Welcome to the blog – advice, opinions and musings on how to make words work
How much do big words and flowery phrases really impress our peers? A lot less than many people think, it seems. I've talked before about the strange, alternative language that we adopt whenever we sit down to write a document. I call this language Documentese, and...
Have you ever wondered why you can never seem to get a document written until its deadline is looming? You might have been paralysed by writer's...
I confess that I can be a little paranoid at times. And never more so than when I'm sending important emails. It usually goes something like this....
A client contacted us recently while still recovering from a mild trauma. He was the head of risk at an investment bank and had just finished...
If you ever struggle with writing at work, take comfort in knowing that to do it at all should be impossible. In fact, the whole idea of...
The strange thing about writer's block is often it's not writing that's the problem at all. It's thinking. 'Thinking is to humans as swimming is to...
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Struggling to write is a universal human experience. We all find it hard to some degree, as I've explained before. But if the key word is 'human',...
It's tempting to think that writing comes easily to everyone but ourselves. But if we could see inside their heads, we'd probably find that their...
An embarrassing mishap befell me during my recent summer break. It happened when I was searching for the bathroom in an unfamiliar West Country pub....
I found myself in a strange situation recently – I was approaching a long Zoom call with genuine excitement. It was a webinar by an expert I'd just...
Nelson Mandela once said, ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes...
Adverbs convey information about how things happen, as well as when, where and to what extent. As the name suggests, they modify verbs – but they...
Right, affect and effect: let's tackle the difference. Well, if you mix up your words, it can affect a reader’s opinion of you – and...
Subscribe via RSS / iTunes | All podcasts Click the icon above to hear this interview (36 minutes) Our guest in this special episode of...
Subscribe via RSS / iTunes | Download | All podcasts 35 minutes How do you approach new business in an era when cold calls rarely reach...
At Emphasis, we're always highlighting the importance of keeping your reader at the front of your mind. In the past, that reader would always be...
When inviting a bid, clients sometimes ask you to include mini biographies, also known as pen portraits, of the potential team. Here, we show you...
In this video, Emphasis CEO Rob Ashton demonstrates how to supercharge any sentence in 60 seconds. Want more business-writing tips? The Emphasis...
Brand identity is important to business, and having a brand name with impact is a big part of that. But when the name breaks the standard rules of...
Every now and then, you’ll come across someone who insists that different to and different than are wrong, and that only different from is correct....
Most students are familiar with that morning-after feeling. But academic life can leave you with another kind of hangover you’ll want to shake off...
For accountants, effective writing skills can be as important as the ability to crunch the numbers. Your professional development and competitive...
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