Diving into the current trend of treating good writing skills as an accessory for a PR person, rather than a necessity
I think we can all agree that having good communication skills is at the top of the list of “what makes a good PR person”. It also makes sense, when our job is to build positive relationships with multiple key stakeholders, finding the best way to present brands and their messages to the world.
So when did written communication cease to be part of the agreement?
Lately, some conversations have made me wonder about this. PR agencies, in a new twist of events, are feeling the need to hire editors to oversee their written products; new aspirants entering the public relations field apparently feel that writing skills aren’t as necessary as claimed. Further discussions revealed a belief that writing is supposed to be the main part of a journalist’s job – whether it’s articles or press releases or anything in between. But, having been at both ends of this equation, I can say with certainty that the coordination between a journalist and a public relations professional will only excel if the quality is equal.
Being a fan of good writing, I obviously want it given how important it is, so I’m speculating what caused this change. It is quite possible that in the age of subtitles, character limits, and common textual abbreviations, our minds associate elaborate written pieces with more traditional forms like print, rather than newer digital means. Given that, on average, employees in the advertising industry are millennials, and it is increasingly attracting an even younger demographic, this seems all the more plausible. But here we have to consider that with digital we have not only increased the means of reaching people with the written word, but the quantity has also increased drastically. Simply compare the published monthly issues of print magazines to their digital versions, which contain several unique articles published daily.
What digital hasn’t changed, however, is that every brand has a story to tell. As professionals in the advertising, marketing, media and public relations industry, we know this unshakable fact. And we do our job – sometimes varied, sometimes overlapping – to help them better tell that story to the public. For the same purpose, every little detail receives maximum attention; every aspect of a carefully curated marketing campaign; each element of the website placed with precision. What if, after all this, a press note or article came out from the brand spokesperson and it was – to put it politely – not well written? Wouldn’t that be a shocking moment for the consumer, in an otherwise seamless brand experience? Well, human psychology and extensive consumer behavior research indicate that it will.
So, in a larger scheme, when working in tandem with multiple other sectors and stakeholders, as a PR professional does on a daily basis, good writing skills become as essential as putting on a pair of shoes. before leaving the accommodation.
Another thing that has caught my attention lately is the disproportionate leaning towards spoken communication over written. While being able to talk to people in a friendly way is part of building relationships and also very important, we can’t expect to base our working day on that alone. And when we try to write while we talk, perhaps in an effort to provide more relevant content, we also force the reader to read while we talk, which doesn’t make for the best reading experience. I’ve observed that common grammatical and structural errors arise from the need to make writing “cool.” Oral and written communication have nuanced and intrinsic differences for a very good reason.
As I tried to figure out whether good writing skills were a pair of shoes or a hat, I became more and more convinced that a PR professional can only treat them as a prime necessity. Everyone reads, all the time. It might not seem like it at first glance, especially in a time when we’re moving away from all things physical to all things digital, but it’s true. Whether it’s an ultra-concise app news story, or your favorite ebook, or a social media post (hyperlink to a bigger story), or the bigger story itself- even, or subtitles from a foreign language broadcast, or from the 4-word slogan to a new product – people read. And if they read, you have to write and write well!
By: Aanchal Kohli Manager – Corporate Communications, SoCheers
