How to Write a Public Service Announcement

How to Write a PSA
a strategy for writing short

• 93% of U.S. adults listen to AM/FM radio
• 58% of all listening goes to just one
station, the listener's favorite
Radio listening is also consistent year
round, with a very high reach and frequent
usage among average listeners (5 out of
seven days per week tuned in)
Why PSAs Belong
in Your Marketing Mix
© 2018 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved. Learn more at www.thewordfactory.com/our-blog

• Reach a targeted audience
• Deliver messaging that’s less distracted
• Improve resonance and recall of campaigns
• Inform and educate on issues
• Promote events/sell tickets
• Solicit donations
Why PSAs Belong
in Your Marketing Mix

But writing short can be hard. :(

easier to write
harder to read and understand

harder to write
easier to read, easier to understand

• Makes writing easier and faster
• Prioritizes most valuable content
• Keeps us on topic
• Makes reviewing faster
The Idea-Details Strategy™
a strategy for writing short

• Sets the one most
important thing
the listener needs
to know
• Is a complete
sentence or
question
• Reﬂects the main
message point
The Main Idea
© 2018 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learn more at www.thewordfactory.com/our-blog

• Establish the
must-have
information
• Empower action
• Answer the
listeners
questions or
objections
The Key Details
© 2018 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learn more at www.thewordfactory.com/our-blog

IDEA: The most important
thing listeners need to
know
DETAILS: The crucial info
listeners need from you
One complete sentence that
might even be the ﬁrst or
last line of your PSA.
A bullet list of details
that answers some or all
of these questions:
• WHO
• WHAT
• WHERE
• WHEN
• WHY
• HOW

Details for an Event PSA
• Host, including big-name emcees
• Type of event: gala, fun-run, lecture,
auction, etc.
• Date(s) and time(s) event takes place
• Location
• Short description of the event and how it
ties to your mission or supports your
beneﬁciaries/clients
• Concise contact information (a URL, phone
number or social media page) that are
easily read and remembered

IDEA: The most important
thing readers should know.
DETAILS: The examples,
explanations and evidence
that support your main
idea.
One complete sentence that
might even be the ﬁrst or
last line of your PSA.
A bullet list of details
EXAMPLE: a familiar model
EXPLANATION: a deﬁnition
or process
EVIDENCE: a data point,
fact or tangible measure

Details for an Issue PSA
• Examples give listeners something to
relate to and helps us understand.
• Explanations give us important context
that deepens understanding.
• Evidence is most useful for people who are
ready to believe you. One strong data point
can be eﬀective as an opening for your
PSA.

Calls to Action
tell people what to think, feel or do next
THINK/FEEL: The beliefs and
emotions you want listeners have
DO: The things you want
listeners to do
Try to make these “I” statements
from the listeners’ POV, like:
• I didn’t realize this
• This seems like a good idea
• I want to be a part of this
List simple actions the listener
should take, like:
• Donate via our website
• Brake for people in crosswalks
• Sign up for AIDSWalk
Derived from the Content-Purpose-Audience Strategy™

Pre-Writing & Drafting
1. Take 5 minutes to ﬁll out the Idea-
Details & Call to Action t-charts
2. Make sure you’ve got the right content
3. Take 5 minutes to draft.
4. Start with your main idea
5. Turn your bullets into sentences
6. End with a call to action
7. Don’t worry about length right now

Now take a closer look at your work to make
sure you:
• Included only the ideas and details you
really need
• Used words that are easy to say out loud
• Built a logical ﬂow from start to ﬁnish
• Created a voice that’s appropriate for your
audience
Revising, Part I

Next, do some more revising.
1. Count your words.
2. Cut till you have about 80. Count each
word in a URL (thewordfactory.com = 4
words)
3. Read it out loud to hear how it sounds.
4. Make a few more changes.
5. Read aloud and see how close to 30
seconds you are. Cut as necessary.
Revising, Part II

How was the process?
Let’s hear some PSAs!

• Blog posts
• Short Facebook and LinkedIn posts
• YouTube descriptions
• Tweets
• Instagram and Pinterest Captions
• Memos
• Landing page content
Other Uses for this Strategy

Questions?

@word_factory
margotlester
@beabetterwriter

How to Write a Public Service Announcement

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to How to Write a Public Service Announcement

Similar to How to Write a Public Service Announcement (20)

More from The Word Factory - B2B & B2C content marketing, brand journalism and consulting

More from The Word Factory - B2B & B2C content marketing, brand journalism and consulting (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

How to Write a Public Service Announcement