August 7, 2003

Words Matter

"When ideas fail, words come in handy." - Goethe (1749-1832)

The PR professional's job is to stay on top of news and media trends. This is how I justify channel-surfing as a form of research. Recently, I caught television's latest reality show to hear a contestant proclaim his enthusiasm with the words "I'm, like, totally stoked. I'm ready to 'Do the Dew,' dude."

Was that English?

There is a popular joke that "advertising is what you pay for, PR is what you pray for." Obviously, Mountain Dew paid for enough advertising to convince reality show contestants they should live life to the extreme (the point of the "Do the Dew" campaign). It is debatable whether praying is a necessary skill for PR, but if you are trying to get media attention for your company, precise, attractive use of language is essential.

Before co-founding Galvin Communications, I was a brand consultant. Power Point was the preferred method of client communication and every slide was engineered to convey a powerful idea with as few words as possible, organized into succinct bullet points. If a colorful bar graph or pie chart could do the job instead, that was even better. Ridiculous words such as "finalize," "prioritize," "actualize," and "monetize" became part of my vocabulary, finding their way into my emails, letters, birthday and Christmas cards.

OK, the last example is an exaggeration. The point is that words are easily misused and abused, and it is easy to forget that the best way to say something is usually the simplest. If you are pitching your story to a busy journalist, whether in writing or on the phone, you have a few seconds to capture his or her attention. Your words must be crisp, clear and compelling. To gain insight into the professional journalist's mindset, I highly recommend The Associated Press' Guide to News Writing. The book is a practical guide to the careful use of words and will help you tailor your story so it becomes irresistible to the press.

Another resource is Strunk and White's Elements of Style, published in 1959 and mandatory reading for many high schoolers. I recently dusted off my copy and found that while less contemporary than the Associated Press' guide, the lessons are generally the same. Only the prose is funnier, in an innocent 1950s way. For instance:

* Avoid qualifiers. Rather, very, little, pretty are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. (I would update it by adding like and totally to that list).

* Do not overwrite. Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.

* Be clear. Muddiness is not merely a disturber of prose, it is also a destroyer of life, of hope: death on the highway caused by a badly worded road sign, heartbreak among lovers caused by a misplaced phrase in a well-intentioned letter, anguish of a traveler expecting to be met at a railroad station and not being met because of a slipshod telegram.

* Lastly, practical advice for consultants then and today... Don't -ize. Many good and useful verbs end in -ize (summarize, harmonize) but there is a growing list of abominations (prioritize, finalize). Be suspicious of -ize!

Words are powerful assets, to be chosen carefully rather than tossed about casually. Think back to the last speech, article or book that made an impression upon you. In all likelihood, it was not only the content but also how the content was presented that made it so powerful. Likewise, be aware of how poorly chosen words make you feel. Consider this line from "The Remedy," a pop song by newcomer Jason Mraz: "If you gots the poison, I gots the remedy." The appalling grammar is surely deliberate, but it irks me every time it plays on the radio (which is often).

Whatever his talents, Jason Mraz is in my mind a shoddy songwriter. I'm probably not in his target audience, so maybe it doesn't matter. Language is constantly in flux and "gots" may someday be acceptable. Until then, I try to use precise, attractive and powerful words to pitch my clients to the media. After all, a story must be written well if it is to be read well.

Best wishes,
Ellen Grosshans