Chapter 15 Public Relations Writing The Nigerian bank scam or 419 Letter named for the Nigerian Penal code that addresses crime schemes scam in which the sender promises to send you a large sum of money in exchange for your personal financial information This has become an Internet staple Writing for the Eye and the Ear A reader has certain luxuries a listener does not have a reader can scan material study printed words dart ahead and review certain passages for better understanding To be effective writing for the eye must be able to withstand the most rigorous scrutiny Listener gets only one opportunity to hear and comprehend a message If the message is missed the first time there s usually no second chance Fundamentals of Writing 1 The idea must precede the expression Ideas must satisfy four criteria I They must relate to the reader II They must engage the reader s attention III They must concern the reader IV They must be in the reader s interest The trick in coming up with clever ideas lies more in borrowing old ones that in creating new ones 2 Don t be afraid of the draft 3 Simplify clarify Shop talk Jargon and in words should be avoided 4 Finally writing must be aimed at a particular audience Flesch Readability Formula According to Flesch anyone can be a writer He suggested that people who write the way they talk will be able to write better straightforward writing is the only approach Flesch gave seven suggestions for making writing more readable 1 Use contractions such as it s and doesn t 2 Leave out the word that whenever possible 3 Use pronouns such as I we they and you 4 When referring back to a noun repeat the noun or use a pronoun Don t create eloquent substitutions 5 Use brief clear sentences 6 Cover only one item per paragraph 7 Use language the reader understands Ylisela Cornerstones of Corporate Writing Jim Ylisela a journalist and organizational writing instructor Claims the reason most corporate writing is dull uninspired and convoluted is because writers themselves are fearful to express themselves forcefully This is tragedy because What value is the corporate mission if people don t understand it The secret according to Prof Ylisela is to make the words count Here s how 1 Be specific 2 Use more words expand vocabulary 3 Find better verbs Action oriented verbs drive sentences so use them 4 Pursue the active voice Subject verb object 5 Omit needless words count the words in any document print it and then cut it by 10 6 Embrace simplicity and clarity 7 Tell a good story use examples illustrations anecdotes and personal experience to make points 8 Find interesting voices quote people who are interesting and say interesting things 9 Take chances 10 Rewrite everything can be improved so rewrite The Beauty of the Inverted Pyramid Begins with summary lead Adds facts in a descending order of importance Done in this way so that story can be edited to fit available space by cutting of the end of the story Nothing of significance will be lost Climax of a newspaper story comes at the beginning opposite of a novel Newshole how much news can we put in the paper today Amount of space the paper has after all advertisements are accounted for The News Release It s the granddaddy of PR writing vehicles The first recorded news release was issued by Ivy Lee in October of 1906 as a statement from the road It offered an explanation from client Pennsylvania railroad about that month s crash that killed 50 people The release was published verbatim by The New York Times Releases have one overriding purpose to influence publication to write favorably about the material discussed Most news releases are not used verbatim rather they stimulate editors to consider covering a story Why do some editors and others describe news releases as worthless drivel the answer according to researcher Linda Morton of University of Oklahoma s Herbert school of journalism is threefold 1 Releases are poorly written found they are written in a more complicated and difficult to read style could be because of pressure from administrators 2 Releases are rarely localized the more localized a news release is the more chance it has of being used Morton found that practitioners may not want to do the additional work that localization requires 3 Releases are not newsworthy so what determines if something is news o Impact major announcement that affects an organization community or even society o Oddity an unusual occurrence or milestone o Conflict a significant dispute or controversy o Known principal the greater the title of the individual making the announcement greater the chance of the release being used o Proximity how localized is the release or how relative is is to the news of the day o Human interest stories which touch on an emotional experience are regularly considered newsworthy News Release News Value Traditionally journalists said that when dog bites man it s not news but when man bites dog that s news In general news releases ought to include the following elements o Have a well defined reason for sending the release o Focus on one central subject in each release o Make certain the subject is newsworthy in the context of the organization industry and community o Include facts about the product service or issue being discussed o Provide the facts factually with no puff no bluff no hyperbole o Rid the release of unnecessary jargon o Include appropriate quotes from principals but avoid inflated superlatives that do little more than boost management egos o Include product specifications shipping dates availability price and all pertinent info for telling the story o Include a brief description of the company boilerplate at the end of the release what it is and what it does o Write clearly concisely forcefully News Release Content The Cardinal rule in release content is that the end product must be newsworthy The summary lead answers who what usually most important when where why how sometimes no why or how News Release Style News release style is subjective and ever changing however a particular firms style must be consistent from one release to the next Typical Style rules o Capitalization o Abbreviations Dec 11 2009 v December 2009 for organization spell it all out and then put abbrev in parenthesis Securities and Exchange Commission SEC o Numbers spell out zero through nine use figures for 10 and up Numerals are acceptable for election returns speeds distances percentages temperatures heights ages
View Full Document
Unlocking...