Writing

How many times today did you click “send,” “post,” “tweet” or “publish” without submitting your work to a thorough read-through? Perhaps as many times as you clicked those buttons. You know you’re playing a dangerous game. You might as well be walking across a city street blindfolded. Try printing out and using this quality-control checklist for PR writing, and be sure to add your own writing peccadilloes to the list.

The trick for PR pros is to keep in mind that because of the current state of the news industry, the competition is fierce among communicators. Because PR can help journalists deliver the stories their publications need, it’s more important than ever to craft press releases that stand out and succinctly satisfy the needs of the newsroom.

Keyword-based SEO is a trap. Most of us know that keyword stuffing is a bad idea, but many aren’t aware that most of the effort put into keywords is of low consequence.

Google’s search algorithm rewards websites that are focused on improving the user experience and that publish quality content, and punishes those sites that do neither. You know what kind of punishment this entails—your content will be buried under your competitors’ content in Google searches that use the keywords tied thematically to whatever product or service you sell. That’s the strategic side of SEO—here are some tactical tips.

In my experience, it’s often helpful to save writing the opening of the speech for later in the process, rather than trying to start with some engaging anecdote or shocking fact and then trying to build your speech around your opening.

Media relations experts often tell PR pros to “think like a reporter” when pitching story ideas or news. Perhaps a more useful and specific recommendation would be to take great care with each word, sentence and paragraph. This checklist of questions to ask before sending email pitches should help you do just that.

As a PR pro, writing speeches can be one of the most challenging things to do. It becomes especially difficult when writing a speech for someone else, like your CEO, COO or another C-suite executive, whether you’re in-house or at the company’s agency of record.

Journalists are busier than ever, consumers are savvier today than they were yesterday and the flow of information is massive and neverending. In other words, the heat is on for PR practitioners everywhere. These days, an interesting narrative is non-negotiable, and sharing it across multiple media is standard operating procedure. After all, giving your audience what they want, when they want it and how they want it is tantamount to keeping them engaged with your brand.

Overuse of the dash is becoming an issue. You might be using it wrong, or your thoughts might be cluttered and disjointed. It’s time to stand up for restraint and examine your writing for signs of this creeping menace. Let’s get back to basics and talk about when it should and shouldn’t be used.

We’ve been doing a lot of writing in PR News lately on great PR writing and as I was reflecting on this very intricate craft—a form of writing that requires immense skill—I thought it might be useful to reflect on what a journalist looks for in P…