Media Production 10 Tips for Pamphlet Writing
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| 10 Tips for Pamphlet Writing |
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| Written by Administrator |
| Sunday, 27 June 2010 11:47 |
What do you use pamphlets for?Pamphlets are an important way of getting information to the community. You can use the to mobilise people to support your cause, to advertise a meeting or specific event, and to popularise your slogans and messages. Pamphlets should be used when you want to give people more information than you can put on a poster, for example to:
Pamphlets are very useful especially in areas where there is no easy access to newspapers and radio. It is a direct way of communicating with your constituency, but it can also be very expensive. Organisations can easily produce pamphlets but it is essential that you are clear about the aim of the media, who you are targeting, and what you want to achieve by doing it before spending lots of money.
10 Tips for preparing pamphlets1. Know your purpose/objective:
Before you start make sure that you discuss the purpose, of the pamphlet. Inform, educate, mobilize, recruit? Make your objectives SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time bound.
2. Know your audience/target:
If you are unclear about the people you are speaking to in your brochure, you won’t know what tone or style of writing to use and worse, who won’t know what message you want to convey. Actually define your audience. Figure out its age range and motivation for being interested in your organization, product or service.
3. Figure out your message:
The purpose of a brochure is not to merely convey information. The purpose of a brochure is to motivate the reader towards some type of behaviour. You want them to take some kind of action, whether that’s sharing your perspective, attending an event, or joining your organization. Think of your message in these terms to create the copy that will motivate your audience towards the desired behavior. To get at this, start by asking the WIFM question (WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?) from the perspective of your audience.
4. Write to pursued:
You know who your audience members are and you know what motivates them. Now you need to use this information to write your brochure. A proven formula for effective persuasive writing follows a behavioural framework.
· Raise a public concern, need or interest · Present a credible solution or way to address the above · Outline the benefits of taking action and the perils of doing nothing at all · Deliver a call to action (what do you want the reader to do?) There are many creative ways to follow the formula. You can use examples, story telling or attention-grabing/provocative statements.
5. Include priority information:
Brochures need to contain as much information as possible, while remaining aesthetically pleasing to attract and keep the attention of the reader. You need to be very selective with this information, which must be broken up into logically-flowing groups or categories which will make the most sense to your audience and still fit naturally on each of the separate pages.
6. Design with text and graphics: Do not make the layout too dense with lots of small typing. A balanced mixture of text, graphics, and blank space is most appealing. Graphics should never overwhelm the text or distract from whatever content or message is being communicated. Don’t make the layout too dense with lots of typing. Leave some space in between the writing either as empty ‘white space’ or as space for logos or pictures. This makes it easier for people to read. Use fonts or handwriting which are easy to read, and vary them by using bold, italics, and size to capture attention and highlight similar items. Colours should be co-ordinated with text and graphics to make a visually pleasing whole. Graphics should enhance the text ie. be relevant to the subject, not just pretty pictures you found somewhere. Graphics can be drawings, photographs, pictures, clip art, or a personally-designed logo. Good design will make it more likely that they WILL read your brochure.
7. Call for action: Always include a ‘way forward’ in your pamphlets. What do you want the audience to do? Attend a meeting, agree with a position, change their behavior at home or work, or put pressure on their politcal leaders? 8, Include Contact Information:
All relevant contact information must be supplied so people who want to know more or get involved can contact the distributors of the pamphlet. This can include a phone number and street address. Fax numbers, email addresses and a web address (if one is available)
9. Test it out: Once you have your brochure the way you think you want it, give it to several people outside your organization. Can they understand it? Would they be compelled to take some kind of action as a result of reading it? Fix what isn’t working. 10. Distribute strategically: Think carefully about the target group before you plan distribution as different sectors of people gather in different places. Youth, for example, won’t be on the trains and buses going to work, but outside the school gates. Thousands of pamphlets are wasted if they are distributed in an irresponsible and unplanned way. Handing out pamphlets at taxi ranks, bus stops and stations is not a very good method as so many people are either rushing or have their hands full of shopping bags. They just throw the pamphlets in the nearest bin. It is better to ask someone in the taxi, bus or train to pass a few around so that the passengers can read them while they travel. The best way of distributing is through door-to door where a team drops them off at each house in the area you are targeting. It is also good to distribute pamphlets when you are having marches, information tables or other public events. You have already attracted people’s attention and a pamphlet gives you a chance to explain your work to people who do not have time to stay and discuss it with you. Pamphlets should be used to start discussions with people.
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