The practical five day certified Diploma the Fundamentals of Public Relations is LSPR's flagship course. The comprehensive course will help you obtain essential skills in Public Relations for developing robust strategies that enhance the reputation of your brand and corporate image. The training is packed with the fundamental PR skills needed to build and develop your career in communications. The course will cover reputation management, branding strategies, effective PR campaigns, developing a strategy for enhancing your social responsibility and sustainability, risk and crisis management, media relations, and press release writing.  

Professional expert trainers offer inclusive up-to-date content and encourage group participation and discussion to gain a full understanding of how reputation is the primary strategic route to success for businesses in a digital era and help you develop your PR and communication skills.

In this course you will learn:

• To understand the trends and developments in the communications and PR industry
• To build a robust reputation through trust and transparency into the brand
• To manage a successful brand 
• To create PR strategies and impactful campaigns 
• To manage risk and crisis 
• To enhance stakeholder engagement
• To develop and implement CSR and sustainability strategies 
• To effectively handle Media relations and press campaigns  

Day 1 - Brand and Reputation Management 

• Creating effective strategies to build your product or service into a desirable brand
• Understanding how the visual tangible and intangible elements of the brand shape our perception
• Delving deeper into the intangibles: how they impact the reputation and create meaning and identity for the brand
• Exploring reputation management strategies
• Communication strategies for positioning your brand to create loyalty and trust

Day 2 - Effective PR Strategies and Campaigns 

• How to establish your PR goals and objectives
• How to create successful internal communications strategies, to gain maximum engagement
• How to identify your external audiences, establish engagement and create personas
• How to use SMART objectives to achieve your PR goals
• How to plan your budgeting, in terms of human and other types of resources, for the best outcomes
• How to effectively evaluate to measure the success of your campaigns

Day 3 - Developing a Sustainable CSR Strategy 

• Current perspectives of CSR - setting the scene for current issues
• How CSR strategies are changing and evolving
• Social and environmental approaches to CSR
• Ensuring CSR helps build brand equity, improves reputation, and enhance trust and values
• CSR as an integral part of your internal communications
• CSR as a strategic tool to enhance stakeholder engagement
• Strategies and methods to communicate CSR ideas and programmes
• Case studies: examples of good CSR practices in terms of social and environmental perspectives.

Day 4 - Risk and Crisis Management

Risk Management

• Understanding the different types of risk 

• The process and benefits of risk management 

• Exploring risk assessment techniques 

• The consequences of not managing risk 

• The impact of social media and exposing your brand to risk

Crisis Management

• Planning for a crisis - following the steps
• The importance of a crisis plan  
• Assembling your crisis team 
• The importance of internal communications and leadership during a crisis
• Creating a crisis communications plan 
• Reputation management and social monitoring during a crisis   

Day 5 - Managing Media Handling and Press Campaigns 

• The different types of media - traditional and digital
• Creating your media contact list and building your relationship with journalists
• Writing persuasive and compelling press releases, using appropriate factual tone and balance 
• Brushing up on your grammar and writing style
• How to make your press release stand out from the crowd and get the timing right 
• Developing media strategies that produce results
• Techniques of brand reach using digital and social media for your media campaigns
• Framing and re-framing messages to position your brand effectively

Industry Expertise

LSPR has been delivering training since 1992 and has extensive experience in delivering training to a broad range of clients: PR and communications agencies, financial, consumer, oil & gas, and multiple other sectors and industries.

All of our courses are led by industry experts who all share a common purpose: to deliver the best of their knowledge, expertise and ideas with others. Our mantra is that transparency and ethics build the brand's reputation. Beyond achieving the training objectives, our courses motivate individuals to enhance their performance and add value to their organisation by understanding their team's roles and responsibilities.

Tailored Training

All LSPR programmes are tailored to each participant's needs. Before each session, we take the time to get to know you, providing a detailed Training Needs Analysis questionnaire which enables us to understand your skills, level of experience, potential knowledge gaps and expectations of the training. This means that no two sessions are the same, and your needs will always be met when choosing our training.  

Practical Learning 

With an engaging, supportive facilitation style, our training approach enables practical tools for skills transfer, improvements and real results.

Award & Recognition 

LSPR Professional Development Diploma. The Diploma is recognised by the: Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Certification Service: www.cpduk.co.uk

Assessment

The final Diploma will be awarded on the following:

• Critical Thinking Exercises set and completed during the training - a series of practical exercises are set for each session for the delegates to work on during their training. This is an effective way to try out what you have been learning and gain insight and feedback, as you progress with each session during the course.

Bespoke Availability 

To meet your team’s specific needs, this course is also offered as a bespoke exclusive programme. It is also offered on a one-to-one tailored basis. Delivery options are either in-house, or at the LSPR premises in Kensington. Please contact LSPR for a proposal.