Public Relations Certificate Course

Crises don't politely announce themselves—they arrive suddenly, carrying significant reputational risk. This session provides comprehensive guidance on building a proactive, modern crisis communications framework that protects against reputational threats and keeps your organization ready to face deepfakes, activist mobs, social media chaos and everything in between. You'll learn techniques for identifying potential issues early, establishing robust monitoring practices, and responding confidently under pressure. We'll examine successful (and unsuccessful) crisis responses, sharpen your ability to craft impactful messaging under duress, and reinforce the critical importance of values-driven communication when stakes are at their highest.

• Stay ahead of crises: Build proactive crisis frameworks that incorporate issue identification, risk assessment, scenario planning, and team readiness for when things get hot.
  
• Tune in: Leverage social listening, sentiment analysis, and monitoring tools to identify early warnings and respond proactively to escalating issues such as deepfakes and reputational challenges.
  
• Get specific: Refine and practice critical messaging strategies, including drafting holding statements, internal communications, and timely stakeholder updates under challenging conditions.
  
• Do the right thing: Understand and navigate the ethical and equity dimensions of crisis communications, ensuring your organization's actions and statements align with your stated values and community expectations when the internet turns its gaze on your brand.
• CASE STUDY: Learn about an organization’s rapid response to misinformation during a major reputational threat.
  

Light Homework:
Use a sample crisis framework to address a hypothetical reputational crisis scenario, including anticipated stakeholder concerns, message alignment with organizational values, and initial strategic response steps.

You already know your PR initiatives drive results—but how do you demonstrate your organization’s share of voice across today’s new media landscape to your leadership? In this module, we'll learn how to demonstrate the impact of your organization and your work through metrics executives value and narratives they understand. This module equips you to use ROI and compelling data to showcase how strategic communications safeguard your organization's reputation, enhance visibility, and directly support growth objectives and new initiatives. You'll learn practical skills to craft concise, executive-ready dashboards, translate communications wins into tangible organizational benefits, and position PR as a critical component of business success.

• Impress the brass: Create executive-focused reporting dashboards that demonstrate share of voice, link PR initiatives directly to measurable ROI, reputational impact, and growth outcomes.
  
• Know your new media: Understand and communicate what success looks like when traditional metrics have gone out the window, and present data-driven narratives and concise metrics that effectively communicate PR's role in driving organizational visibility.
  
• Prove your worth: Clearly articulate how strategic communications initiatives mitigate risk, reinforce credibility, and contribute directly to business objectives.
  
• Work in lockstep: Enhance cross-departmental collaboration with legal, marketing, sales, and leadership teams to align PR metrics with broader organizational goals, ensuring visibility and accountability.
• CASE STUDY: Demonstrating measurable impact—securing share of voice and effectively reporting PR metrics in a new media landscape with new rules of play.

Homework:
Complete a concise worksheet summarizing key PR metrics from a recent initiative, clearly outlining their connection to organizational growth, reputation management, and strategic business priorities.