Anyone who believes they can separate their professional specialty from the community around them is mistaken — every human activity depends heavily on the people surrounding it, and it is exactly this principle that gives public relations its weight inside any organisation. PR carries authority over corporate social responsibility through crisis management and reputation protection, which in practice means helping organisations adapt to new sustainability agendas.

Public relations improves organisational effectiveness by strengthening relationships, facilitating public dialogue, and giving management the analytical tools to understand how the community perceives them. The PR liaison department inside any establishment is the engine that activates coordination between all administrative departments, while strategic communication — covering organisational communication and awareness campaigns — guides the organisation toward the best PR practices.

This course, delivered by the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy, is built for anyone wishing to develop advanced communication skills and PR qualifications, and to understand the role of corporate strategy in shaping how the media industry perceives an organisation.

After completing the course, participants will be able to master the following:

• Study public opinion across a wide range of topics and properly determine where opinions and attitudes originate.
• Interpret survey results and use the data to manage crises and build PR plans that lead to positive outcomes.
• Use the best techniques to monitor and measure public opinion in order to improve a company's image and culture.
• Conduct comprehensive surveys and convert the resulting data into clear, self-explanatory information.
• Plan and implement effective promotional and advertising campaigns, including Delphi-method research for forecasting.
• Understand the rules governing public relations to ensure compliance.
• Master crisis management methods and techniques for combating rumours.

Who Should Attend?

• Communications managers and PR professionals.
• Senior directors and key administrative personnel in institutions.
• Operations managers, project managers, board members and corporate executive directors.
• Professionals working in media, public relations and business.
• Officials in governmental institutions and related administrative establishments.

Module 1: Why PR Cannot Be Separated From Public Opinion

• The significance of public opinion.
• Understanding the various elements and aspects of public opinion.
• Major pillars of public opinion, public relations and media strategies.

Module 2: Ethics, Credibility and Communication Theory

• Public relations ethics and code of conduct.
• PR: influence, credibility and crisis management.
• Models and theories of communication.

Module 3: Researching and Measuring Public Opinion

• Conducting comprehensive surveys on course-related topics.
• Planning and preparing proper PR surveys.
• Converting survey data into understandable, self-explanatory information.
• Delphi methods for planning and forecasting.

Module 4: Crisis and Risk Management in PR

• Crisis and risk management.
• Communication crisis.

Module 5: Planning and Running PR Campaigns

• Planning and organising PR campaigns.
• Effective public relations campaigns.
• Campaign management operations and techniques.
• Perceptions and issues of PR campaign management.

Module 6: Media Relations and Digital PR Strategy

• Practical practices of public affairs: the most effective tools and methods.
• Dealing with the media during lobbying campaigns.
• PR strategies over the internet.
• Management and best practices of PR in the real world.

Module 7: Evolution and Hands-On Application

• Evolution of the PR process and strategies.
• Practical training: management of PR and lobbying campaigns.