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The PR Masterclass: How to develop a public relations strategy that works!
The PR Masterclass is written by former newspaper, magazine and digital journalist Alex Singleton, who is now a prominent PR trainer and consultant. It reveals the secrets of effective PR and shows how to put in place a practical, reliable and successful media strategy for your product, business or activity – one that delivers the greatest results. Through the book, you get to discover how to develop and pitch effective newsworthy material, regardless of your budget. The PR Masterclass is aimed at PR professionals as well as small business owners and entrepreneurs implementing a PR strategy. "PR can do more for your money than any other marketing tool. But very few people understand how to use it. Alex does because he has been at the receiving end. So will you if you read this remarkably practical book."
― Drayton Bird, author, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing "The lessons contained within The PR Masterclass should be plastered over the walls of organisations seeking to utilise the media effectively for their campaigns. This book is a must-have reference point."
― Ryan Bourne, CityAM columnist and Head of Economic Research, Centre for Policy Studies "This is an important book about public relations and how the media is changing. Singleton is a straight-talking journalist-turned-practitioner who pulls no punches. He calls on the industry to grow up and adopt the rigour of a professional discipline. It's a call to action that I wholly heartedly support. You should read The PR Masterclass if you're new to public relations or work in the profession and want to continue doing so."
―Stephen Waddington, European director, Ketchum, and 2014 President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) "Provides all you need to know about securing press coverage."
― Fraser Seitel, O'Dwyer's PR magazine "Every page is packed with insight and practical advice."
―Steve Harrison, co-founder, Harrison Troughton Wunderman "Written in a no-nonsense style, every chapter contains a mine of information about the subject. What's more, it's clear that Alex knows the business inside out. This is the kind of book you need to have close at hand. Do what it says, and you'll be miles ahead with your PR."
― James Hammond, brand consultant "Alex Singleton's book on public relations strategy is an excellent practical guide to the real world of PR."
― Ray Hiebert, Editor, Public Relations Review
― Drayton Bird, author, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing "The lessons contained within The PR Masterclass should be plastered over the walls of organisations seeking to utilise the media effectively for their campaigns. This book is a must-have reference point."
― Ryan Bourne, CityAM columnist and Head of Economic Research, Centre for Policy Studies "This is an important book about public relations and how the media is changing. Singleton is a straight-talking journalist-turned-practitioner who pulls no punches. He calls on the industry to grow up and adopt the rigour of a professional discipline. It's a call to action that I wholly heartedly support. You should read The PR Masterclass if you're new to public relations or work in the profession and want to continue doing so."
―Stephen Waddington, European director, Ketchum, and 2014 President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) "Provides all you need to know about securing press coverage."
― Fraser Seitel, O'Dwyer's PR magazine "Every page is packed with insight and practical advice."
―Steve Harrison, co-founder, Harrison Troughton Wunderman "Written in a no-nonsense style, every chapter contains a mine of information about the subject. What's more, it's clear that Alex knows the business inside out. This is the kind of book you need to have close at hand. Do what it says, and you'll be miles ahead with your PR."
― James Hammond, brand consultant "Alex Singleton's book on public relations strategy is an excellent practical guide to the real world of PR."
― Ray Hiebert, Editor, Public Relations Review
- GenresNonfictionBusiness
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
24 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
About the author
Alex Singleton
10 books1 followerThrough consultancy and training, Alex Singleton works for FTSE100 companies and global brands – and has trained the staff of many of the largest public relations agencies. He is also a UK consultant for global campaigns.
Until 2011, he was a journalist at The Daily Telegraph. He has 16 years’ experience writing for newsstand publications, which have included The Guardian, The Daily Express and a wide range of IT titles – including as a Business Editor for the International Data Group, the world’s largest IT publisher.
Alex is a frequent commentator on the television and radio, and has appeared on the BBC’s Newsnight, the Today programme, The Moral Maze, World Business Report, Channel 4′s Ten O’Clock Live, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, Al Jazeera, Channel 4 News, and Sky News.
