Transcript Content Writing for Impact

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?
Content: What you present
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Information that meets readers’ needs
Relevance
 Urgency
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Timely topics
 Conversational voice
 Relevant facts
 First person stories
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Readability: How you present it
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Scanable: headlines, subheads,
summaries
Chunks: short sentences & paragraphs
Readable type
Photos: tell the story
Graphics: make a point
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
Why write a good headline?
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"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/
Powerful headlines
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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/
Student headlines
The Grizzly Gazette
Granite Hills High School, El Cajon, CA
http://www.grizzlygazette.net/
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
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Writing about serious issues
“Local suicides cause concern in Newton”
The Lion’s Roar, Newton South High School, Newton MA
http://www.thelionsroar.com/index.php?method=article&id
=2706
Writing tips
Be respectful
 Give examples
 Offer voices--expert or personal
 Emphasize solutions
 Show, don’t 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
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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
Inverted pyramid example 2
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Sixteen Cities To Go Green Under
Clinton Plan
Sixteen cities around the world will begin
cutting carbon emissions by renovating cityowned buildings with green technology under
a program spearheaded by former President
Clinton's foundation.
Environmental News Network, www.enn.com/
Inverted pyramid example 3
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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
Your inverted pyramid
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Please write an inverted pyramid lead for
one or two of your topics
B.L.S YOUTH C.A.N. brainstorm
Resources

Campus Weblines
NYTimes guide to high school news writing
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/w
eblines/index.html
Resources
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Poynter Institute Online
Writing and editing tips and articles from noted
journalism institute
http://www.poynter.org/subject.asp?id=2
The end
Thank you!