Recently, a popular women's magazine offered advice to readers wanting to change careers. Several potentially exciting new careers were offered. One was babysitting children, one was baking cakes for weddings, and another was arranging flowers. All of these three, the article proclaimed, required little training, as did the fourth choice—conducting public relations. A career in public relations was held up as a great choice for many women—after all, the article proclaimed, women like eating out and planning events. Sadly, this explanation of what represents public relations is more common than one would think. Perhaps no other profession, and no other media field to be sure, suffers from such poor public awareness and understanding.

Not making attempts to define public relations any easier is the myriad of definitions espoused by those actually working, teaching, and researching in the field. While most of the definitions do provide some clarity as to what composes public relations, memorizing any one definition seems unnecessarily to limit a fully comprehensive understanding of a complex field. To that end, it may be more valuable to realize that most all of the commonly accepted definitions of public relations share the following key descriptors: PR is a management function that should lead organizational activity; PR involves deliberate communication with various constituent audiences that influence the organization's business environment; Successful PR entails careful research that not only guides activities but also evaluates programs once completed to help develop future plans; PR practitioners must have the ability to plan and produce effective strategies, and their various components, that will ultimately lead to the achievement of organizational goals.

These definition components paint a picture of contemporary public relations that is much more complex than, as stated in the magazine article mentioned earlier, eating at restaurants and planning events. By committing these facets of the field to memory and study, current and future practitioners can, and in the least, will be prepared for a more in-depth investigation of how public relations looks in the 21st century and what is required of those who will shape the field in the years to come.