PR stereotypes: Fact or fiction?

What’s more, ask 10 people what PR people do, and you’re likely to get 10 very different answers. It’s just a tough industry to define. Heck, we’ve been trying to accurately define it ourselves for as long as I can remember.

Some notions of PR pros are simply stereotypes, though. Let’s look at a few:

All PR pros are Democrats.

Fiction. Our industry leans to the left, but there are lots of centrists and Republicans in our midst.

All PR pros are outgoing people.

Fiction. Some of the better PR people out there are self-described introverts. (Jen Kane and Gini Dietrich come to mind.)

All PR pros are good writers.

Fiction. A sad fiction. Our industry is rife with people who couldn’t write their way out of a shoebox. I don’t think I’m stating anything outrageous here. As I blogged previously, the future isn’t as bright as we’d like it to be.

All PRs have degrees in communications/PR.

Fiction. On the agency side, specifically, people come from different backgrounds. I’ve worked with people who have degrees in political science, biology, English, and mathematics.

PR pros are hyper-organized.