Bachelors degree in any discipline preferably with social sciences, liberal arts and humanities is required to take up a course in this field. There is diploma as well as post graduate diploma courses in Public relations. Duration of most the courses is of one year. Apart from this there are also short term certificate courses. Most training programmes in Advertising also include public relations. Some institutes have entrance exams while others prefer admission on merit basis.

These courses mainly cover areas like public relations principles and techniques, public relations management and administration, including organizational development, writing, emphasizing news releases, proposals, annual reports, scripts, speeches, and related items, visual communications, including desktop publishing and computer graphics, and research, emphasizing social science research and survey design and implementation.

Skills:

One must have excellent communication skills, both spoken and written so has to express thoughts clearly and simply. An effective personality and the ability to get along with a wide range of people both inside and outside an organization is necessary. They must be polite always as he has to work under pressure or provocation. An organizing ability is required too, as one may have to organize press conferences, lectures, exhibitions and events. They must have self-confidence and farsightedness. He must be able to understand human psychology and take decisions apt to the situation. Analytical skills are required to interpret research information and plan activity.