Contents......Page 5
About the author......Page 11
Foreword......Page 13
Acknowledgements......Page 15
Introduction......Page 17
1 The importance ofstyle: an overview......Page 21
APPRECIATING STYLE......Page 22
YOUR ORGANISATION’S STYLE......Page 23
KEEP IT CONSISTENT......Page 24
POINTS TO WATCH......Page 25
GOOD STYLE IS GOOD MANNERS......Page 26
PLURAL MATTERS......Page 28
APOSTROPHE PROBLEMS......Page 31
3 Making your mark......Page 36
BASIC PUNCTUATION......Page 37
WHEN YOU ARE QUOTING…......Page 41
CONSISTENCY IS THE ESSENCE......Page 44
WHEN TO USE CAPITALS......Page 45
WHERE DIFFICULTIES OCCUR......Page 46
THE TREND IS TO KNOCK IT DOWN......Page 49
5 Clichés, jargon andother worn words......Page 50
RECOGNISING CLICHÉS......Page 51
JARGON: HELP OR HINDRANCE?......Page 52
… SO CAN METAPHORS AND SIMILES......Page 55
BEWARE OF SLANG......Page 56
6 Is it easy to read?......Page 58
GUIDELINES ON PARAGRAPHING......Page 59
LINE WIDTH AND TYPE SIZE......Page 66
LINE AND LETTER SPACING......Page 67
WHERE TO BREAK......Page 68
PRINTING CONSIDERATIONS......Page 70
PUTTING ON THE STRESS......Page 71
CHOOSING AND USING YOUR DESIGNER......Page 74
NOW IT’S PROOF MARKING TIME.........Page 75
7 Headlines: making them work......Page 82
USE PRESENT TENSE, ACTIVE VERBS......Page 83
QUESTIONS AND HUMOUR......Page 84
HEADINGS IN SALES LEAFLETS AND BROCHURES......Page 85
STYLE AND PRESENTATION......Page 86
SUBHEADINGS......Page 87
SLOGANS FOR BRAND RECALL......Page 89
ELEMENTS OF CORPORATE IDENTITY......Page 90
HEADLINES FOR WEBSITES......Page 91
FIGURING OUT THE NUMBERS......Page 93
ABBREVIATIONS: THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT......Page 95
9 Keep it short, simple –and plain......Page 99
PLAIN WORDS......Page 100
LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION......Page 102
WATCH OUT FOR TAUTOLOGY......Page 107
AVOID FOREIGN WORDS OR PHRASES – AND LATIN......Page 108
BEWARE ‘MYTHS‘......Page 110
THERE IS STILL MUCH TO DO…......Page 112
NEWS RELEASES: BASIC REQUIREMENTS......Page 115
COMMISSIONED ARTICLES......Page 138
PHOTO CAPTIONS WITH RELEASES......Page 140
CAPTIONS IN PUBLICATIONS......Page 142
12 What editing is all about......Page 145
NEWS STORIES......Page 146
RADIO AND TV BROADCASTS......Page 149
ON-SCREEN EDITING......Page 150
EDIT YOURSELF......Page 151
SUGGESTED STYLE FOR CORRESPONDENCE......Page 153
HAVE CLEAR, CLEAN LAYOUT......Page 156
WRITING REPORTS AND MINUTES......Page 157
FORMS OF ADDRESS......Page 159
ACKNOWLEDGING CORRESPONDENCE......Page 161
WRITING A CV......Page 162
LANGUAGE FOR THE TELEPHONE......Page 164
SPELLING POINTS......Page 166
USE YOUR DICTIONARY......Page 168
-ISE OR -IZE VERB ENDINGS?......Page 169
PUZZLES AND POSERS......Page 170
LOOKALIKES NEED CARE......Page 171
CHESTNUT TIME......Page 172
VOGUE WORDS AND PHRASES......Page 173
GETTING IN THE MOOD......Page 174
KEEP CLEAR OF SLANG......Page 175
KEEP MISSION STATEMENTS SHORT AND SIMPLE......Page 176
TOP 10 TIPS FOR WRITERS......Page 177
15 Americanisms – the differences......Page 178
ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCES......Page 179
UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIA DIFFERENCES......Page 182
16 The spoken word: pronunciation pointers......Page 184
RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION......Page 185
GET THE WORDS RIGHT TOO......Page 186
17 Principles of presentation......Page 188
FIRST STEPS FOR SPEAKERS......Page 189
GETTING READY FOR THE SPEECH......Page 191
WHEN YOU’RE ON STAGE......Page 195
POINTS FOR ORGANISERS......Page 197
EFFECTIVE PR NEEDS INTERNET PRESENCE......Page 200
WEBSITE CONTENT AND DESIGN – THE ESSENTIALS......Page 201
WHAT MAKES A GOOD WEBSITE......Page 204
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF EMAILS......Page 213
EZINES FOR EASY NEWSLETTERS......Page 216
19 Tone – the linchpin of reputation......Page 221
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF TONE IN WRITING......Page 222
TOWARDS A BETTER TONE......Page 223
TIME TO REPORT......Page 228
ESSENTIAL ASPECTS......Page 229
WHAT MAKES A GOOD ANNUAL REPORT?......Page 230
THE ANNUAL REPORT – VITAL COMMUNICATIONS LINK......Page 232
INVESTOR RELATIONS IN A DIGITAL AGE......Page 243
21 Is it legal?......Page 247
COPYRIGHT AND MORAL RIGHTS......Page 248
GETTING PERMISSION......Page 250
DATA PROTECTION......Page 251
DEALING WITH TRADE MARKS......Page 252
SELF-REGULATORY CODES OF PRACTICE......Page 253
FURTHER INFORMATION......Page 254
Appendix 1: English grammar – some definitions......Page 256
Appendix 2: Confusing pairs of words......Page 262
Appendix 3: Glossary and jargon buster......Page 266
Appendix 4: When you’re lost for words......Page 273
Further reading......Page 275
Index......Page 277