Book review: Writing Skills for Public Relations by John Foster

Book cover image from Google Books.

Writing isn't hard. Writing well is.

That's what you'll quickly come to realise once you've finished the first few chapters of Writing Skills for Public Relations by John Foster.

But once you've read this book, I guarantee that your writing would have improved. It's that good.

Although the title suggests that it's for public relations people, this book is actually a worthwhile read for everyone. We all write, just that we might not realise it. Don't you send emails? That's writing! Since you do it all the time, you might as well find out how to do it properly.

What the book is about

The essence of the book is that it gives you tips on how to make your writing easier to read. And it covers all the bases, talking not only about language but also design and typographical techniques that will help your readers.

For example, what happens when you see a page filled to the max with row after row of text printed in tiny font and nothing else? If you're a normal person, you won't read anything on the page. That's why publications meant for consumption by laypeople always have fancy things like headers in different colours, boxes at the sides of the page, infographics and photographs, and so on. These things keep people interested, but more importantly, they don't tire the eyes.

Even something simple like line spacing can make a big difference. Readers' eyes need to breathe "air" too. Give them air by leaving lots of white space on the page.

Like writing in short paragraphs.

There are plenty of other publishing concepts explained in the book, and Foster shows you how to apply them to the design decisions you make when writing even a simple document.

But probably of most relevance to general readers would be his advice on the use of the language itself. For example, he encourages you to write the way you speak. In other words, don't be afraid to use contractions like "it's" because they seem friendlier than spelling out their full equivalents. "It's a long way to Tipperary" sounds much better than "It is a long way to Tipperary", doesn't it?

The biggest takeaway is that writing formally doesn't mean being uppity. Leave the incomprehensible stuff to the lawyers. For us normal people, when you write something, remember that someone somewhere will read it. And if you find obnoxious, longwinded text boring and difficult to read, why shouldn't he? Always visualise yourself writing to a fellow human being. Think about what they want to see, then give it to them.

Did I like it?

Yes! I enjoyed the book a lot. Foster does a stellar job breaking down the various public relations concepts into plain English. You won't need any training in communications to get the best out of this book.

He is also very thorough in terms of content coverage, and I learned about way more than just writing skills and design skills. There are a couple of sections on building an online presence, another couple on giving speeches, and even a primer on the laws that public relations people need to take note of, among a myriad other topics. In fact, this book is so comprehensive that I think it can become a university textbook for communications courses like the one I'm in.

Should you read it?

If you work in an executive job and want to become a better employee, please read this book. It'll give you an idea of what affects your company's reputation, and how this is managed by your colleagues over in the spin doctors' office. Who knows when the knowledge might come in useful?

Even if you don't care about your company's reputation, at least read the chapters about how to improve your writing. Chapters 2 to 9, 14 to 18, and 20 are relevant to all readers. No matter what job you have, chances are that at some point, you'll find yourself preparing a report, a presentation, a letter or an email. Don't waste this opportunity to learn how to do it better.

And worry not. Foster is an engaging writer himself, and his book isn't laborious to read at all.

Details

Title: Writing Skills for Public Relations: Style and Technique for Mainstream and Social Media (5th ed.; part of the PR In Practice series)
Author: John Foster
Publisher: Kogan Page (2012)
ISBN: 0749465441, 9780749465445
Number of pages: 280

Available from the National Library Board Singapore as an ebook: https://nlb.overdrive.com/media/1079566. You must be a library member and have a MyLibrary account. You must also install the OverDrive application on your smartphone or computer.