Strong writing skills are applicable to any career stage and industry. It's crucial to any business to clearly communicate through emails, internal documents, memos, promotional material, social media, and other ways.
B2 Communications principal Kyle Parks was part of a panel discussion, “The Write Stuff: Perspectives on Five Areas of PR Writing,” for the Public Relations Society of America - Tampa Bay Chapter alongside Jeff Harrington of The Tampa Bay Times, Kat Lewis of Visit Tampa Bay, Joseph Priest of Syniverse, and Nancy Robbins-Lackey of Lackey Consulting.
Kyle's portion of the panel focused on how to effectively write in a PR agency setting, and his tips can be useful to create any type of clear business communications. Here are five tips on how to become a stronger writer:
- Consider the purpose. First think about who the audience is, what you’re trying to accomplish or convey, and what the readers need to know.
- Quality content is key. Your writing should be interesting or include crucial information – preferably both. Find the facts and look for additional information.
- Get to the point. Attention spans are short. Be concise.
- Tell me why I should care. Use a “nut graph” – a paragraph containing the point of your communications, which is then supported with details.
- Be versatile. Being able to write in a variety of styles increases your skill set and value. Master different styles and be able to quickly transition between them.
Additional tips can be found on Kyle’s handout for the event, which can be downloaded here.