PR Tip: (Fact)Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

(Michael Bolton, bad at mundane details)

We love blogging about refined topics like setting up RSS feeds. But, have you ever been in a bad situation like Michael Bolton in the movie Office Space because of some “mundane detail”? In case you forget, Bolton’s computer virus code mishandled a decimal point and nearly sent him to Federal “pound me in the a&% prison”.

It happens all the time in PR. Contracts are signed, strategy created, messages developed, then no one bothers to check to see if the client’s name is spelled correctly in the PowerPoint, or a release gets uploaded with errors.

If it’s your ass on the line, PRNewser suggests this simple step-by-step method for checking facts:

1) Print out your document (you can do it on screen the next time)

2) Highlight every proper noun (names, places, things)

3) Run each one through Google, find a reliable site to confirm your fact

4) Correct accordingly

This is common sense, we know. Common sense in PR sometimes isn’t all that common.

Ready for more advanced writing and editing education? Check out mediabistro’s classes and online resources.

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