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Family and community support services provides

preventive social support programs in Alberta. Do you know what family and community

support services are provided in your area?”

How to write for your audience

Poster template

Paid: Advertising & Advertorials

Who speaks to the Media?

How to respond when a reporter calls

CLEAR WRITING

The essence of good communication is writing with a purpose. Have you ever picked up a brochure,

glanced at it, and put it back? Not sure what you were supposed to do with it?

Always keep in mind:

◦ To whom are you talking?

◦ What do you want them to know/do?

Awareness and Action

Awareness is nice, but on its own, doesn’t inspire action. Before you write the copy for a brochure, flyer,

or poster, ask yourself, what measurable results do you want to achieve when you distribute your

brochure?

Action

Even “awareness” brochures should include a call to action. Think about your awareness brochure.

What do you want people to do as a result of having read the brochure?

Do you want them to Donate? Volunteer? Sign Up? Tell someone?

There’s a call to action for everything!

Think about your audience - who is this for? What do we want them to know? What is the ‘call to

action?’

About Promotional Writing

Clear communication has its foundation in simple statements. If you can clearly articulate what you do

and how you make a difference then you can build on that to create longer text.

Remember, your purpose is to inspire, compel, urge, advocate, seek, fund, friend-raise….

Plain Language does the job

Among peers, jargon is a short-cut. To the lay-person, it’s confusing!

When writing, choose easy-to-read words to help those with literacy or ESL issues or anyone who has

little time and just needs the facts! Be conscious of sensitivities – and most of all – be clear

Slogans and Taglines

Slogans and taglines can be can be helpful when reinforcing awareness – they can be memorable and

catchy. However, you don’t want them too cute or jargony. They should be self-explanatory.

Slogans and taglines usually have a shelf-life of 3-5 yrs.

Most important to remember is that they Must add value – they should further the understanding of

your agency or services.

Creating Text

When creating the text for your brochure, flyer, poster, etc., start from the audience’s perspective.

Write what they need to know.

Write with purpose in mind.

Give enough information and context to help them take action.

Identify what action you want them to take. (Volunteer, donate, decide…)

Provide other sources of info to learn more.

Steps for writing a brochure

1. Clearly define its purpose and distribution

2. Develop an organizing concept

3. Write the content from the audience’s view

4. Design the format including the use of type, visuals, paper, space and color

5. Produce the brochure with the understanding it may be changed or reprinted later on

6. Distribute the brochure

The Purpose of a Brochure

So you want to put out a brochure – think about what you want your brochure to achieve? Do you want

it to:

◦ Persuade: sell a product or service, publicize an idea, raise funds? Use an emotional

approach to engage readers

◦ Inform or Educate: Use factual information to clearly explain the meaning of your idea,

product or service

Developing a Brochure Concept

Once you’ve established the purpose of the brochure, define a concept to:

◦ Help organize words, visuals, color and space to work together to tell your story

◦ Determine a simple message statement to shape the creative concept

◦ Ensure visuals complement or explain, not compete, with the message

◦ Fully coordinate the message to produce a cohesive end product

Writing Checklist

Is the message clear?

Have you identified important audiences?

Are your sentences instantly understandable?

Is your writing concise and free of needless words or jargon?

Have you used common, concrete words that evoke visual images?

Is your language natural – can your writing be easily read aloud?

Is the sentence structure varied?

Are most sentences in the active voice?

Is your call to action apparent and clear?

Writing for News

News must be current and relevant. Ask yourself:

◦ Is it new? (Announcement, new program/service, etc.)

◦ Is it of general interest to a broad portion of the population?

◦ Is there something you want to happen as a result of your announcement? (Donations,

volunteers, registrants, recognition)

Key Messages

Key messages are the important points you want your audience to hear.

Create specific messages for each audience and project.

1-3 brief statements

Can (and should) change over time

“If you could only tell me 3 things, what would they be…?”

News Writing

A rule of thumb for news writing is to visualize an inverted pyramid with three sections, the smallest or

shortest at the top:

LEAD – 25 words or less – containing basic facts: who/what/where/when/why

BRIDGE – single sentence providing context

BODY – main part of the article. Most important info to least important info

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

Start with your purpose in mind

Tailor the message to the audience

Provide enough (but not too much!) information for the purpose and audience

Have a call to action

Use plain language

Use visuals to enhance understanding

Edit, edit, edit!

Top 9 Tips to Give a Great Media Interview

You have likely seen people speaking at news conferences, or in video clips on television and marveled at how good they were at answering questions from reporters. What most people don't understand is, with some coaching and practice, they can be just as good. These are tips and techniques that you can use to look just as good as the people who speak to the media for a living. 1. Don't Rush Your Answer - To give yourself better presence never rush into an answer or through your answer. Take your time. There are no gold stars for answering a question quickly and in fact it can be a negative because the reporter and their editor want a nice clean edit point. They can't get that if you jump on the end of the reporter's question. In addition, most people being interviewed need to slow down when they speak. You can look more confident and in command of the situation if you back off the gas pedal. 2. Answer with Statements - Be careful not to start every answer with words like "Yes", "No" and "Absolutely". Work on eliminating those words and start your answer without a clear response to the question. It makes your answer stronger and the media appreciates you making a full statement. Rather than saying "Yes that's correct, we believe this is the most important...." try saying "We believe this is the most important...." Being less conversational can make your statement much stronger. 3. Don't Use the Reporter's Name - Never use the reporter's name in recorded interviews because the media outlet may have a different use for the interview. It's acceptable in live interviews, but even then you need to be careful. 4. Make Eye Contact - When doing a TV interview, look at the reporter as you speak and also as they ask you questions. It shows more confidence and people feel that if you can look a reporter in the eye and make a statement you must be telling the truth. Never look at the camera during an interview because it looks creepy. 5. Use Your Hands - During the interview use your hands to help you communicate. Hands can be great communication tools and it also helps to open up your body as you speak because it means you have nothing to hide. 6. Know What You'll Say - You should always know what you are going to say in an interview BEFORE you say it. This can make your answers much stronger and you will have fewer stumbles. It's much easier if you have practiced before. 7. Talk About What You Want To Talk About - Don't feel that you have to be on the defensive if reporters are aggressive. Remember that they wanted to speak to you, so give the answers you want, effectively talking about what you want to talk about.

8. Stay on Message - Once you have decided what you plan to say and say it during the interview there's no need to say more. It's really easy to say too much, resulting in the media using something you didn't want used. Also, keep your cool. You never want to lose control of your emotions during an interview. 9. Drop a Great Sound Bite - Think about a short statement you can make that effectively sums up what you want to say in a clear and colourful way. Chances are this will be the clip that the media uses on radio and TV and the quote that will make its way into the newspaper.