How to Wrie a Paper

Among the many tasks performed by public relations practitioners, writing most certainly tops the list. Practitioners develop various written pieces—media releases, brochures, promotional materials, business correspondence, and proposals—to communicate information to people inside and outside of the organization. Public relations writing should educate, persuade, or motivate. To accomplish these goals, writers must be functional and write with a purpose, while maintaining a creative flair (Zappala, 35).

Because of the wide variety of writing formats, versatility is an essential skill for public relations writers. They must know which format is the most appropriate for a project and the best way to construct a message so that the audience will understand it.

Using Appropriate Formats

The most common writing formats in public relations are those used in publicity, marketing, advocacy, organizational communication, and business correspondence. Each has a certain style and purpose. To determine the best format to use, three things should be considered before beginning a writing project:

What is the purpose of the piece?

Who is the audience?

What is the message? (Strunk, 87)

The Purpose

Before they start writing, public relations practitioners must decide whether the purpose of the piece is to educate, persuade, or motivate. What is the desired result of the piece? To create awareness, gain support for an issue, or prompt behavior?

Writing that seeks to educate usually consists of straightforward information, whereas writing that aims to persuade or motivate takes on a more emotional tone. For example, the purpose of an article that lets employees know about a new benefit would be educational; however, a piece that tries to convince legislators why they should support a bill would require persuasive tactics (Smith, 69).

The Audience

The purpose of the piece will determine who should receive it, which in turn will determine how it should be written. In most cases, a reporter doesn't want to receive a brochure and a customer doesn't want to receive a media release. Media formats (e.g., media releases, media advisories, pitch letters) should be used in writing for the media. Use creative brochures when marketing to customers, internal newsletters for informing employees, and businesslike memos when communicating with management (Goldstein, 25).

The Message

More than anything else, the message will determine the most appropriate writing format to use. Does the message need to be straightforward or is there creative license? Customers will want to read information that reinforces their decision to patronize an organization. This requires the use of persuasive ...