UniNews and media release style tips: Headings: While keeping these pithy and in active voice, you can also often include a location cue or hint to the intended audience for the community notice-style items.

Here’s some examples from the UniNews achive recently:.

Pru Goward to deliver free public address in Rockhampton (location cue) High school seniors encouraged to 'engineer' career options (audience hint) CQU responds to engineering skills shortage (active voice) More engineering for Gladstone (passive voice ... not as good).

Ratings show CQU grads are top stars (pithy with good play on words).

Tighter writing: This can be achieved by choosing the shortest and most direct way of saying things.

For example: using help instead of assist to using most instead of for the majority removing unnecessary ‘thats’ eg. . I decided that I really enjoyed what I was doing there and that I would have a go (only the second that is useful).

Note: it usually helps to write in short sentences, so the main subject and action flow on smoothly.

For example: The boy stood on the burning deck, his pockets full of crackers.

Not: The deck was stood on by the boy and that was where the crackers were in his pockets.

Note: A common error is failure to match singular and plural ay the start and end of a sentence.

Eg. The organization has a major goal of better fiscal policy and more profits.

Other things to avoid: The grocer’s apostrophe (ie the temptation to put an apostrophe after s) creating apple’s, banana’s etc Mixing up it’s (it is) with its (the possessive of it).

Mixing up complimentary (a courtesy) with complementary (well matched).

Marc Barnbaum CQU Public Relations Manager Division of University Relations Central Queensland University Bld 67, Bruce Highway Rockhampton QLD 4702 Ph: +61 7 4923 2724 Fax: +61 7 4923 2511 Website: www.cqu.edu.au CQU winner of FIVE 5-star ratings in the 2007 Good Universities Guide: Non Government Earning, International Enrolments, Cultural Diversity, Positive Graduate Outcomes, and Proportion Given Credit for TAFE Studies