Tag: writing
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How to get a journalist to love you
Public Affairs Tip: People love you if you make their life easier. Sure some of you have been here before: twiddling your thumbs trying to think up a good plan to get some journalists on-side. Indulge me, let me give you the bad news first: there’s no quick fix. Patience and perseverance rule. The […]
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How to write well: 14 tips
Public Affairs Tip: If you want to improve your writing use short sentences; and strong, snappy, unusual words. Have you ever been stuck for words? Or perhaps not been able to get the right words in the right order on the page? Some of us get stuck when it comes to expressing what we want […]
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Helping people say what they want to say: listening to articulate
Someone’s trying to tell you something and it’s as fuzzy as a bear. Here’s four simple steps to help people find their own clarity. One: Focus on them. Ask some good, well-pitched questions that get to the heart of their issues, needs and wants. One that’s always worked well for me with potential clients is: […]
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People’s stories: passion lives here
One of the key tasks of a public affairs professional is to create content which is then communicated to engage people with what organisations do and what they believe in. We do this by: Commissioning new research Identifying an interesting statistic Developing some key messages Enlisting a “celebrity” or an “expert” and Composing case studies/human […]
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In pursuit of virtue: value-based campaigning
“Once upon a time there was a small girl who gazed at the last tree in the world . . . “ It’s a short-story exercise an inspirational primary school teacher set me back in the early 1970s. I remember seeing that beautiful tree in my mind’s eye, how we all needed it, how good it felt […]
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When maybe means no
“What do they mean?” How many times have you been asked this question by a friend who needs to get a handle on what someone’s trying to say to them? Part of what I do is helping people read in between the lines. People who have crossed continents or have a disability that impacts on their […]
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Effective e-mails: 6 useful tips
Contacting influential people – whether they’re newspaper editors or MPs – can be a little like walking a tightrope. You know they’re busy people so you don’t want to hassle them unnecessarily; but you really want to engage them with your latest news, ideas, campaign . . . Here’s some strategies that have worked for […]
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4 tips on how to make your press release statistics sing
Producing press releases is part of the public affairs professional’s job. Here’s four tips on how to make the stats in your press releases sing. 1. Paint a picture with your numbers and statistics. If those 7000 people were holding hands how far would that stretch? How many caravans would they fill? 2. Help people […]
Creative Public Affairs 