The meeting room is booked and you’re waiting for your clients to arrive. The reception is strangely quiet and no-one turns up. It’s a mystery. After 15 minutes, you resort to re-reading the invitation you sent out, and a horrible realisation dawns on you:...
The health sciences have their own language. And those who don’t understand it can simply feel like they’re not part of the club. If your remit is to communicate health promotion messages to the public, you need to walk a tightrope between scientific fact...
If you're suffering from writer's block at the moment, spare a thought for the civil servants behind today's G20 summit. By 3.30 today, they have to write the statement that could determine whether the recovery kicks off or crumbles. Mind you, there are some who...
We had this question from a former course attendee: Hi there Please can you settle a dispute! Is it Mother's Day or Mothers' Day? Many thanks Here's our response: Hi Steph At first glance, you could say either. It would all depend on whether you think it's a day for...
Council leaders have banned some 200 examples of the worst management jargon. But there are signs they've fallen into the lazy-writing trap themselves. A press release from the Local Government Association published today says that words such as 'slippage' (meaning...
Today, as you may have noticed, is Friday the thirteenth. If that bothers you, then you're not alone. In fact, the fear of Friday the thirteenth even has its own word: paraskavedekatriaphobia. Apparently the thirteenth of the month falls on a Friday more than it does...
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. So said Benjamin Disraeli (and later Mark Twain, who was quoting him). Yet the public (and that's all of us, at one time or another) continues to be sucked in by reports based on spurious logic and...
Microsoft has announced it's to open its own shops, in a clear bid to grab a slice of the Apple retail action. Apple trades on its image as the quintessence of cool: all innovative design and sleek lines. Microsoft may face an uphill battle in this respect, at least...
Kill the fatted calf: it seems we do now have a definition of the word 'Depression'. (See 'What's in a word?', below.) According to the Economist, it's: ... a slide in peak-to-trough of real GDP of 10% or a decline lasting more than three years. I'm glad we sorted...
Gordon Brown mentioned the word 'Depression' for the first time yesterday at Prime Minister's Questions. Everyone jumped except David Cameron, who apparently failed to notice until it was pointed out to him afterwards. Apparently there's no definition of the 'D-word',...
Here in the southeast snow all-but brought normal business life to a standstill yesterday. And it’s not much better today. Here in Emphasis towers we’re made of sterner stuff: it takes more than a few snowflakes to deter us from our vital work of showing...
As a solicitor, it’s likely that you’re a skilled oral communicator. But if you’re less than confident when it comes to writing, you’re not alone. Many professionals haven’t received formal writing training and instead rely on copying the...