While compiling today’s edition of Custom Scoop’s PR Blog Jots, I was struck by two very different posts mentioning the same issue: bad writing in public relations.
Believe it or not, message presentation is every bit as important as the message itself; poor writing and grammar can undermine the most legitimate of arguments.
In a post defending a sorority involved in a kerfuffle over a negative New York Times article, Gerald Baron of Crisisblogger praises the sorority’s online response, but makes an offhand note that it was quite poorly written. I could not agree more.
Reading the responses from the national president and the chapter’s members, the poor grammar and construction took me out of their arguments. I found myself editing in my head rather than absorbing their message. This is not effective communications, particularly while mired in a crisis.
Over on The Bad Pitch Blog, Richard Laermer posts—and rightly mocks—a press release from a safe-deposit company sent to “Good Morning America.” The company uses Anna Nicole Smith’s recent death as its hook for the merits of its product. The release, which clocks in at 840 words, is so long and dense it is practically unreadable, aside from being in poor taste.
Two distinct problems: poor construction and Odyssean wordiness. These problems are easily avoided by taking the time to edit. PR is a fast-paced business, no question about it. We have moved beyond the 24-hour news cycle into one that lasts mere seconds.
Nevertheless, isn’t taking a few minutes to put your product in front of a second set of eyes, ensuring its quality before sending it into the ether, just as important as timeliness? After all, if your press release is so poorly written that an average reporter can hardly read it, the speed with which it was released doesn’t really matter.
Not only that, but in the age of social media, a poorly crafted bit of writing can open your agency—and, more importantly, your client—up to embarrassing online criticism.
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