Public Relations Professionals: Should PR Interns Pitch To The Media

Are public relations professionals fulfilling their obligation to the profession if they don’t let interns fail?

Recently, I took part in a poll about interns and what they should and shouldn’t be doing in their work. The question revolved around the notion of putting PR interns toe-to-toe with the media and allowing them to pitch. In her post, vice president of  BurrellesLuce Media Contacts, Tressa Robbins asks, “Should PR interns pitch the media?”

Of those that replied to Robbins’ question, she cites, Mitch Leff, owner of Leff & Associates PR firm, comments,”Wow…If I was a client, I’m hiring the agency for their expertise and to have their best people on my account. No way I’d pay an agency to have an intern pitching! Wow again.”

After reading such a visceral reaction to putting interns to work, I was taken by surprise. I hold that interns need to learn how to pitch and the best way to do that is to pitch. They also need coaching, which is why it is best to have supervision early on. I might add that supervision should be in the roll of coach, teacher or mentor. And agency owners need to understand, sometimes interns make mistakes. At the same time, a good agency owner or corporate communications director should be in the business of building people. After all, investing in people is how we build relationships, right?

Simply put, the classroom can only gives students so much preparation. It’s like the pre-game locker room meeting where a football coach reviews the plays of an impending game. Without actually executing those plays all that knowledge is ethereal. Professionals only become great from working hard, failing and learning from their mistakes. Public relations professionals are no different.

Put another way, I was listening to NPR last year with a co-worker about one of the two military conflicts in which the US was involved. The radio commentator said something very interesting about military strategy and quoted former heavyweight boxing champion, Mike Tyson, for reference — “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

The point is true and the lesson here isn’t profound, but one every PR intern learns. No amount of book learning can substitute for real-world experience. It’s when we make a mistake, lose a pitch and fail our client that we learn, grow, and sharpen our delivery for the next encounter.

Agency owners and corporate communication managers should bring their interns into the inner circle. Teach them what they know, let them fail and make those mistakes teaching moments. After all, as senior communication managers and professionals, our job is to train the next battalion of troops. Our profession will only be as good as the next generation that takes its lead.