Writing for Newsletters

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Writing for Newsletters

• Content Writing for Impact
• A Youth Summit Workshop
• Hosted by BLS Youth CAN and MIT
• May 19, 2007
• Nancy DuVergne Smith
• Editorial Director, MIT Alumni Association

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• What makes a newsletter great?

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Content What you present

• Information that meets readers needs
• Relevance
• Urgency
• Timely topics
• Conversational voice
• Relevant facts
• First person stories

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Readability How you present it

• Scanable headlines, subheads, summaries
• Chunks short sentences paragraphs
• Readable type
• Photos tell the story
• Graphics make a point

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Who is your audience?

• What interests them?
• What are your goals?
• What topics connect their interests to your
  goals?
• What actions can they take?

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Story ideas

• Brainstorm five story ideas
• Interesting
• Informative
• Engaging
• Describe each idea in a sentence or two

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Why write a good headline?

• "Three little words (the headline, I mean) are
  the highest-value and highest-risk design
  decisions you make."
• Jacob Nielsen, Web usability guru
• http//www.useit.com/

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Powerful headlines

• Using headlines subheads
• Invites scanning
• Respects readers time
• Underscores the point

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Student headlines

• The Paly Voice
• Palo Alto High School, CA
• http//voice.paly.net/

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Student headlines

• The Grizzly Gazette
• Granite Hills High School, El Cajon, CA
• http//www.grizzlygazette.net/

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Topic to headline

• Write a headline for one or two of your story
  ideas
• Headline basics
• Eight words or less
• Active verb
• Captures main idea

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Dynamic writing

• Writing about serious issues
• Local suicides cause concern in Newton
• The Lions Roar, Newton South High School,
  Newton MA
• http//www.thelionsroar.com/index.php?methodarti
  cleid2706

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Writing tips

• Be respectful
• Give examples
• Offer voices--expert or personal
• Emphasize solutions
• Show, dont tell

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Inverted pyramid lead

• Paragraph includes
• Conclusion
• Who, when, why, where, how
• Makes sense on its own
• Flavor

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Inverted pyramid example 1

• Does milk ruin tea?
• Here's a ray of hope for milky-tea drinkers new
  research shows that the quaint British custom of
  adding milk doesn't ruin the beneficial
  properties of the traditional drink.
• www.nature.com

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Inverted pyramid example 2

• Sixteen Cities To Go Green Under Clinton Plan
• Sixteen cities around the world will begin
  cutting carbon emissions by renovating city-owned
  buildings with green technology under a program
  spearheaded by former President Clinton's
  foundation.
• Environmental News Network, www.enn.com/

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Inverted pyramid example 3

• Climate Change Linked to Higher Rates of Disease
• Scientists fear that rising temperatures due to
  climate change may jeopardize the health of
  millions of people living in Colombia's
  mountains.
• Conservation International, www.conservation.org

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Your inverted pyramid

• Please write an inverted pyramid lead for one or
  two of your topics

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B.L.S YOUTH C.A.N. brainstorm
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Resources

• Campus Weblines
• NYTimes guide to high school news writing
• http//www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/
  weblines/index.html

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Resources

• Poynter Institute Online
• Writing and editing tips and articles from noted
  journalism institute
• http//www.poynter.org/subject.asp?id2

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The end

• Thank you!