Keep Rules of Grammar and Style in Mind When Writing Press Releases

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Lately, it seems everybody is breaking all kinds of rules and getting away with it.  Fact is, no matter what you write, rules still apply.  Grammar guidelines, such as the use of commas, have relaxed as well as have the use of newly coined words and phrases that have not made it to the dictionary yet.

Case in point, an entire vocabulary has arisen out of the technology world. Some examples of that are I ‘e-mailed’ my mother, visit our ‘Website,’ he ‘downloaded’ the files, to name a few.  Cyberspace, ezines, and urls are other new word examples from the electronic age.

Current slang expressions have also born brand new word babies that veer away from their traditional meanings.  Examples of that are it ’sucks,’(it stinks); ‘hello!’  (what a dumb idea); he has ‘issues,’ (personal problems.)  You can think up plenty of your own.  Just listen around the water cooler or in the chat rooms.  Or tune into the latest soap.

All that aside, rules of grammar still rule, especially with the media types who will be most likely to receive your press releases such as editors and writers.  These people have rules to abide by in their publications and they surely don’t need to spend their time cleaning up yours.  In most cases, they won’t.

So what rules are most important if you’re writing your own press releases?  Spelling goes without saying.  That’s simple; just spellcheck it (another computer-generated word.)  The trouble with spellcheck is that sometimes the same spelled word has different meanings and the computer will not pick up on it.  For example, ‘love’ can be a verb or a noun or a score in tennis.  The computer, while checking spelling, would not pick up the nuances of meaning.  Another example is the word ‘cut.’  It could be a verb (cut a flower,) a noun (a good cut referring to a hairdo,) or ‘cut’ a rug, (a verb meaning to dance.)  The subtleties of meaning in the English language make it almost imperative to have some understanding while using spellcheck.

Subject-verb agreement is another important element of the rules of grammar.  Everyone does rather than everyone do; each of Mary and Harry’s children ‘does’ well in school, not ‘do’ well.  The board of directors ‘was’ meeting, not ‘were’ meeting.  Board is a singular unit of members who are all doing the same thing-’meeting.’

Tense agreement must always follow the rule.  He went to the store.  He is buying a gift.  That’s wrong.  Switching tenses is a sign of the amateur.  Whichever tense you choose, be consistent.  If you choose the past tense, ‘he went to the store,’ stick with it and say he ‘bought’ a gift.  If you choose the present tense, ‘he goes to the store,’ follow up with the same tense:  ‘he buys a gift.’

A rule of thumb for press releases, though not an absolute rule of grammar, is to use the active rather than the passive voice.  For example, “I remember my first date,” rather than “my first date will be remembered.”  The first is far more vigorous than the second.  “I sign my name on the document,” rather than “my name is signed on the document.”  You see the difference.

Basically, rules of grammar were written to make writing clear and concise, not to complicate your life.  The cleaner and simpler the words and format are, the easier it is to understand the writing.  This is vitally important in a press release because nobody has to read it; reading your release is a choice.

Follow these basic rules and your press release will ring with clarity and authority.  More importantly, the information will be understandable.

The next time you write a press release, keep basic rules of grammar and style high on your priority list.