Writing skills for public relations : style and technique for mainstream and social media / John Foster.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-260) and index.

About the author; Foreword; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 01 The importance of style: an overview; Style on the move; Appreciating style; Your organisation's style; Keep it consistent; Points to watch; Good style is good manners; 02 Trouble with plurals and possessives; Plural matters; Apostrophe problems; 03 Making your mark; Basic punctuation; When you are quoting ... ; 04 Down with capitalism!; Consistency is the essence; Why lower case, upper case?; When to use capitals; Where difficulties occur; The trend is to knock it down; 05 Clich�es, jargon and other worn words.

Recognising clich�esJargon: help or hindrance?; Catchphrases quickly become stale ... ; ... So can metaphors and similes; Make room for the idiom; Beware of slang; 06 Is it easy to read?; Edit with the reader in mind; Aim for short sentences; Guidelines on paragraphing; Line width and type size; Crossheads and subheads; Line and letter spacing; Where to break; Choice of typeface; Printing considerations; Justified or ragged right?; Putting on the stress; Choosing and using your designer; Now it's proof marking time ... ; 07 Headlines: making them work; Use present tense, active verbs.

Questions and humourAvoid 'label' headings; Headings in sales leaflets and brochures; Style and presentation; Subheadings; Slogans for brand recall; Elements of corporate identity; Headlines for websites; 08 Dealing with figures and abbreviations; Figuring out the numbers; Abbreviations: the long and the short of it; 09 Keep it short, simple -- and plain; Aim for brevity; Plain words; Local government communication; Watch out for tautology; Look for active verbs; avoid contractions; Avoid foreign words or phrases -- and Latin; Loan words needing care; Double negatives; Beware 'myths'

Tips for writing tightThere is still much to do ... ; 10 Social media: the X-factor for PR; Essential tools for journalists and brands; Easy set-up for your Twitter account; Facebook -- the PR marketing platform; Designing and writing blogs; Content is key; Edit as you write; Footnotes; 11 Writing for the media; News releases: basic requirements; Commissioned articles; 12 Captions: how to handle them; Photo captions with releases; Captions in publications; 13 Why editing matters; The clue to good copy; News stories; Feature articles; Radio and tv broadcasts; On-screen editing; Technical editing.

Edit yourself14 Skills and styles for the office; Suggested style for correspondence; Style for emails; Have clear, clean layout; Writing a pr�ecis; Writing reports and minutes; Forms of address; Invitations to functions; Replies to invitations; Acknowledging correspondence; Setting out documents; Writing a CV; Language for the telephone; 15 Traps, snares and pitfalls; Spelling points; Be careful with foreign words; Use your dictionary; -ise or -ize verb endings?; One word or two?; Puzzles and posers; Lookalikes need care; Chestnut time; They're not right, they're not wrong.

Public relations practitioners at all levels need to be able to communicate successfully in writing--not only to avoid misunderstandings but to attract and keep the attention of their readers, whatever their message might be. Writing Skills for Public Relations is a wide-ranging guide to style and techniques for all written communication. From the dos and don'ts of English grammar, to jargon and clich�es, to the important legal considerations, John Foster advises on how to write clear, appropriate and engaging copy and tailor your approach to different mediums and audiences. Along with guidance on editing, policing house style, writing for the press, public speaking, pronunciation and good text design and layout, this new fifth edition includes valuable advice on writing for online and social media. This is an essential hands-on practical guide for anyone earning a living through the written or spoken word.-- Publisher description.

English.

Print version record.