10 books every communications professional should read
“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” — Margaret Fuller, feminist writer and journalist
Continuous professional development is a cornerstone to be successful in the fast-changing PR industry. While practical understanding is important, the importance of books and reading cannot be overstated. Books help you lay strong foundations and provide you with new and better ways to look at things. Here are our top book recommendations.
1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
There was a hilarious LinkedIn post that said that people forget that PR does not stand for “Press Release” but “Public Relations”. This book, originally published in 1936, about influencing people, should be a must-read for anyone in the communications industry because building relationships with the public and stakeholders such as the media is what PR is actually about.
It means thinking about a PR pitch from the journalist’s point of view — why would the journalist be interested in it. Looking to build long-term relationships with the media instead of considering them as a transactional means to an end for your company placement.
Hear from our senior consultant Bahareh Khezr who has read the book two times and calls it “life-changing”:
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Our top book recommendations for PR professionals, from How to Win Friends and Influence People, Inbound PR to The Kim Kardashian Principle and more.
2. The Kim Kardashian Principle: Why Shameless Sells (and How to Do It Right) by Jeetendr Sehdev
Today being on social media is a must for any business looking to build and grow their reputation. This book published in 2017 teaches you what it takes to drive obsession and engagement on social media for your company, products or services, with examples from Kim Kardashian, Elon Musk and others.
Being transparent, vulnerable and flawed is what generates interest on social media today, leaving behind the marketing tactics of high-quality, edited-to-perfection content.
Listen from Curzon CEO Farzana Baduel on the essence of the book:
What is in your #SummerReading list? Our CEO @FarzanaBaduel is reading the New York Times best seller #TheKimKardashianPrinciple: Why Shameless Sells (and How to Do It Right) by @JeetendrSehdev pic.twitter.com/HBvdaEe23v
— Curzon PR (@CurzonPR) July 19, 2019
3. PR for Humans: How Business Leaders Tell Powerful Stories by Mike Sergeant
Most communication professionals understand the importance of storytelling to connect with their audience. Even so, most of the business content out there has lots of facts, data and disparate pieces of information with no connecting theme and no story to make sense of it all.
This book published in 2019 by a former journalist teaches you how to tell powerful stories by deeply understanding your audience. What stories you tell and how you tell it would differ depending on who your audience is. “PR for Humans is a book of two halves. The first half is a guide to finding your story… The second part of the book is dedicated to telling your story,” writes Curzon CEO Farzana Baduel in her review for the book.
4. Influential Internal Communication: Streamline Your Corporate Communication to Drive Efficiency and Engagement by Jenni Field
Internal communications for employee engagement has become crucial for businesses in the age of remote work since COVID-19. “Influential Internal Communication blends the convergence of disciplines from psychology, communications, data and leadership to bring unique insight to the study and practice of internal communications,” Baduel writes in her endorsement for the book to be published in 2021.
“In the current age of uncertainty, this book provides solid practical advice on navigating an organisation from a culture of chaos to a culture of calm to drive efficiency and engagement,” she writes.
5. Truth Be Told: How Authentic Marketing and Communications Wins in the Purposeful Age by John O’Brien and David Gallagher
The proliferation of social media channels has given various stakeholders like employees and customers a voice to call out companies for perceived untruths. “Hypocrisy and deceit can kill a brand and therefore truth travels up the corporate ladder to its rightful place,” says Baduel.
The book, expected to be out in April 2021, helps brands and marketers make sense of the new world order, avoid ‘purpose washing’ and recognise the opportunities in the age of purposeful capitalism.
6. Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns: A Strategic Approach (PR In Practice) by Anne Gregory
Running a PR campaign might seem overwhelming if you are a student or are new to the industry. There are so many steps involved such as research, strategy, planning, delivery and execution.
The latest edition of the book was published in 2020 and it goes in depth into the 12 steps that any PR campaign needs. It is a practical book talking about what you need to know to perform PR in practice. “The book provides the readers with relevant terms, vivid examples and tips on how to approach each planning phase,” reads a Goodreads review. The book emphasises the importance of setting objectives and creating a strategy in order to have a focussed and impactful campaign.
7. Inbound PR: The PR Agency’s Manual to Transforming Your Business With Inbound by Iliyana Stareva
How consumers interact with a brand has changed completely with the advent of Google. People are googling about their problems and researching the solutions long before they know anything about your product or service. People don’t want to be marketed to. They do their own research by online reviews and asking their friends.
This book, published in 2018, will teach you how to do PR to attract today’s sophisticated consumer across their buyer journey. “This book merges content and measurement to give today’s PR agencies a new way to build brands, evaluate performance and track ROI,” reads the book cover. “It’s amazing how the optimisation of digital functions such as SEO and content-rich online material can build an epicentre of media excitement,” writes Baduel in her endorsement of the book.
8. FuturePRoof by Sarah Hall
#FuturePRoof is a series of crowdsourced books and a podcast whose aim is to reassert the role of PR as a strategic management function. A new edition of the book is released every year. The first one came out in 2015. This book is a good resource to know what industry professionals think about the trending topics of the year.
In the fourth edition, the topics covered range from audience targeting, social media, the psychology of decision making and more.
9. Post-Truth Public Relations: Communication in an Era of Digital Disinformation, by Gareth Thompson
The last 80–100 years were a period of classical PR. Now in the age of fake news, the practice has evolved into “a trade that has made money from epistemological fragility of post-truth”. This book, published in 2020, talks about the role PR plays in the changing media landscape.
10. The News
This one is not a book but can be argued it is critical to understanding PR. The News enables you to horizon scan and look for opportunities and threats for your client’s reputations. It helps you understand the culture wars raging in our society and reading across the political spectrum will arm you with a deeper understanding of the public. Avoid immersing yourself in an echo chamber of reinforced viewpoints you already hold. Push yourself to read dissenting viewpoints to deepen your understanding.
Hence, Curzon’s co-founder James Ollerenshaw advises people to read news, industry media and trade media every day:
Curzon PR is a London-based PR firm working with clients globally. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Business Development Team bd@curzonpr.com
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