Public Communication – Professor Tips

Pieces written for public communication are eminently understandable. They’re always written with an awareness of their audience, and speak in the language of their readers. They get to their points clearly and concisely, without wasting their readers’ time. The writing is vivid and creative, but not just for creativity’s sake. It’s creative in order to be understood, because that’s what communication is all about. —Professor Joyce Hendley

If the first paragraph is engaging, surprising, or otherwise pulls me in and makes me want to read more, I know I’m probably in the hands of a great writer.

Journalists call these opening sentences a lede, and a great lede is all-important no matter what you’re writing – from a news story to a business letter. Often it’s the only part of a piece that gets read in today’s media-saturated reading world, so it had better be strong. When a student has taken the time to carefully craft a lede, the rest of the story falls into place much more smoothly —Professor Joyce Hendley

If a paper states the same information over and over again just to fill a required word length, or uses overly formal language in an attempt to sound impressive, I get out my (dreaded) red pen. Students often have a hard time breaking the high-school habit of trying to please teachers by adding lots of words, especially SAT-worthy words. Who talks that way? Who wants to read that way?

I’d rather read three paragraphs of well-chosen words that get to the point clearly, than three pages of filler words and repeats. —Professor Joyce Hendley

In a word, time. Taking the time to plan what you’re going to write first, whether it’s an outline or an “elevator speech”- like summary, so that you’re not treading water when you finally start writing. Taking the time to write at least two drafts, because you will find things to fix every time. Lastly, leaving enough time to edit and polish, so that the final piece is a pure distillation of what you meant to say. In other words, don’t wait until the day before a deadline to start writing. —Professor Joyce Hendley

Write in as much detail, and as much length, as you think your subject needs. Then cut it by at least half. (Sorry, you have to be a ruthless copy editor to produce good writing.)

Read it over to yourself, aloud. Better yet, have someone else read it aloud as you listen. You’ll be amazed at how many glitches, awkward phrasing, and unnecessary words you catch this way. —Professor Joyce Hendley