Please Release Me!

The basic rules for business writing are the same, whether you're a one-man shop trying to catch a reporter or editor's eye, or a Big Fat Corporation with scads of Public Relations Experts Who Think They Know It All 

Everyone appreciates a polished, professional-looking news release. And whether you just need to make it clear English or follow all those craZy CORPORATE RULES to CAPITALIZE THE COMPANY NAME, there are some things to keep in mind.

The rules of English grammar shouldn't be up for debate at a company meeting. Periods always go inside the quote marks at the end of a sentence, for example. And if Mr. Joe Blow is the Corporate Engineer for Eastern Taiwan Neckties - you only CAPITALIZE the first letters of that title when it comes immediately before his name, as in "Corporate Engineer for Eastern Taiwan Neckties Joe Blow." Afterward ... or separately ... and it's downstyle - as in, "Joe Blow, corporate engineer for Eastern Taiwan neckties (well, of course you cap the name of a country, or region if ya want to get picky;-) I mean, if the president is referred to as "the president" after he's named in a story - and he's a REAL bigshot - why should your necktie honcho get better treatment than him? (Just because he knows how much time you spend surfing those sites on company time?)

Oh, and just because government has taken of late to this style: "The Coalition for Ridiculous Energetic Enterprising Peoples (CREEP) said today that the Dogmatic Poophead Board (DPB) has been scurrilous in its ... " doesn't mean YOU have to follow those Grammatic Lemmings off the cliff. People know how to spell, and if the acronym isn't obvious, using it later still brings a "huh?" factor. Why not refer to it in later sentences as simply "the coalition," or, "the board?" Lord knows we have enough acronyms floating around out there.

So internally, at your business, go ga-ga crazy with your rules about the metricizing of the RFW scrambulas on the next fiscal grommet. But for the public? Speak English. It's the right thing to do, and the clear way to do it.