MED Communication Handbook - Programme Med

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Communication Handbook - Factsheet 11 Version 1 – April 2012 Writing Skills � Fundamental concepts and skills of good writing � What you need to think before starting to write (audiences, messages, research) � How to organise your information systematically � Language and content you should be using while writing about your project (style & tone, jargon, evidence, numbers, etc.) � Why and how to use the quotes
This factsheet runs through the fundamental concepts and skills that good journalists use to write powerful and effective prose. Many of these ideas are universal and can be applied to all kinds of writing, from press releases and case studies to project internal correspondence. Planning and preparing Audience There is no such thing as simply good writing. Writing is only good if it gets the right message across to a specific audience. An article full of scientific detail and jargon might be perfect for an academic journal, but useless for a community magazine. Therefore, a writer’s first step must be to identify the intended readership. Audience analysis determines the tone, style, pitch, angle and content of every article. It determines what knowledge can be assumed and what needs to be explained. It determines what news angles will work. Write what your audience wants to read, in a way that will interest and appeal to them. A good writer always keeps that audience at the front of his or her mind from the very start. Messages What key information do you want to communicate? Narrow it down to two or three basic messages that will form your theme. Build the article around these messages using evidence, quotes and colour. Messages can be explicit (clearly stated as information) or implicit (intended for subliminal or emotional impact). For instance, an article about MED Programme project may contain explicit messages about the scheme itself, and the implicit message that pan-European cooperation is valuable and positive. Messages sit alongside audiences at the heart of the writing process. Research Good writing requires thorough research and knowledge of the subject matter, which should be clear to the reader through those same three building blocks: evidence, quotes and colour. Gather and organise these materials before starting to write. Be sure to have evidence to back up all of your main statement, in the form of recent statistics or official information, and cite sources to give credibility to your arguments. Check your facts. Organisation After determining your audiences, your messages and a strong news angle to tie them all together, it can help to organise your information systematically. Wellwritten prose alternates between statement and quote, between numbers and colour. It gradually unfolds, with copy flowing logically between elements, so that the end of each sentence announces the beginning of the next. 2 � Factsheet 11: Writing Skills �
Page 1 and 2:
COMMMUNICATION HANDBOOK
Page 3 and 4:
Communication Handbook - Factsheet
Page 5 and 6:
For instance, it is not sufficient
Page 7 and 8:
Messages State your key messages. T
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
happens when you deliberately set o
Page 13 and 14:
for the individual stakeholders on
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
ideas at the same time, your audien
Page 19 and 20:
� Free from jargon � Strong, ac
Page 21 and 22:
IN SHORT Don’t rush the process.
Page 23 and 24:
Why to evaluate communication activ
Page 25 and 26: If you have a small budget it is fi
Page 27 and 28: Communication Handbook - Factsheet
Page 29 and 30: Things to consider when designing a
Page 33 and 34: Hosting Your website can often be h
Page 35 and 36: IN SHORT When designing or commissi
Page 37 and 38: Leaflets and brochures General leaf
Page 41 and 42: Do they fit with your branding and
Page 43 and 44: IN SHORT Only spend money on promot
Page 45 and 46: There are many opportunities to hol
Page 47 and 48: Programme The format of your event
Page 49 and 50: knife and fork. For the benefit of
Page 51 and 52: Invitations Develop the invitation
Page 53 and 54: Try to get all your printing done a
Page 55 and 56: A press conference should only be h
Page 57 and 58: Event Checklist Planning � Clarif
Page 59 and 60: Presentations � Projectors , lap-
Page 63 and 64: When projects find it hard to gener
Page 65 and 66: Hard news Soft news � Novelty �
Page 67 and 68: News devices The opportunities for
Page 69 and 70: Where just two countries are involv
Page 71 and 72: Larger scale pan-European PR campai
Page 73 and 74: Pan-European PR programme template
Page 75: IN SHORT The media cares about resu
Page 79 and 80: � When it happened � Why it hap
Page 81 and 82: Language and content Keep it simple
Page 83 and 84: Always ask whether what you are des
Page 85 and 86: paragraph, if not the second. Delay
Page 89 and 90: Planning and preparation Preparatio
Page 91 and 92: handout; use your spoken presentati
Page 93 and 94: Link your presentation points with
Page 95 and 96: � Characters � Anecdotes and st
Page 97 and 98: � Trustworthiness � Composure
Page 99 and 100: . Hands c. Visual aid d. Charts e.
Page 101 and 102: Posture Stand or sit with a relaxed
Page 103 and 104: etween slides. Use simple typefaces
Page 105 and 106: Resist the temptation to use alcoho
Page 107 and 108: The stakes are high when you talk t
Page 109 and 110: proof - particularly when defending
Page 111 and 112: DO Push your messages. Your message
Page 113 and 114: DON’T Don’t digress. Politician
Page 115 and 116: interviewed is to talk more than th
Page 117 and 118: Victory is no longer measured in te
Page 119: and can make eyes and teeth look ye
show all

MED Communication Handbook - Programme Med

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?