On-line Readings in Public Relations by Michael Turney
	Writing for public relations purposes.
	© 2024 Michael Turney	Return to Table of contents	Practicing Public Relations main page	About the author

 
Right now, whenever you sit down to write, you simply do it the way you've always done it, ... writing a composition by the rules of the "English composition game" you were taught to play in school.

The first thing you have to learn is that this game isn't played in real life. The rules are different. ... The kind of writing you do every day - and receive every day in your incoming mail - may be flawless as a school composition, but from the point of view of a writing pro it's probably hopelessly bad."

Rudolf Flesch, On Business Communications:
How to Say What You Mean in Plain English, p.2.
 

 
There was a time during the publicity phase of public relations when practicing public relations required only inventiveness, chutzpa, and strong writing skills. In fact, public relations then was little more than writing and the term "wordsmith" was often used as a near-synonym for public relations practitioner. But, that time has passed.

While some public relations people can still be described as writers, the field as a whole has expanded and shifted its focus to problem-solving and relationship-building.

However, the ability to write quickly, clearly, and forcefully remains a critical prerequisite. But, that writing no longer conforms to a single, particular style or type of writing. Today, public relations writing is characterized more by its purpose than its style. It adopts -- or adapts to -- whatever writing style or styles are best at any given moment for addressing currently-critical audience(s) and circumstances.

 
If you expect to succeed in this environment, it's time to start writing like a public relations pro.

When preparing a press release for the news media, the best writing style to use may be traditional newspaper style based on inverted pyramid organization, past tense, full attribution, double-spacing, and very few adjectives. Alternatively, you might want to use a radio-television or an online style which tend to use present tense verbs, shorter forms of attribution, and an almost "breaking news" sort of urgency.

In contrast, writing a speech for a company executive will probably call for a speaking script printed in oversize type with generous line-spacing and using an informal, conversational tone with lots of sentence fragments, contractions, and second-person rhetorical questions.

Similarly, writing a script for a video that will be shown at an employee orientation session will require many of those same script-writing techniques to express what has to be said, but it will be presented using a very different format and with lots of added information. Video scripts typically use a split-page format that has separate, parallel columns for different elements of the program. At the very least, this will include one column for the primary narrator’s script and a second describing whatever image will be seen on the screen while that portion of the script is spoken. But, there may be additional columns for movement or gestures, camera directions, special effects, voice-over narration, music, lighting, and other elements.

And, writing a company's annual report may involve drafting a formal business letter for the chairman of the board, detailed technical and statistical summaries of product and facility performance, feature stories profiling outstanding employees, and detailed financial reports on assets, liabilities, and equity.

Just in terms of writing, these are very different demands and challenges than those faced by journalists, and may explain why journalism is no longer considered the ideal preparation for public relations it once was.

Most journalists routinely use only one writing style, have only one medium to satisfy, and one audience to inform. Public relations professionals, in contrast, may simultaneously have to deal with a half-dozen or more different audiences – employees and their families, customers, stockholders, government agencies, financial regulators, business competitors, residents of the local community, etc. whom they may have to reach using a wide variety of media, not merely to inform them, but possibly to change their points of view regarding your organization.

 
Public relations writing is useless unless it helps its organization gain recognition, present its interests, or establish its credibility.

Public relations professionals should not be writing just for the sake of writing, nor writing for the thrill of being published, nor writing a composition to get a good grade. Neither should they write like a traditional storyteller who begins at the beginning and moves chronologically, step-by-step to the end. While that approach works well for nursery rhymes, novels, and some movies, it's ill-suited to public relations writing.

Public relations writing requires clear, concise, goal-oriented prose aimed at one or more specific objectives. And the best way to achieve this is to get right to the point. Don't waste time or words setting the scene or providing background. Jump right in and get to the point.

In many formats used in public relations writing, the title, headline, or subject line at the top a memo will provide all the scene-setting your text needs. But, if you still feel a need to provide background, fill in details, or clarify key points, do it after you've covered the main points, not as you're leading up to them.

 
Properly targeting your intended audience and shaping what you write to their interests and characteristics is critical.

Everything written for public relations should be clear and understandable to the people it's aimed at, but that doesn't mean everything should be written at the same level or that everyone should be able to understand it.

Everything public relations people write is NOT aimed at the same audience. Consequently, different pieces or different versions of the same piece may need to be written at different reading levels and using different tones, foci, emphasis, and words.

For instance, if your target audience is members of a college alumni association, how and what you write will need to be very different than what you would write for junior high school students or residents of a senior citizens community. Or, if you're writing for lawyers, you'll need to include full legal citations for any laws or court decisions you reference, just as when you write informational pieces for doctors or engineers you have to use polysyllabic technical terms and specialized acronyms regardless of how arcane or unfamiliar they seem to you. And, you absolutely need to use such terms correctly and accurately.

And always, always remember, short and simple is sometimes the best approach. But, at other times, long words, compound-complex sentences, or even foreign language phrases may be the best way to reach a particular audience. -- N'est-ce pas?

The best guideline for which words or style to use, and which to edit out, is asking yourself: Will what I have written be clear to my intended readers, and is it the best possible way to convey my meaning to them?
 

Chief executives today need more than a wordsmith.
They need someone to orchestrate their appearances, develop and articulate their themes, build their media connections,
research their chosen issues, develop their positions, and help them to express themselves persuasively.

Robert L. Fegley speaking at the PRSA Annual Conference, New York; 1983.