If you’re preparing to take graded Associated Style quizzes, it would definitely benefit you to take a few practice quizzes first. Below are several sites with practice quizzes. NOTE: I have not verified that every quiz site has correct answers on all their quizzes, but this should give you a great, low-pressure start.
Try out the quizzes from:
Have you come across other sites with AP Style quizzes? Please share them in the comments.
Get out your 2010 AP Stylebook, Post-It notes and a pen and get ready for a short bootcamp by Barbara Nixon. Learn what the five most important things to know about AP Style are, and even get a bonus at the end. Flag your book as you go along, pausing the Prezi below when you need to.
If you have the 2009 AP Stylebook, then see the Prezi I created earlier this year for the 2009 edition.
Want a PDF of the 5 Things and their page numbers that I refer to in the Prezi? Here you go:
Please take 45 seconds to watch this video I created as part of my Genghis Grill Health Kwest. Thanks!
To help you get used to AP Style before we have any “official” quizzes (via GeorgiaVIEW or BlackBoard), please try your hand at determining which of the sentences in the PDF below have errors in them. It’s easiest if you print the PDF and work on it as a hardcopy.
Correct all the AP errors you find, then watch the video to see how well you did.
Note: All page numbers referred to in the screencast below are from the 2009 edition of the AP Stylebook.
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Get out your 2009 AP Stylebook, Post-It notes and a pen and get ready for a short bootcamp by Barbara Nixon. Learn what the five most important things to know about AP Style are, and even get a bonus at the end. Flag your book as you go along, pausing the Prezi below when you need to.
Want a PDF of the 5 Things and their page numbers that I refer to in the video? Here you go:
[Updated from a blog post from April 2009]
In the public relations courses that I’ve taught over the years, it seems as though one of the biggest struggles for the students is writing using Associated Press style.
Why is learning AP style so important? PR practitioner Sandra Hernandez offers this:
PR writers really need to know the things that make them effective. I learned to write in AP in college, because it was necessary to pass the class. I continued to write in AP because I found that what I send to media had a better response rate when written in AP.
To help students learn more about AP style, I sought feedback from a variety of public relations practitioners and faculty members, trying to come up with a list of what PR writers REALLY need to know (cold, without even looking in the AP Stylebook) about AP style.
The most helpful advice came from colleagues on PR OpenMic, a social network for PR students, faculty and practitioners. (See the individual responses I received in the PR OpenMic PR Writing Discussion Forum.) Additional helpful advice came from colleagues on Twitter, including Kristie Aylett and Claire Celsi.
The most important (and sometimes confusing) parts of AP Style for PR writers are:
Now you have choices about how to access the AP Stylebook. You can purchase a hardcopy of the book, buy an online subscription to it, or download the app from iTunes for use in your iPhone or iTouch.
Many PR writers can also benefit from brushing up on standard grammar. My favorite site for general grammar advice is Mignon Fogarty’s Grammar Girl. Consider subscribing to Grammar Girl’s podcast through iTunes.
Additionally, I found several websites that help my students with AP Style see my Delicious bookmarks on AP style and other posts here that I’ve categorized with AP Style Bootcamp.
So, PR pros and journalists, what would you add? What can help PR students understand what they REALLY need to know about AP style?
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