Create Snappy Sound Bites

How to Write Moving Quotes and Memorable Quips

Category: Techniques & Tactics

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A good sound bite can help support your points, give your story a human voice, change the pace of the piece, and add creativity and color to your copy. Unfortunately, quotations in press releases often sound as if they were manufactured by a computer, not spoken by a human being. Quotes can be the least interesting parts of copy. In this session, you will learn how to transform your quotations from blah to brilliant.

You will learn how to:

• Make quotes crisp, clear and concise, and how to avoid over-quoting, hiccup quotes and an irritating “bumpety-bump” formula that lulls your readers to sleep.
• Peel back your quotes to make them tighter and more interesting.
• Write a colorful, quotable quote and watch it get picked up by the media.
• Write attribution like a pro, and use some simple tricks and rules of thumb that will give your writing polish and authority.
• Find and craft testimonials.

“What others say about you and your product, service or business is at least 1,000 times more convincing than what you say, even if you are 2,000 times more eloquent,” — Dan Kennedy, author of “No B. S. Sales Success.”

Instructor

Ann Wylie

Ann Wylie, president of Wylie Communications, serves as a PRSA writing trainer and presents writing workshops throughout the country. She is the author of more than a dozen learning tools, including “Anatomy of a Press Release, Pitch and E-mailed Release” and “Writing That Sells.” Ann has served as a public relations professional in an agency, corporate communicator for Hallmark Cards, editor of an executive magazine and as a consultant in her own firm. Her work has earned 40 communication awards.

Follow @AnnWylie