When It Comes to PR Writing, Only One Thing Beats Talent...

…and there ain’t much talent around.

What’s wrong with PR writing? To borrow a phrase from poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, let me count the ways. But I don’t have that much time, so allow me to offer a few ideas based on some 30 years in the public relations profession and almost 20 years teaching business writing in professional workshops and now on campus and online.

Most PR practitioners, especially the youngest among us, haven’t been well-trained as writers. At best, they’ve taken one PR writing course in college. More often than not, they’ve gotten their writing experience by preparing class plans and presentations. This is useful but inadequate. For one thing, class plans and presentations are long and longer. They’re written to impress the teacher and well they should. Teachers teach; they need to assess their students’ grasp of the subject at hand, they need to assess their students’ understanding in depth.

But in business, government and not-for-profit enterprises, the writing has to be tighter and more to the point. In many respects, this has always been the case. But today it’s an imperative.

Increasingly, audiences want PR news and information as short and sweet as possible. Let’s face it, we’re not writing New Yorker pieces so why so much verbiage in most of what’s written? In addition, we’re not writing to be published word for word or even close to it. We’re engaged in, or should be engaged in, writing news and information that our audiences, the media in particular, can use as is or edited for their purposes. We are the facilitator not the end user.

And the terms and conditions that have been set for us are pretty clear, not only for the press but for anyone who receives our stuff. These “standards” have evolved from a long history of experimentation, especially in the media and among journalists. Any writing primer will give you the specifics. PR writing should be:

• Simple (unadorned language, common sense logic)
• Direct (to the point, say what you have to say and little more)
• Credible (believable, what you say is true)
• Factual (5 W’s - who, what, when, where, and why)
• Insightful (useful takeaways that go beyond the conventional)
• Actionable (you can do something immediately with what’s presented)

As to actual style, PR writing should have:

• An inviting lead (nothing fancy but something that makes you read on)
• Short sentences (built on straightforward, uncomplicated phrasing)
• Short paragraphs (much easier to read than long paragraphs)
• Lots of nouns and active verbs (keep the prose lean)
• Few adjectives (minimizes unintentional editorializing)
• Few adverbs (ditto what occurs with adjectives)
• Few connectives (however, moreover, although, also and other transitions usually add unnecessary complications)
• Accurate syntax (watch out for misplaced modifiers, dangling participles and other mistakes)
• Concrete language (say “lie,” not prevaricate, “said” not “opined”)

There are all kinds of guidelines but the simplest are the best. The rest is up to the writer - namely, you. If you don’t follow what’s suggested, your writing will suffer. And practice is what makes perfect. Think about theater, sports, politics, the military. You don’t get good at any of these pursuits if you don’t practice, practice, practice. Why should it be any different with PR writing? It isn’t.

So if you really want to write better as a public relations practitioner, get in the sweat. Start exercising in earnest. Take a writing course at your local university. Take a workshop. Put one together for your own office. Join a writer’s club. Create one for your colleagues. Maybe in your local PRSA or IABC chapter. Do something to put your desire in action. If you don’t, you only have yourself to blame.

Don Bates is the director of the Master’s Degree in Strategic Public Relations program at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.