Writing is about words, right? Well, of course – but numbers also have the power to trip a writer up, and not just because you don’t think you’re mathematically gifted. Consider a speech I was reviewing on this week, where the speechwriter had the speaker talking about ‘several vital issues’, then saying the first one
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As I’ve written before, communication consists of at least two parties – a sender and a receiver, and many of us don’t consider the receiver when we craft our messages. However, there’s another crucial aspect to think – the way the receiver likes to communicate. Using their preferred form of communication will often yield better
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That’s the question you should be asking before you send out that press release. If you can’t answer that question, I guarantee most people won’t get past the first paragraph. Case in point – I was recently asked to review a release for a big multinational company. They’d had a report compiled about their progress
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The simplest model of communication has a few very basic elements – a sender, a receiver, a message and a medium. And the goal is just as simple – that the message that lands, is identical to the message sent. Like many things, it’s simple, but not easy. And where much written communication fails, is
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I need some advice from my accountant. She’s great when it comes to numbers and I want to ask her about some work-related changes I’m thinking of making and how they will affect the structure of my finances and my tax. So I emailed her my questions. And then I emailed her again. And then
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Editing isn’t just about checking spelling, grammar and punctuation – even though they’re super important. There are a clutch of other things you need to check too. When you edit, you want to make sure your writing is accurate, brief and clear, and that it achieves the purpose for which you are writing. So here’s
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Love it or hate it, email is a fundamental part of the way we communicate at work. Here are five ways to streamline your email writing. 1. Be purposeful. Knowing why you’re writing is almost more important than what you’re writing. Do you want to inform the recipient, persuade them of something, ask for something,
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It’s time. Gather around, public relations practitioners and other marketing types. Bring your friends in content, and while you’re about it, bring the journalists and editors too. We need to have a serious talk about thought leadership. Why? Because for a term that is bandied about with reckless abandon, there is very little consensus about
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Many of the requests I get for writing training start with, “My boss says I need to learn some writing skills.” Once these people are on my course, however, I start to feel the pushback: “If I write like that, my boss will kill me!” Many of our ideas about business writing are rooted in
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From time to time I produce content for a client that gets feedback along the lines of, “You’re a natural!” Or, “Wow! You’re so talented!” There’s always a faint air of suprise at my ability to express what they want to say in exactly the right words, or admiration at my “gift”. This is like
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