Jump to: Editorial Style | Headlines | Copy | Captions | Audience Examples by Channel | Revising Existing Stories | Tips for Long-Form Writing 

Editorial Style

For editorial and journalistic content, Mizzou follows the Associated Press Stylebook. MU-specific issues are covered in the MU Style Guide. If a discrepancy exists between the two styles, the MU Style Guide takes precedence.

In some fields, writers and editors might also follow discipline-specific guides, such as the MLA Style Manual. Regardless of the field, in communications produced for general audiences, the MU Style Guide and the Associated Press Stylebook take precedence over other guides.

Headlines

Keep headlines focused, yet creative.
Headlines are the best, and maybe only, opportunity to grab the reader’s attention and encourage them to keep reading. They need to be quick, clear and intriguing. Don’t try and say everything or you’ll confuse (and lose) your audience.

Copy

Before you start crafting your story, make sure you know:

• Who your audience is (review Audiences, Voice & Tone)
• What it is you want them to get out of it — what do they need to know?
• What tone will convey this information the best? Should it be curious, ambitious or maybe a bit of both?
• Gather relevant information, data, names, dates and details

After identifying these core items, review the content on Narrative & Key Messaging. This includes our narrative, personality archetypes, key messaging storylines and dimensions and can inspire the cadence of your copy. Feel free to pull from the storylines and dimensions to integrate into your copy when relevant.

Remember we’re crafting authentic stories with impact:

• Move beyond simply stating facts to connect with your audience.
  • Instead of saying: We have four degree programs …
  • Say: With four degree programs designed for the entrepreneurial spirit, we …
• Show the human element behind our success.
  • Instead of saying: Mizzou has many research opportunities …
  • Say: At Mizzou, students work with renowned researchers …
• Create a strong emotional tie with your audience.
  • Instead of saying: We make an impact.
  • Say: Our research and discoveries are positively impacting our local communities, the state of Missouri and beyond.

GUT-CHECK:

• Does the tone of what you are writing inspire the reader?
• Does it reflect one or more of Mizzou’s archetype storylines?

Use copy to influence visual choices: to influence visual choices:

• The Mizzou brand is enhanced through supporting visuals. Refer to the Visual Identity section for brand graphics, fonts and photography. Coordinate these elements to enhance your copy – your messaging should be the star.

Captions

Clear, concise captions can pull curious readers further into the page while ensuring that those merely skimming the page can garner the most important information. Guidelines on crediting photography can be found here.

How to write enticing captions:

• Generate interest and intrigue. Engage readers.
• Add details that aren’t in the accompanying story.
• Use active verbs and energetic language.
• For every photograph, provide a caption with specific information, if available. Captions accompanying generic or decorative photographs, such as pictures of campus icons, can provide background information or a bit of MU history.
• Be honest and accurate. If using an old photo, identify the date. If using a photo for illustrative rather than documentary purposes, make that clear in your caption.
• Use “from left” rather than “from left to right” when identifying multiple people or things.
• Don’t editorialize. Avoid subjective adjectives. Let your readers decide whether someone or something is beautiful, happy, troubled, etc.
• Because readers know you are referring to the photograph, omit phrases such “is shown” or “pictured above.”
• Try to use present tense, but use past tense to refer to events that preceded the taking of the photo or that are not pictured in the photo.
• Don’t point out the obvious, such as gestures or colors, except when writing alternative text to accompany photos online. Alternative text can be detected by a screen-reader and provide photo information to users who are visually impaired.
• Before publishing the photos online or in print, double-check the photos and captions for accuracy and consistency.

Audience Examples by Channel

Channels refer to where we’re speaking to the audience — whether it’s in an email, a social media post, a landing page or elsewhere. These examples are not exhaustive. Rather, each example showcases one way of expressing a message to a particular audience using Mizzou’s unique personality archetypes. Refer to Audiences, Voice & Tone for more information.

Jump to: Prospective Students | Current Mizzou Community | External Audiences

Audience: Prospective Students

Message: A better future begins with fresh ideas. At Mizzou, we’ll inspire you to explore across disciplines and beyond boundaries. So you can test your theories, expand your perspective, and unleash solutions that improve lives everywhere. And you’ll do it all alongside professionals just as curious as you.

Audience: Current Mizzou Community

Message: We offer world-class professional development opportunities that will ignite your passion and build your confidence, empowering you to take on the problems other researchers avoid. Our resources range from short, self-paced modules to one-on-one coaching and intensive multi-year programs. Attend our workshops to learn more about securing funding, planning an evaluation, developing a logic model, grant writing and more.

Audience: External

Message: At Mizzou, we know real boundary-pushing, life-shaping progress comes from seeing beyond the status quo and beyond the standard approach. Our research knows no bounds, and neither do our solutions. We’re shaping the future across disciplines, across industries and across the world.

Revising Existing Stories and Messaging

Some stories and messaging have longevity but need to be updated to better align with the Mizzou brand. Start by reviewing Mizzou’s personality archetypes, key messaging storylines and audiences to answer the question “so what?” By answering this question, you can transform the story. Let’s look at a sample story, before and after we revise it to align with the Mizzou brand.

Tips for Writing Long-Form Copy

When writing longer stories and messaging, you shouldn’t feel tied to one personality archetype or key messaging storyline. Start by connecting the main facts, topics or themes in your story to the dimensions from different archetype storylines to tell a richer story.

Say, for example, that you’re writing a news story about a student who collaborated with
a professor to complete a research project.

• The student explains that trial and error played a major role in their process while the professor praises the student’s commitment to finding new, exciting ways to approach a problem others have largely ignored.
• You might connect the first part of this story to Mizzou’s “unflinching investigator” storyline, highlighting Mizzou’s commitment to learning through experience.
• And you might connect the second part of the story to Mizzou’s “groundbreaking innovator” storyline, emphasizing the original, innovative aspects of their research.
• Both of these expressions are authentic to the story the subjects told and authentic to Mizzou’s personality. It makes sense to combine the archetype expressions as you tell the story.