He was founder of the Globalisation Institute, which promoted enterprise-based solutions to poverty in poor countries. His research on microfinance was launched by David Cameron, while another report he authored was discussed in a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was formerly the Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute, where he commissioned the first UK think tank report on the flat tax (which was flirted with by the now Chancellor).
He is an experienced public speaker, having spoken to audiences of up to 700 people, and has given testimony in House of Commons and House of Lords select committees.
Until 2011, he was a journalist at The Daily Telegraph. He has 16 years’ experience writing for newsstand publications, which have included The Guardian, The Daily Express and a wide range of IT titles – including as a Business Editor for the International Data Group, the world’s largest IT publisher.
Alex is a frequent commentator on the television and radio, and has appeared on the BBC’s Newsnight, the Today programme, The Moral Maze, World Business Report, Channel 4′s Ten O’Clock Live, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, Al Jazeera, Channel 4 News, and Sky News.
He was founder of the Globalisation Institute, which promoted enterprise-based solutions to poverty in poor countries. His research on microfinance was launched by David Cameron, while another report he authored was discussed in a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was formerly the Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute, where he commissioned the first UK think tank report on the flat tax (which was flirted with by the now Chancellor).
He is an experienced public speaker, having spoken to audiences of up to 700 people, and has given testimony in House of Commons and House of Lords select committees.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 4, 2021
Something I've been reading sporadically when I need a little boost for the work I'm doing.
It has some nice insight and is written straightforward enough for anyone working in PR to enjoy. Some of the references and advice are a little dated, but you can take from it what you need.
It has some nice insight and is written straightforward enough for anyone working in PR to enjoy. Some of the references and advice are a little dated, but you can take from it what you need.
May 12, 2017
The book offers very practical and genuinely useful insights into how good PR practices should be. For someone who's wondering whether she should read it, this book deals more with the practical than the theoretical PR knowledge which is often taught in formal PR classes. It's also more about tactics rather than strategies, so if you're looking for a more structured overview of how a PR strategy should look like, it might be better to read theoretical PR textbooks first before continuing with this one.
July 6, 2017
Public relations is fifteen times (pdf) more effective than advertising, yet most Public Relations efforts are wasted. At least 95% of public statements end up as email detritus, spiked by hard-pressed or incredulous journalists or funnelled down the black hole of news aggregation services. Why?
After all, much of the paraphernalia of today's PR practitioners - press releases, media advisories, backgrounders - are carefully scripted, on message, and pour out of corporate offices and PR agencies like streams of confetti. Sounds like music to journalists' ears.
The reason, according to Alex Singleton in his new book The PR Masterclass, is that most PR pitches fail to understand the needs of journalists - story ideas that grab their readers' attention.
Singleton should know. A former journalist at The Daily Telegraph and Mail Online, he would have developed an instinct for what his readers were interested in, the kinds of stories that would grab their attention and what constitutes successful, and ineffective, PR.
The PR Masterclass is studded with examples of good, bad and ugly PR, from a local tea blender on the south coast of England wooing the BBC by creating the world's largest tea bag, to Whitehall departments refusing to pass on interview requests to their political bosses and a top global bank attempting to spin layoffs as 'repositioning actions to reduce expenses'.
For those of us who have worked in journalism much of this sounds familiar, a good deal of it depressingly familiar.
But while this book is notable for the thoroughly practical way it sets out how to develop newsworthy story ideas, maintain a effective list of journalists (free chapter), write and pitch press releases, run an effective press office and many other PR basics, what sets it apart is its refusal to succumb to the disease of many business books: a delight in pointing out what is challenging or wrong but providing all too few actionable solutions.
And here the solutions are set out in technicolour detail. How to write a press release headline and build an effective media list. Why anonymous letters can work for personal finance sections of newspapers but not for general readers' letters. Why most newswire services are a waste of money, but which are worth their salt. And so on.
Arguably, The PR Masterclass suffers from a couple of limitations. First, it is written from an (unashamedly) western perspective. But while building strong relationships with journalists is central to PR anywhere, a well-trodden path to media coverage in China (and plenty of other emerging markets) is to pay the journalist and/or buy advertising space.
