The PAS Formula for PR Writers

The PAS for­mula is a help­ful script for PR writers.

The PAS for­mula is simple: start with the prob­lem, move on to agit­ate, and then offer a solu­tion. It can serve as a help­ful tool for stressed PR writers.

Here we go:

The PAS Formula

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The PAS Formula

The PAS for­mula is simple: start with the prob­lem, move on to agit­ate, and then offer a solu­tion. It can serve as a help­ful tool for stressed PR writers.

The PAS formula:

• Problem: Outline your read­er­’s pain point.
• Agitate: Amplify and drive home the pain point.
• Solve: Offer an action­able solution.

Learn more: The PAS Formula for PR Writers

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Use the PAS Formula Sparingly

We all hate read­ing unne­ces­sary text to get to whatever solu­tion we want. “Get to the point already,” we think to ourselves. 

Wading waist-deep through anec­dotes, ana­lo­gies, con­text, and dis­claim­ers is tiring.

Getting to the point some­times seems to be a lost art.

It’s the PAS-ific­a­tion of con­tent mar­ket­ing, it seems. PAS is a widely pop­u­lar acronym for writ­ing con­tent—Pain-Agitate-Solve.

We make a point of delay­ing the solu­tion to ensure read­er engage­ment. According to the­ory and online ana­lyt­ics, this seems to be the right path.

The first third of the con­tent con­nects via a shared pain point.
The second third of the con­tent amp­li­fies these mutu­al frus­tra­tions.
And the last third offers the solution.

“Getting to the point” quickly isn’t without its own set of draw­backs, either.

Fun To Write = Fun To Read

I’ve col­lab­or­ated with many engin­eers through­out my PR career, and they typ­ic­ally get straight to the real solu­tion in their writ­ing. Presenting the solu­tion straight-up, without any fuss what­so­ever, can also make for rather dull reading.

Readers nev­er con­sciously ask for it but need stor­ies, ana­lo­gies, and context.

For me, this is a help­ful rule of thumb:

If it’s tedi­ous to write, it’s tedi­ous to read.

The straight­for­ward approach to delay­ing pre­ma­ture solu­tions is put­ting more energy into your writ­ten content’s first two-thirds.

Think about it: The solu­tion part could be trite and stale, but it still car­ries lots of value by being the actu­al answer to someone’s ques­tion. The ini­tial parts of your con­tent have no such value; there­fore, they need the most of your attention.

Don’t just race through the PA part if you’re using PAS. Put your heart and soul into mak­ing these pas­sages worthy of your reader’s attention.

Make these parts fun to read by mak­ing them fun to write.

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