As I sat in the airport at 5:30 a.m. one brisk Tuesday morning, I sincerely wished that I could fly – or even better, teleport – to my next destination.  Alas, I had no such abilities.  So to pass some time, I started to think about the real-life super powers I believe successful PR pros exhibit.  Here are some of my favorites.

Charm Speak:  This first power is no surprise, as words are some of our most powerful allies. To work in the PR industry, you must have strong communication skills.  But to excel in it, you have to be able to captivate and influence others quickly.  A charm-speaker does just that, painting compelling stories and building key relationships with every turn of phrase.

Telepathy:  “I wish I could just read his/her mind!”  We’ve all uttered this phrase before.  Unfortunately, you can’t read your boss’, clients’ or reporters’ minds.  However, you can know them well enough to anticipate what they want, whether it’s a simple call agenda or a group of power players for an attendee list.  This type of telepathy is a huge value as it eliminates last minute scrambling and also builds trust.

Power Mimicry:  A power mimicker doesn’t just admire great abilities in others, but copies or absorbs them.  If he wants the confidence of a CEO, he simply takes it with one touch.  In the real world, this is much more of a give and take, involving observation and proactively asking others to gain new knowledge.  It won’t be instant, but the extra time will be worthwhile in the long term.

Regeneration:  In the literal sense, regeneration is all about physically healing.  This industry may be tough, but there won’t be any aliens with weapons coming for you.  Instead, you have to have to be ready for brutal honesty and potential criticism of your work from clients, consumers and the media.  It can be uncomfortable, but the ability to restart after failure (large and small) is essential to survival and, ultimately, success.  Just take it from these real-life examples.

Marvel won’t be making any movies about our super powers anytime soon, but it’s worth looking at the special characteristics you already possess.  Tell us what YOUR hidden PR super power is or which power you wish you had in the comments section below.  You can also tell us on Twitter, just mention @PPRA.

This post was written by PPRA member Christine Guerrini. Christine is a marketing specialist for social media with Aramark’s Higher Education line of business. In this role, she is responsible for the innovation, scaling and analysis of national social media programs. Christine also has previous experience in public relations agency settings, working with a diverse client roster from Verizon Wireless and IBM’s ACM ICPC to the Salvation Army. Connect with Christine on Twitter (@CMGuerrini) or http://www.linkedin.com/in/christineguerrini.