Blast from the Past - Taylor’s University - Training the PR Department

Blast from the Past - Taylor’s University - Training the PR Department

Educational public relations is a management function that if executed wisely, can bring about great impact towards the awareness of institutions’ programmes, services and results. It has become crucial for higher education institutions to have PR teams that are dedicated to establish and maintain two-way communications with their internal and external audience; to develop and execute communication plans through media as well as face-to-face communication; and to ensure a better understanding of the role, objectives, accomplishments and needs of the organisations.

But all of these cannot be made entirely possible if the foundation is not strengthened from the start. Orchan, in providing solutions for clients, would firmly suggest an across-the-board training for clients’ existing or freshly-formed PR team.

This is to ensure that quality is maintained as and when communications are done with any of their audience.

A few years ago, Taylor’s University engaged Orchan to train its internal PR department. Relatively new, the team needed to be brought together and polished in the execution of their duties, as well as heighten their understanding of educational public relations.

For the training, we focused on two core aspects that make a PR team functionally effective. One is writing skills; that which many agrees to be the most basic must-master skills for PR pros, and two; pitch creation and story angles.

Having these two addressed resulted in the team to being better equipped with the skills, tools and knowledge compulsory in the running of a PR department, thus giving them the chance to maximise opportunities for increased coverage. At Orchan we believe that building a solid foundation goes a long way in ensuring excellent quality work from communicators in organisations.

A total of 24 hours of training was conducted for the team, over a period of six weeks.

Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus

Taylor’s University PR team listening attentively to the training lecture.