Name___________________________

Guide to writing an (article)op/ed- editorial—

Review your rough draft and check off each element as included in your final draft for submission.

q       Introduction: State, in two or three short sentences with virtually no detail, the point of the article.

q       Validation: Why should anyone care? Tell them what value they'll get from reading/ listening to the article.

q       Preparation: What do they (the audience) need to know to understand the meat of the article?

q       The Meat: One step at a time, describe exactly how readers can reproduce your results/ logical conclusion or see examples around them.

q       Application: In more detail than step 2 (validation) explain the practical application, including examples if possible.

q       Review: State, in two or three short sentences what you taught them about your opinion.

q       Call to Action: Explicitly invite your readers to do something about the issue:  be specific.

q       Bibliography/Notes: If you have any references, either stuff you used to derive your content, or places where readers can get more info, give 'em in as complete a form as possible (sometimes this is appropriate—sometimes not).

When you have a final typed draft, rehearse and time yourself to be approximately one minute in length (expect approximately 200 words).

There are 209 words above this line.  For example if you are using word, you can quickly check by selecting file, properties and statistics to see how many words are in your document. The challenge is to keep it as close to the time limit as possible—you need to see how long it will take you to actually deliver the text.  As far as rehearsal, try to be conversational in tone and do not read from the editorial paper in your broadcast.  You may glance at it to keep track but remember you will be on camera!