Writing

Confidence is critical to good writing, writing guru Jonathan Rick told attendees during today’s the PR News Writing Boot Camp in NY City. “You have to believe you’re an intelligent person. If you’re having trouble understanding something, it’s not you, it’s bad writing,” he says.

For all the sometimes contentious back-and-forth between PR pros and journalists, both types of communicator share some similar goals when it comes to getting a story published. Similarly, both roles share a need to master artful pitching, and knowing what an artful pitch looks like. When it comes to media pitching, staying mindful of your audience means that the PR pros getting the highest return on their pitches know what it means to think like a journalist.

PR pros are asked to write content in various styles, including reports to the C-Suite and messages to stakeholders from members of the C-Suite. Andrea Staub, SVP, corporate communications at Perdue Farms, provides insight on how she crafts these communications.

You’ve been chosen to write a memo or report to the members of the C-Suite. Should you change your writing style and how you compose your content? Jenna Hilzenrath, VP, communications, Birchbox, advises mirroring the style of communications you’ve seen coming from the C-Suite, be it formal or informal.

We know how easy it can be to torpedo your brand or reputation on Twitter. Like most things on the Internet, though, Twitter is a double-edge sword that also can promote your brand. 5WPR CEO Ronn Torossian offers five easy tips to help make your brand’s Twitter presence a success.

Your strategy for getting that copy to the top of the newsfeed only works until it doesn’t, right? Not entirely. As an extension of solid communication skills, good, clear and direct writing will always be a highly valued skill on social. We caught up with Devon Harris, brand strategist at Twitter, to learn about some new and evergreen strategies for making sure your brand copy reaches—and resonates—with as many people as possible.

It’s obvious that the professional life of a communicator is harried. That’s why we’re always looking for the latest technology to make us more efficient. Yet sometimes doing things without the speed technology affords might result in better work. A PR pro finds using pen and paper to write first drafts is superior to working on a computer.

Regulators already are calling for an investigation into why a Google+ data breach that was discovered in March was made public only this week. Google claims the breach was minor and did not warrant sending an alert to users, though the data of 500,000 might have been compromised. A Google blog post, though, seems to want to hide the data breach, too, creating bad optics for the company.

With Americans set to spend $9 billion on Halloween this year, it could be a good time for brands to bewitch their fan with creative and spooky communication, argues LDWW director David Wolpert. Don’t be a zombie, entice influencers to inject some life (or afterlife) into your brand’s message.

Blogs can be an excellent way for brands to connect with audiences, but tying them back to business objectives can be difficult. This infographic provides a step by step process for creating compelling blog posts that will take your content from good to great.