Fortify your writing with strong nouns
By now, the writers and editors who read PR Daily are familiar with the advice to use strong verbs.
They are the powerhouse of your sentence, and choosing clear, active verbs instead of throwaway ones will improve your message.
What about using strong nouns?
The same rules apply. In addition to using nouns that are clear to the reader, use specific, descriptive, concrete words, instead of general or abstract words.
For example, we will most often use the word “house” to describe a house, but when appropriate, we could also use shack, shanty, lean-to, chalet, cabin, split-level, bungalow, mansion, villa, estate, or hut.
Here are a few other examples related to PR and corporate communications.
- Message —news, report, note, letter, memo, word, bulletin, dispatch, communiqué, missive, notice
- Publication —magazine, periodical, newsletter, newspaper, journal, blog, post, circular, digest, brochure, booklet, rag, review, manual, gazette, sheet, tabloid, broadsheet
- Report— statement, story, account, chronicle, narrative, article, release, broadcast, declaration, narration, outline, proclamation, pronouncement, tale, description, brief, piece, article, paper
- Speech —address, appeal, commentary, declamation, diatribe, dissertation, harangue, keynote, lecture, pitch, recitation
- Style —method, approach, manner, way, technique, genre, habit, pattern, trait, trend, type, custom, phrasing, wording, treatment, expression, diction, wording
PR Daily readers, please share your examples of strong nouns.
This post was first published on Ragan Communications PR Daily.
