So, you need a report written, and you approach a #writer with a table of contents. Don’t expect to get a useful cost estimate out of them. A table of contents is a good starting point, a kind of skeleton to hang everything on, but you need to add some meat to that framework to
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I received a speech for review the other day, with the customary acknowledgment of all the dignitaries present at the beginning of the sppech, followed by that phrase you hear so often in South African speeches: “All protocols observed.” Here’s why you shouldn’t be using it. It’s become customary to use this phrase in South
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Here’s a style tip for content writers: step away from the capital letters. Capital letters have some fundamental uses – they mark the first word of a sentence, they’re for proper nouns and acronyms, and they are often used in the titles of books, plays, films and other works of art. They are *not* for
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BEFORE the CEO’s keynote address came our way, it had all the hallmarks of a good first draft, and it had loads of potential. But there were issues: Long, complex sentences. Strings of clichés. Mixed metaphors. Most worryingly, a reference to the company’s gender equity programme carried the tone of, “Look at us! Look at
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A couple of weeks ago, in a coaching session with a business writing student, we had a series of interruptions. Over and over, the door behind him would fly open, and a tiny blur of noise and colour would barrel in. My student would pick up his three-year-old son, remove him, and return ­­– until
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We’ve all seen it – the social media or blog post that seems tone deaf to whatever’s going on in the world, that doesn’t seem to be ‘reading the room’. This is what happens when good content planning goes bad. Three months of posts have been written and approved, loaded into a content management system,
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If there’s a small child in your life – either your own or one you’re acquainted with, you’ll know that they can be the worst storytellers. “Last Tuesday… or was it Wednesday? No, wait… it was Thursday. Thursday afternoon. And I was at school with Luke, and you won’t believe what we did! We were
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In yesterday’s writing webinar, one of the participants asked how to deal with clients who can’t understand why the piece of content they’ve commissioned costs what it does – given that I had just recommended that emails should be no longer than five sentences. Clients, you see, look at the length of something, and assume
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After the success of the pilot 30×30 webinar, I’ve decided I’ll do five more, and then reassess. In case you don’t know what 30×30 means, these are 30-minute webinars priced at just R30 per participant – the price of a latte for me, essentially. And to try and keep them as accessible as possible, I’ve
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There’s a lot of talk about pivoting and agility right now as businesses struggle to keep afloat amid lockdowns and revenue streams that have either dwindled or outright disappeared. In addition to talking only to traditional business consultants – whose expertise relies on the very economic models that have now collapsed – why not also
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