of time can help ensure you're calm and confident. This demonstrates professionalism and may encourage the press and the public to pay more attention to your messaging.

2. Practise responding proactively instead of reactively

It's important for PR managers to plan and organise effectively for challenging press scenarios, ensuring they generate calculated responses that improve an organisation's image. To do this, practise being proactive instead of reactive. Consider some scenarios that may arise and generate suitable response strategies. Practising exercises like these regularly may help you make informed decisions that positively impact the organisation's reputation.

3. Focus on message delivery

PR managers rely on clarity and efficient distribution of information to influence public perception on social media, during speeches or through press releases and campaigns. To improve this efficiency, consider focusing on the core message when devising speeches or social media posts. This ensures that audiences can easily understand your messaging, meaning that they respond well to PR releases and continue having a positive impression of the brand or organisation.

PR manager skills in the workplace

Here are two ways that PR professionals use their skills in the workplace, which you may wish to mention on your resume:

Communicate your thoughts clearly to the team. Although clear communication is essential for delivering effective brand messaging, it's also important for effectively delegating tasks to other PR professionals, administering feedback and providing updates. Consider focusing on clearly communicating your thoughts to the team and giving precise instructions and expectations to ensure understanding.
Respond proactively to issues in the workplace. While pro-activity is essential in responding to potential changes in publicity, it's also vital for responding effectively to workplace issues. Responding proactively in the workplace to issues such as poor communication or conflict can help you lessen these issues, encourage a positive organisational culture and preserve team relationships.

How to highlight PR manager skills

Here's how you can highlight your skills when applying for a new role:

1. PR manager skills for a resume or cover letter

To impress a hiring manager and increase your chances of securing a role, it's important to mention PR manager skills on both your professional resume and cover letter. Consider making your PR skills a specific category in your skills section and provide more in-depth examples of using these skills in your previous role in your professional summary. Your cover letter allows you to explain this in greater depth, so consider providing anecdotes and results from previous roles that show your PR manager skills have a tangible impact on organisation perception.

2. PR manager skills for a job interview

During a PR manager interview, it's critical to reference your PR managerial skills at length, using supporting evidence from your previous roles. Focus on explaining how you've used your skills in the past and the impact this had on organisation image, relationships with media outlets and social media engagement. Consider also supplying metrics to support these claims, such as the number of media contacts you have, social media engagements or the number of acquired customers following a PR campaign.