Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Fast Five Links: Fight for the Write

Writing is one of the most critical skills in public relations. And let's face it, everyone’s writing can improve. Here are some tips to keep your words working for you and not against you.

1) Word of the Day | Daily Writing Tips
The odds of referencing a pyrrhic victory in a pitch is slim at best. But the more words you know the more options you have. And sometimes a story calls for a 50-cent word.

2) Skip the 5Ws and Pitch Heroes | Bulldog Reporter
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Dave Lieber reinforces the importance of storytelling. Pay attention to tip 3 and 4.

3) Write like a blogger | Seth Godin
Some great tips from Seth Godin on how to make your content more readable and, as a result, increase the odds of retention.

4) What if your writing sucks? | Blogging for Business
Tips for folks with no prior training, but they still apply to all of us.

5) Present Good-Looking Data with Chart Chooser | AdLab
Visuals help make your writing easier to read – especially when serving up facts and figures. Make sure your data looks its best with Chart Chooser.

My biggest piece of advice? The more you write the better you get over time (hopefully).

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tags | public relations | PR


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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:09 AM

    Thanks for the tips! Very useful posts, especially Lieber's pointers on pitching.

    It's common sense, but as we all know, common sense is the least common sense :)

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  2. Anonymous4:07 PM

    Hi Kevin,

    Didn't you hear? Writing died just after the media, Public Relations, malls and marketing :-)

    On a more serious note, these are great links.
    Tom

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  3. Anonymous10:22 PM

    Practice is definitely the best advice. But I'd also add another "common sense" tip, which is that a well written pitch usually tries to reflect the recipient's (or the publication's) tone. Thanks for the great links, esp. Chart Chooser. Will definitely try it out.

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