Media relations has gotten a lot more interesting--and a lot harder--in recent years in part as a result of the impact of the Internet and supporting technologies. readMe is an ongoing series of tips, tricks and advice aimed at helping PR and marketing professionals stay on top of the trends, understand the implications for their day-to-day needs and learn to utilize the new technologies effectively.
Recent Articles
- What to do if You Are Not Getting Pickup
- How to Get Your Boss to Let You Play by the New Rules of PR
- How to Write a Great Press Release
- The Next Revolution in PR
- The New Rules of PR
PR Tips
- CAPITAL Punishment
- Your Audience Is Listening
- Follow Through
- The KISS Principle
- Worth 1,000 Words
- Ten Commandments For The PR Professional
- Make Headlines
- Five And Dime
- Heads Up
- Be A Keyword Master
- The Missing Link
- Big News Vs. Small News
- Let Your News Sell You
- Take Aim
- Filtered Out
- Beating The Buzzer
- Charted Waters
- Get Recognized
- One Size Fits All
- Long-Term Storage
- Error Proof
- From The Horse's Mouth
- Tech Talk
- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
- Tip Of The Iceberg
- Writing for Robots
PR Tools
The KISS Principle
We all heard the acronym K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) in English classes growing up. This teaching tool reminded us to avoid unnecessarily complex language and convey our message in crisp, clear grammar. When proof-reading your press releases, look for opportunities to break up long sentences (over 20 words) into shorter ones. Keep in mind that your releases will be read on a computer screen as well as in print. Short sentences are easier to read and digest. That said, it’s also good to vary sentence structure. Too many short choppy sentences distract the reader and your message may get lost.
Did You Know: that paragraphs in newspaper stories are rarely more than two sentences long? That’s because today’s busy readers resist large blocks of print. It’s a good idea to use the same approach when writing press releases.
