Writing Skills for Public Relations by John Foster

Author:John Foster
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kogan Page

Figure 13.1 Busy day at the Foreign Press Association media centre for the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton. More than 150 journalists from scores of countries used the extensive facilities provided

The feature article will give creative opportunities for alliterations and play on words in headlines to provide both humour and freshness. These editorial tricks are not generally used in news pages apart perhaps from the tabloids once termed ‘red tops’. In order to encourage the reader to go right to the end of an article and not give it a quick flip, the sub will try to make the article interesting by making it lively, relevant, arresting and, at the very least, worthwhile and useful.

Radio and TV broadcasts

You will certainly be a fortunate public relations practitioner if you can get your client’s products mentioned on air, particularly by the BBC, which may cut out references to named goods and services. Other broadcasters also have restrictions on product mentions and you must be prepared to have them deleted.

Much the same applies to financial services and products which may be of interest to business programmes on both radio and TV. But you may be lucky if there is company news that is of sufficient interest for transmission to a range of viewers and listeners.

Many of the principles outlined above will be followed by the editorial teams involved with radio and TV broadcasts, with one exception: the words spoken on both radio and TV must be clearly enunciated so that they can be understood widely. If the script when read out is unintelligible to listener and viewer then there is no point in broadcasting it. This means that scripts must be free of words that are difficult to speak, for instance whilst and amongst instead of while and among (whilst/amongst are largely banned nowadays). Other sibilants, words pronounced with a ‘hissing’ noise (slippery slates), should be used with caution.

The first test for a script

Let Pat Bowman, former head of public relations at Lloyds Bank, once a frequent broadcaster and now presenter of an audio magazine for the blind, speak from his experience. He says that the first test for any broadcast script is to read it aloud, no matter who will eventually speak it. ‘That will quickly show up any awkward words or phrases that need to be adjusted.

‘Better still, tape the script yourself and play it back: that can be very illuminating. Most important of all, keep the structure simple, avoiding complexities like too many dependent clauses and, incidentally, allowing the speaker to breathe.’

Make the piece short and accurate

Another comment comes from Ken Brazier, a former BBC broadcaster and editor of the Overseas News Service. He says the way to get the best out of your script so that it appeals to the listener is to make the piece short, clear and accurate, just as you would for the press. ‘Before starting to write, think the piece through, sort the facts into logical order so that they link easily from one to another.

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