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What PR Writers REALLY Need to Know About AP Style

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:

  • dates (especially when to abbreviate)
  • addresses (especially when to abbreviate)
  • names (when to use titles, etc.)
  • numerals (when to spell out, when to use digits)
  • datelines (which cities need to be identified with their states)

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 I posted a Quick Guide to Associated Press Style. 

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PRCA 2330 :: Final Blog Checklist & Rubric

As we discussed in PRCA 2330, I will begin evaluating your blogs as of midnight on Thursday, April 30. Here’s a copy of the rubric (grading form) I’ll use when I review your blogs: Blog Rubric (Grading Form).

Please complete this final blog checklist to be sure you’re on track and have all the required elements in your blog. (It’s fine to complete the form more than one time.)

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All I Ever Needed to Know About Promotions I Learned From WKRP in Cincinnati

In today’s Introduction to Public Relations class, we watched a classic episode of the classic 1970s TV show “WKRP in Cincinnati” :: “Turkeys Away.” Though I paid to download the episode from iTunes, I just discovered it’s also available for free through Hulu.

In this episode, which was based on a botched promotion from a radio station in Atlanta, live turkeys dropped from a helicopter. Chaos ensues.

What can we learn about how NOT to do a promotion from Mr. Carlson’s fiasco? I’ll get the list started:

  1. Communicate with your entire team before launching a promotional campaign (or a turkey).
  2. Do your research! It’s best to learn ahead of time that turkeys don’t fly.
  3. Get permission before doing a stunt.
  4. Know what is considered news in your local market. Giving away turkeys for Thanskgiving wasn’t news. (But watching live turkeys plummet from a helicopter probably would be news.)
  5. Brainstorm for what could possibly go wrong before you proceed with a promotion.

What would you add to this list?

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PRCA 2330 Top Tens

Number 10 by yoppy.

For your final (as in culminating, not exam) blog post in PRCA 2330, create a top ten list of things you learned in Introduction to Public Relations. Be very specific. 

For example:

  • Good: I’ll need to learn Associated Press Style to write news releases that will get published.
  • Not so good: How to write a news release
  • Awful: News release

Options:

  • Create the list in audio, and embed the audio to your blog. (Utterli is an easy way to do this.)
  • Create the list in PowerPoint, then embed the slidedeck into your blog. (I use SlideShare for this.) If you make your slides with mostly images and few words, be sure to put your details in the Notes portion of your slides.
  • Create a 10-minute or shorter video, upload it to YouTube or Vimeo, then embed the video into your blog.
  • Base your list on your favorite movie (for example: “Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Intro to PR, I Learned in ______________”)
  • Simply write the list in WordPress (zzzzz…. boring)

This Top Ten List will be worth 50 points (from your Engagement points) and is due May 3 by midnight. Use the category of Assignment so that I can find it on your blog easily. 

NOTE: You also need to post a link to your Top Ten List as a reply to this blog post.

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Another 48 Hours (of Twitter!)

PRCA 2330 Students

Earlier this semester, you had the opportunity to try out Twitter and then write about your One Week of Twitter on your blogs. Some of you continued to use Twitter even after the assignment was over. Several have used Twitter as a way to connect with me personally (via direct messages).

Now you have the opportunity to jump back into Twitter one more time. Pick a 48-hour period ending no later than April 22 to engage on Twitter again. You should send a minimum of 10 tweets over this timeframe. Use the hashtag #PRCA2330 in your tweets so that others in our class can find them easily. Be sure to send me an @ message to let me know when you’re starting your 48 hours.

Ideas for things to tweet about

  1. Share (shortened) hyperlinks to sites on the topic of public relations.
  2. Respond to public relations professionals.
  3. Ask questions that could be answered by public relations professionals.
  4. Promote a campus organization or event that you’re involved with.
  5. Rave or rant about a brand.

Write a blog post about your Twitter experience

This post is due before midnight on April 22 and is worth up to 50 points. Use the category of “Assignment” so that I can easily find this post. Include all of the following:

  1. A hyperlink to your Twitter username (for example: “You can find me on Twitter @barbaranixon.”)
  2. How was this 48-hour experience different from your first week on Twitter? (Be specific.)
  3. What surprises you about using Twitter?
  4. What do you still want to know about, related to using Twitter?
  5. Recommend at least three public relations professionals (not including any of the ones I originally recommended), with a brief explanation of why you’re recommending other public relations students to follow them. (Hyperlink to their Twitter usernames.)

NOTE: You also need to post a link to your Another 48 Hours post as a comment on this blog post.

Questions?

barbara_is_listening

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FAQs on PRCA 2330 Blogs

PRCA 2330 Students: Thanks so much for completing the Blog Checklist. 

In general, you can find many of your answers in the Blogging Guidelines post from January 21 or at WordPress.tv.

Here are answers to some of the more frequently asked questions:

How many posts are we supposed to have in each category?

  • See Blogging Guidelines post from January 21.  (To me, this is almost like asking “exactly how many words should be in my term paper.”)

When we comment on another page how or where are we suppose to post a link for you to see it?

Do we have to have personal blogs?

How do you add bullets in your blog?

  • When you are writing or editing your post, click the button on the toolbar for bullets (very similar to how you’d insert bullets in Microsoft Word). The bullet button is the fourth from the left.

I am still confused on how to insert a hyperlink.

I have created the various pages and assignments categories, but can’t seem to make the assignments correlate with their correct pages.  How can I fix this?  Any ideas?  

How do I change the “Just another WordPress blog” tagline?

  • On the left side of your screen in the Dashboard, click on Settings, then choose General. You can change the tagline (and many other things) there.

How do I apply a new theme to my blog? (I tried to change the visual appearance on the dashboard, but it won’t seem to work?) 

How do I embed a video into my blog?

  • See WordPress.tv’s short video on how to embed video (as well as photos, audio, etc.)

 

Do you think you could clarify what is to be going in our blogs more often? I feel like no one really knew we were supposed to be doing so much in our blogs because it is never spoken of in class. Thanks.

  • Please, please ask questions in class or visit me in my office hours. 

 

More questions? Just ask.

barbara_is_listening

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PRCA 2330 :: Listening to PR Podcasts

I simply can’t imagine how I’d stay up to speed in the ever-changing world of public relations without listening to podcasts. My iPod stays filled with a variety of podcasts, and I listen to them on my 100-mile roundtrip commutes to Georgia Southern.

Since we have no class on Wednesday, April 1 (as I will be presenting twice at the Southern States Communication Association in Norfolk), here’s what you’ll do instead: listen and write.

  • Listen to at least one hour of a public relations or social media podcast. Here are some suggestions; or, you can choose one of your own.
  • Respond to this blog post with the name of the podcast you’ve chosen to listen to. (All you have to do is tell me the name of the podcast in the comment section of this post. No other information is needed here.) UPDATE: As of April 6, comments are closed.
  • In your own blog, write a minimum of 250 words about what you got out of the podcast. 
  • What did you learn?
  • What surprised you?
  • What do you want to know more about?
    • Include hyperlinks to the website or show notes of the podcasts
    • Be sure to mention the name(s) of the show’s host(s)
    • Use the category of PR Connections for the post
    • Due: No later than classtime on April 6