2008 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

Improving Feedback, Interaction and Editing Skills
in the Public Relations Writing Class
James M. Haney
University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
jhaney@uwsp.edu
The critical importance of a course in public relations writing and production was
confirmed in 1999 when PRSA developed its report on Public Relations Education for the 21 st
Century. (1) Technological changes in the last decade have sped up the reception and delivery of
public relations documents, but the essential need for well written materials has not diminished.
As Thomas Bivins has noted: Today’s employers continue to “value employees who can
communicate well through the written word.” (2) Feedback from industry professionals and
surveys of the PRSA’s Counselors Academy suggest that writing is the area where young
professionals need the most improvement. (3)
Instruction in a public relations writing course requires detailed feedback so students can
construct clear and effective documents. This author has taught the public relations writing class
for many years and has tried to teach skills he has used in his professional PR career. Students in
this class must produce a wide range of public relations tactics including numerous news
releases, fact sheets/backgrounders, advisories, newsletters, brochures and a press kit. Material
covered in the course include the characteristics of effective writing, elements of AP style,
document design and how to enhance the likelihood that your written documents will be used by
the media and other important audiences.
The heart of any strong writing class is the careful feedback provided by the professor to
the student’s work. It is critical to evaluate the accuracy of the document and how effectively it
tells a clear and compelling story. Attention to word choice mistakes, misspelled words and
syntax errors is also vital. Because of the importance of one-on-one feedback, some universities
have decided that much or all of the PR writing class can be delivered through online instruction.
Though a well constructed Internet writing class can deliver valuable instruction effectively,
many writing classes continue to be taught in the more traditional face-to-face format.
This paper will highlight ways to build feedback, class interaction, listening and editing
skills for students in a traditional public relations writing class. These suggestions are designed
to develop some “best practices” that other instructors of PR writing might consider for their
classrooms.
Group Writing/Editing Assignments
Students need good role models for their writing. Examples in textbooks and materials
produced by professionals in nonprofit or corporate settings can serve as some of those models,
but students can also be effective role models for their classmates.
Learning how to write effectively for the public relations profession requires students to
understand the importance of being clear, concise and accurate. They also need to learn how to
tell compelling stories with strong leads without errors in grammar, spelling and vocabulary.
Useful feedback can be given one-on-one through written comments on assignments or orally in
a student conference where the strengths and weaknesses of a student’s writing can be discussed.
Because this author found himself talking too much in a lecture format when he started to teach
the writing class, he looked for some ways to increase class participation in the writing process.
After trial and error, two types of group writing/editing exercises were designed.
139