5 common misconceptions about PR pros

Who has heard this line before: “All I know about PR is that most of the people who do it are pretty dumb.”

I, for one, have had that insult hurled at me on several occasions, which means I’ve mastered the ability to mutter, “Your face is dumb,” into a cocktail straw before strolling off in search of better company.

Sadly, that slight doesn’t even crack the top five list of misconceptions I hear about working in public relations. Here I’ll count them down and debunk them once and for all:

Myth 1: “PR people are liars.”

Several years ago, as my employer welcomed a new crop of interns, the young woman assigned to our group asked me a serious question: “Am I going to have to lie a lot?”

I was horrified. Not only did she think our company was run by a bunch of moral degenerates, but she had accepted the position anyway.

Every industry has its fair share of cons, and PR is no exception. The vast majority of professionals in our field know that being dishonest will get them nowhere.