Unless you’re in content production or publishing, chances are that writing isn’t your core business – you’re making products, or providing services. EXCEPT, you write more than ever in the course of your daily work – just think about how many emails you send out on a daily basis for starters. So, how can a
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Do you want to write better emails, presentations, memos, reports and speeches? Do you want people to actually read or listen to them? Learn how to edit your writing. Writing is craft, not art – it’s about chipping away at the block of marble to reveal the sculpture within. Knowing how to edit is learning
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My friend, Natalie Govender, had a tweet go viral once. It read, “No email has ever found me well.” And yet, so many people still trot out that tired phrase at the beginning of every mail they send. I get it. You want a polite opening instead of launching straight into the reason for your
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I saw a great video on one or other platform the other day where members of a team were competing to write the most outrageous email sign-offs until the boss noticed. The fact that they were able to get away with strings of sign-offs like “Yeehaw,” and “With sincere condolences,” or “Have the day you
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Are people not reading your emails? It might be time to turn them upside down. Here’s how you do that. At school we were taught to write with a nice introduction, then slowly build up to a big climax. That’s all very well, but as the old internet meme says, “Ain’t nobody got time for
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Look, I know you like to ensure your key messaging is going out exactly the way you crafted it, but if it’s annoying your clients, that’s counter-productive. Remember that communication isn’t just about what you say – it’s about what the receiver on the other end of the communication hears too. Scripting responses – whether
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No doubt you’ve heard of corporate storytelling, but what does that really mean? Well, it means to use story techniques in an organisation to deliver business outcomes – and it’s something that can transform your reports, emails, presentations and even more strategic documents. Why story techniques? Well, because stories are an ancient form of communication
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In the olden days, when I was in formal employment, starting at a new job was fairly simple. Someone showed you where to find your desk and computer, you filled in a form with your details for the personnel department, someone else showed you where to get stationery if you needed it, and you began
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Internal communication is often treated like Cinderella – banished below stairs to do the grunt work while external communication gets to go to the ball. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of people in companies, with the focus turning to the “human” in “human resources”, and with that comes a vital piece: how you communicate
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I spend a fair amount of time giving feedback on documents like company profiles and brochures, and the commonest mistake I see is a complete disregard for the hapless person who’s likely to receive it. Don’t get me wrong, they all look beautiful – big pictures, flashy headings, infographics, and stellar descriptions of the team,
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