How to stay positive when working in PR

Positivity is an important element for success in the world of public relations.

Public relations is a very stressful job, whether you’re a PR practitioner or someone in a company that works with a PR firm or team. PR professionals and others working in the field face stressors such as:

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• Investing a high amount of work into campaigns
• Navigating negative news about your company
• Dealing with uncooperative staff
• Encountering people who are skeptical of your success
• Accepting the fact that you’re never guaranteed success 

In fact, being a PR executive was ranked by Careercast as the eighth most stressful career in 2019 and the fifth most stressful job in 2013. 

With such a stressful career, it’s important that PR practitioners and those working with them keep a positive outlook. Staying positive is important not just for your emotional needs, but also for strong PR output and a supportive workplace.

Think about it: If you’re currently managing a PR crisis, then succumbing to a situation’s stress means you may feel unmotivated about the entire situation. This negative outlook will bleed into your crisis communications, which can harm your efforts to improve with the situation. Even if a company is doing well, keeping a positive outlook means you can focus more on the company’s successes.

On a personal level, being positive means you can counter some of the effects of stress on your professional and personal lives. Your mental health is vital to personal success, so by keeping a positive attitude, you can be successful.

Positivity when working in or with PR starts with you. By having a positive attitude, it’ll rub off on other people working with you, creating a domino effect where the rest of people you’re working with will begin to have more positive outlooks too. Conversely, it takes one person under deep stress and no positivity to harm the rest of the group.

If you’re currently neck-deep in stress and can’t find a way to start being positive, try these tips to start getting out of that rut.

• Take a walk each day.
• Enjoy local natural attractions, such as a park, river, or beach
• Think about how you inspired people today.

Stress is, unfortunately, a natural part of working in or with PR. However, you don’t have to let it consume you; keeping a positive attitude is just the thing for rising above it. With a positive attitude, you can create a more effective work environment and reduce your own stress at the same time.

Need some help creating a crisis PR plan or dealing with a crisis? Check out our “Managing Public Relations in a Crisis” e-book for tips on handling a crisis.

Clients love Jacob’s speed. Jacob is an inbound marketing-certified webmaster. He earned an integrated communications degree from Florida State College at Jacksonville. Jacob joined Axia PR as an intern in August 2015 and earned his way into a critical role at our PR agency.