Last week, media/press kits were due. Not a lot of work but a lot of pressure put on us PR students. You would be crazy not to feel pressured when, not only, 30% of your final grade in one of your course is based on three pieces of paper but when anonymous writing professionals in the business are marking those three pieces of paper! A little disappointed when I received my mark back and it was only a 75%.
However, I then received the feedback from the professional journalists marking our media/press kits. “Great cover, well done, good design, good contact info, love the backgrounder” and my personal favourite, “You did our work for us.” After reading that, my mind was at ease. I lost my marks on my serious lack of commitment to CP Style.
A heck of a thing CP Style is. So many rules to follow! It just goes to show you the importance of a textbook and why we are made to spend hundreds of dollars on them. For the record, when writing in CP style, it’s 8 p.m. not 8:00 p.m. and never use explanation marks or call to action phrases/lines in a news release. Never use superscript “th”, “st” or “nd” for dates or even numbers in general.
Always remember, unless you are quoting, never write in the first person on writing pieces such as a fact sheet. Granted, it is info about the business by the business but change the voice of the writer back to third party perspective. I learned all of this the hard way scoring a fifteen out of a possibly twenty marks on my kit.
A lesson learned. And last but not least...
It’s a slippery slope and one that should be clear as day, not clear as mud. When one is utilizing the art of clichés...just don’t! I never did. However, I am just saying, they are awful writing techniques!
All aboard the CP Train! Our next destination, a better tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment