The Six Most Common PRSSA Style Mistakes
Branding is one of several foundational pillars that makes an organization go from great to exceptional. The practice insures and promotes consistency of written and visual elements across all platforms—both traditional and digital.
With more than 300 Chapters, keeping a consistent brand across all Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) is a challenge. It is for this reason that we have the PRSSA Style Guide and Brand Identity Guidelines. The PRSSA Style Guide in particular details specific spellings and cases of PRSSA-specific terms. Unfortunately, most Chapters neglect consulting the PRSSA Style Guide before writing press releases, articles and other forms of communication.
Here are the six most common PRSSA-related style mistakes and how to correct them:
Chapter vs. chapter
“Chapter” is an identifier unique to each Chapter in our Society. This term is always capitalized.
Chapter president vs. Chapter President
In similar fashion, the “president” in Chapter president is always lower case, even when it is preceding a name. The only use of president that is capitalized is when referring to the “PRSSA National President” or “PRSSA Immediate Past President.”
Public Relations vs. PR
Public relations is always spelled out unless it is being used in social media or marketing copy.
PRSSA student-run firm
On the first use, it is always written as “PRSSA student-run firm.” On the second use, you can drop “PRSSA,” but you must keep it in lowercase letters.
Professional Advisers and Faculty Advisers
Both Professional Adviser and Faculty Adviser are always capitalized. Secondly, Adviser is always spelled with an “e.”
Referring to Your Chapter
You should never refer to yourself directly as “PRSSA.” You should always precede it with your specific Chapter. For example, “the Northern Michigan University (NMU) Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).” And for short in this case and after its first use, “NMU PRSSA.”
Explore the PRSSA Style Guide for other considerations. For any questions, please contact PRSSA Vice President of Public Relations Ben Butler.
This is a guest post by PRSSA Vice President of Public Relations Ben Butler. Follow him on Twitter @BenButlerPR.