The book also takes a fairly narrow view of PR, centred on media relations. Singleton argues persuasively that the conventional media still matters, despite all the talk abut social media. I concur. But what constitutes mainstream media has now expanded significantly, with some blogs rivalling the online efforts of major broadcasters and newspapers. The Business Insider now has a higher readership than the Wall Street Journal. And as Ryan Holiday has pointed out, these organs can operate by very different rules and demand a muscular and visual approach to PR.
Nonetheless, neither seriously detract from a highly readable and eminently useful addition to the PR canon, and one which should be required reading not just for communications students but for any organisation that wants to get its message out credibly and persuasively.
After all, much of the paraphernalia of today's PR practitioners - press releases, media advisories, backgrounders - are carefully scripted, on message, and pour out of corporate offices and PR agencies like streams of confetti. Sounds like music to journalists' ears.
The reason, according to Alex Singleton in his new book The PR Masterclass, is that most PR pitches fail to understand the needs of journalists - story ideas that grab their readers' attention.
Singleton should know. A former journalist at The Daily Telegraph and Mail Online, he would have developed an instinct for what his readers were interested in, the kinds of stories that would grab their attention and what constitutes successful, and ineffective, PR.
The PR Masterclass is studded with examples of good, bad and ugly PR, from a local tea blender on the south coast of England wooing the BBC by creating the world's largest tea bag, to Whitehall departments refusing to pass on interview requests to their political bosses and a top global bank attempting to spin layoffs as 'repositioning actions to reduce expenses'.
For those of us who have worked in journalism much of this sounds familiar, a good deal of it depressingly familiar.
But while this book is notable for the thoroughly practical way it sets out how to develop newsworthy story ideas, maintain a effective list of journalists (free chapter), write and pitch press releases, run an effective press office and many other PR basics, what sets it apart is its refusal to succumb to the disease of many business books: a delight in pointing out what is challenging or wrong but providing all too few actionable solutions.
And here the solutions are set out in technicolour detail. How to write a press release headline and build an effective media list. Why anonymous letters can work for personal finance sections of newspapers but not for general readers' letters. Why most newswire services are a waste of money, but which are worth their salt. And so on.
Arguably, The PR Masterclass suffers from a couple of limitations. First, it is written from an (unashamedly) western perspective. But while building strong relationships with journalists is central to PR anywhere, a well-trodden path to media coverage in China (and plenty of other emerging markets) is to pay the journalist and/or buy advertising space.
The book also takes a fairly narrow view of PR, centred on media relations. Singleton argues persuasively that the conventional media still matters, despite all the talk abut social media. I concur. But what constitutes mainstream media has now expanded significantly, with some blogs rivalling the online efforts of major broadcasters and newspapers. The Business Insider now has a higher readership than the Wall Street Journal. And as Ryan Holiday has pointed out, these organs can operate by very different rules and demand a muscular and visual approach to PR.
Nonetheless, neither seriously detract from a highly readable and eminently useful addition to the PR canon, and one which should be required reading not just for communications students but for any organisation that wants to get its message out credibly and persuasively.
June 15, 2017
Good guide for UK PR
It was a good review for those in the PR field and has tips for those who are not in the PR field.
It was a good review for those in the PR field and has tips for those who are not in the PR field.
July 27, 2017
Dla początkujących spoko. Doświadczeni PR-owcy znajdą tylko kilka naprawdę wartościowych fragmentów. Książka pisana pod kątem specyfiki rynku medialnego UK i USA, które jednak różnią się od naszego.
October 26, 2020
A great insight and crash course into my new industry
June 11, 2022
A compact PR guidance. Very practical, strategic, and informative. The author also uses study cases which were interesting to read.
April 20, 2023
A nice overview. British based, but the majority of it still applied to US media.
August 26, 2025
Kratak i jasan priručnik za one koji tek ulaze u svijet PR-a. Za one koji su tu godinama, preskočite ovu knjigu.
