If you want to be successful in this industry, having an insatiable curiosity is a must. It’s a non-negotiable trait that distinguishes an accomplished PR pro from an average PR specialist. Besides picking up insights from your peers and learning about everything going on in the media landscape, another way of satisfying your hunger for knowledge is to pick up a book.
In this article, we’ve gathered a list of books that will help you hone your PR skills. Maybe even a better person along the way. Check them out below.
1. Influence: Powerful Communications, Positive Change by Adam Stones
What it’s about:
When you want to change the world, how do you get everyone on board? This communications playbook can help. Regardless of whether you’re flying solo or you’re leading a team, a business, or a movement, ‘Influence’ will become your go-to coach for leading positive change through powerful communications. In this book, Adam walks you through five steps where you’ll activate your purpose, identify your audiences, build your brand, construct a communications plan, and master core skills. These PR skills cover behavior change, body language, persuasive conversations, killer content, storytelling, writing craft, PR, and TED-standard public speaking.
Why we love it:
This book is bound to become your personal communications coach. Each page is filled with examples, exercises, expert insights, and tools that can help you shape your very own communications strategy. Regardless of what industry you’re in, or if you’re even a comms professional for that matter— this book is a must-read!
2. Inbound PR - Iliyana Stareva
What it’s about:
The media landscape is swiftly changing. With it, consumers are demanding and consuming information in a whole new way. The way we did sales, marketing, and PR in the past is no longer working. Inbound PR by Iliyana Stareva teaches PR professionals how to adapt tactics from inbound marketing in order to attract more leads, customers, and even press coverage. Iliyana also shows how Inbound PR combines the best of both worlds - PR’s strength in content and copywriting and inbound marketing’s ability to measure efforts. This strategy offers PR pros and agencies a new way to build brands, evaluate performance, and track ROI effectively.
Why we love it:
Inbound marketing isn’t new, but its application to the PR industry can transform the way people do business by putting the customer, journalist, or stakeholder at the center. We believe that inbound is a revolutionary way of managing public relations because it focuses on tending to the needs of customers or leads. It’s a more human way of doing PR and we think it’s here to stay.
We recently sat down to talk to Iliyana on what it means to nurture relationships in an era filled with noise. Here’s how you can leverage the power of inbound PR to attract more leads, customers, and media coverage.
3. Building A Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
What it’s about:
Granted, everyone knows that building a brand is critical in order to survive in today’s competitive world. But what isn’t exactly clear is: how does one build a brand? Donald Miller explains that branding, in reality, is simply very good storytelling.
According to the author, using the wrong words to talk about your product can alienate customers and create more noise, instead of signal. He finds that what most brands are doing wrong is putting themselves at the center of the story. Instead, it’s your customer who should be the protagonist. Your brand should be the guide. Think Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars. To create a message that will stick, Miller proposes a framework known as the StoryBrand process. In it, he specifies 7 universal story points every person can relate to. By following this proven system, you can create powerful messages and get people to act on them.
Why we love it:
The StoryBrand framework will completely change the way you conceptualize any message — regardless of whether it’s an Instagram caption or the copy on your website. If possible, we recommend getting a physical version of the book, as Donald Miller includes several worksheets and exercises that will walk you through a communications strategy. The clear explanations and practical how-tos in this book will help you become a better storyteller by the time you turn the last page.
If you’re currently building (or shaping) your communications strategy, we’ve prepared an easy-to-follow canvas to make sure you don’t miss any important steps. Download it here.
4. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
What it’s about:
The Tipping Point is a widely acclaimed, best-selling book that describes the way social epidemics work, whether they are behavioral patterns such as fashion trends or crimes, politics, or even diseases. Through several stories backed by scientific research, Gladwell explains how a few individuals or even a single, random event can set off a social epidemic that can influence culture.
Why we love it:
Malcolm Gladwell’s book is an instant classic, a frequently named ‘must-read’ on many lists. And for good reason. If you haven’t read it already, make sure to add it to your Kindle wish list. Gladwell sharpens your mind to focus on the things that can provoke the next fad in popular culture. It reminds us that we are part of an intricately woven society where a single person can still make a huge difference.
5. Spin Sucks: Communication and Reputation Management in the Digital Age by Gini Dietrich
What it’s about:
Gini Dietrich is the PR guru behind the PESO model and the popular Spin Sucks community. In her book, she debunks the myth of having to “spin” your message in order to be successful in the industry. Instead, she teaches readers how to communicate with honesty, responsibility, openness and authenticity. By doing so, Dietrich assures her readers that they will earn the trust of their customers, stakeholders, and communities.
Why we love it:
We may be a bit biased because we’re such huge fans of Gini and her community. Regardless of this, we think this book offers a refreshing take on doing public relations the right way. No spin, no manipulation, no deceiving. This book serves as a complete guide on making honest, compelling messages that will not only attract humans but will work on Google as well.
They say that the only way to get good at writing is by reading. Here are 30+ tools to help you sharpen your writing skills.
6. Trust me, I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday
What it’s about:
Ryan Holiday’s book is an exposé of the state of online journalism (in 2012) which eerily foreshadows the perils of fake news in the years to come. Having worked as a self-proclaimed “media manipulator”, Ryan reveals that there’s always someone with specific interests behind online rumors, fake news, and viral sensations.
As Ryan puts it:
“I wrote this book to explain how media manipulators work, how to spot their fingerprints, how to fight them, and how (if you must) to emulate their tactics. Why am I giving away these secrets? Because I’m tired of a world where trolls hijack debates, marketers help write the news, opinion masquerades as fact, algorithms drive everything to extremes, and no one is accountable for any of it. I’m pulling back the curtain because it’s time the public understands how things really work. What you choose to do with this information is up to you.”
Why we love it:
Besides being an insightful book, ‘Trust me, I’m Lying’ is pretty funny. So much so that it’s an easy read for anyone who is looking to expand their online growth or control their brand’s online image. Ryan offers a great blend of case studies and real-life examples, combined with practical how-to advice that will help you get a grasp of how to make it in today’s media landscape.
7. Purpose: First Principles for Effective PR by pr.co
What it’s about:
In our 10 years of running a PR software firm, we’ve come to the conclusion that the way PR is done just sucks. We’ve seen countless press releases bomb and paid close attention to the ones that get significant traction. PR is too often old-fashioned, misguided or just poorly executed. Which leads to boring, bad, or even misleading campaigns. So we decided that it was time to go back to what we consider to be the principles of what makes PR effective and write them down in this book.
Most of what you’ll read in this book is plain old common sense. In it, we cover how the media landscape is changing and some of the old-school methods that simply don’t work anymore. We also make a strong case for building your PR strategies upon purpose.
Why we love it:
Look, we don’t mean to toot our own horn, but we truly believe that this book can come in handy, regardless of whether you’re just starting out in the business or you’re a seasoned pro. We truly believe that there are more effective ways to approach and execute your communication strategy and we hope this book will help you start to see a way to make public relations a key part of your company strategy again. You can download it, here, for free.
If you're new to the industry, here's our quick guide to PR Lingo: Check out our PR Dictionary, featuring 100 words every PR pro should know.
