As a PR professional, I’m often curious what the first thing is that comes to people’s minds when you say the words “public relations.” I think people usually envision something along the lines of the latest Mac ad, “PR Lady,” where all PR people go around rephrasing things with little regard to the truth – or often in attempts to hide it. This type of spin doctoring does have its place in the history of PR, but it really just isn’t the focus of professionals today. Most of us, anyway.

That said, defining PR from a professional perspective is tricky. There are a lot of ways people define, practice and talk about this profession. Let’s take a look at the way the Public Relations Society of America defines it to get a better picture of what exactly PR is:

Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.

Another popular definition from Effective Public Relations, by Scott Cutlip, Allen Center, and Glen Broom offers more insight:

Public relations is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics whom its success or failure depends.

You can see a common thread running through these definitions. And really, this is what PR really boils down to in the end – relationships. Relationships with people, organizations, communities and groups. Relationships that benefit both sides. Relationships that are formed and maintained through a variety of processes. And in practice, there’s a whole lot that PR professionals have to learn to do to be really effective at building and maintaining relationships. Things like writing, communicating, networking, leading, being authentic, being focused, acting with confidence, and a whole lot more.

It just so happens that these skills are also really critical components of building relationships that will lead to a great career – relationships with other professionals, individuals, clients, customers, bloggers, organizations, reporters, community leaders, movers, shakers, and so on. These people, in PR talk, are called “publics” – and in Personal PR, they matter a lot. Because their reach and influence can spread your message, your ideas, and your personal brand farther than you ever could alone.