October 2, 2016
I find this book an extremely helpful source of information and practical advice. The author presents great lessons in the PR domain and backs them with notable examples. The book is structured according to the main sections in the PR daily work, and the main processes are explained in a clear-cut manner. I have learned a lot from this book and will definitely return to it again for professional and valuable advice.
April 10, 2015
For my PR for Nonprofits class, I had to choose a book related to public relations or nonprofits to read on my own, review it, and then present it to the class. The rules were pretty vague, but no one in the class could do the same book. By the time I got around to choosing my book most of the well-known ones were already taken, so this one popped up on Google, so I decided to give it a shot.
I was super behind on the project and didn’t have enough time to have the physical book shipped to me, so I purchased it on my Nook. My goal was to read a chapter a day (and there are ten chapters). I started March 28th and skipped a couple days, but finished today in plenty of time to write my paper.
Seeing as I have switched majors, I am not much interested in public relations anymore, but the books was still helpful. It connected a few concepts I have been learning about in my Strategic Communications, Media Writing, and PR for Nonprofit classes. The connection of concepts and how they are used in the real-world was the best part, because we talk a lot about hypotheticals in class, but don’t really get a sense for real-world use and I felt this book really had that.
This author is British, or I got the feeling he is, because a lot of the examples in the book came from the UK. This was a bit frustrating at times, because I live in the United States, so I had no idea what he was talking about or how it pertained to me. I didn’t really feel that the book helped you create a public relations strategy, but more or less told you the do’s and the don’t’s.
Of course that is helpful and important information, but just not what I was expecting to be reading.
I was super behind on the project and didn’t have enough time to have the physical book shipped to me, so I purchased it on my Nook. My goal was to read a chapter a day (and there are ten chapters). I started March 28th and skipped a couple days, but finished today in plenty of time to write my paper.
Seeing as I have switched majors, I am not much interested in public relations anymore, but the books was still helpful. It connected a few concepts I have been learning about in my Strategic Communications, Media Writing, and PR for Nonprofit classes. The connection of concepts and how they are used in the real-world was the best part, because we talk a lot about hypotheticals in class, but don’t really get a sense for real-world use and I felt this book really had that.
This author is British, or I got the feeling he is, because a lot of the examples in the book came from the UK. This was a bit frustrating at times, because I live in the United States, so I had no idea what he was talking about or how it pertained to me. I didn’t really feel that the book helped you create a public relations strategy, but more or less told you the do’s and the don’t’s.
Of course that is helpful and important information, but just not what I was expecting to be reading.
December 21, 2013
There are books and webpages that say all the obvious things, by people who know a little about the media. What I liked about Singleton's book is that it comes from experience.
He tells how at the start of his first job as a magazine journalist he discovered that almost all PR teams under performed. Furthermore, he's good at the nitty gritty, the tricks if you like, of dealing with the national press, TV and radio.
Other books might tell you you need to write a press release (obvious stuff, which, actually, Singleton says isn't always right) but Singleton tells you the nuts and bolts of how to really get success with the media.
He tells how at the start of his first job as a magazine journalist he discovered that almost all PR teams under performed. Furthermore, he's good at the nitty gritty, the tricks if you like, of dealing with the national press, TV and radio.
Other books might tell you you need to write a press release (obvious stuff, which, actually, Singleton says isn't always right) but Singleton tells you the nuts and bolts of how to really get success with the media.
March 15, 2014
Whether you are new to PR or just want to brush up on your skills then I highly recommend you buy this book. Alex Singleton urges for professionalism in the industry, delivers solid advice packed full of personal insight that could help change your campaigns for the better. If you want to build your understanding of digital then find another book, but before you do read The PR Masterclass.
You can read my full review of this book on my blog: http://thoughtsymposium.com/2014/03/p...
You can read my full review of this book on my blog: http://thoughtsymposium.com/2014/03/p...
January 31, 2014
PR Masterpiece.
This text should become the must read for aspiring or practising PR folks. It is full of the hard learned lessons of an experienced journalist and PR adviser.
This text should become the must read for aspiring or practising PR folks. It is full of the hard learned lessons of an experienced journalist and PR adviser.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews