PR Writing: Chapter 5

Three takeaways from this chapter were:

1. The quote from Brad Pitt. I think this is such a great way to connect to the millennial reader who loves Brad Pitt and would find this quote humorous. I thought it was a great technique to get the reader started on a positive note.
2. The questions to ask the person commissioning the piece of writing really stuck out to me because sometimes I get so ahead of myself in my writing and get so absorbed into what I want to say, that I forget to ask the important questions to the person who actually wants the writing. I am going to write these down, memorize them, and remember to always think about what the writing needs, rather than my own wants.
3. I thought the real-life experience examples they put in this chapter were highly useful. It’s so easy to read a book about PR and not get much from it besides vocabulary and abstract ideas. To actually be able to see how this information being learned is used in the real world makes it much easier to understand and remember.

This chapter made me realize that public relations writing is so much more than just regurgitating information into a news release. It really is connecting with the reader and spreading useful information that many times, the practitioner gathered themselves! This whole chapter was useful to writing because it exemplified how to go about finding a relevant topic, gathering information that is pertinent to the topic, and using it to create a narrative. For my professional goals, this chapter added to my writing arsenal and educated me on research, which is a major struggle of mine. I’m really happy I was able to add on to the Research class I’m currently in with materials that are easier to understand and read than the ones assigned in the other class.