Welcome to the blog – advice, opinions and musings on how to make words work
With a host of new AI tools at our disposal, applying for a job has never been easier. At the same time, candidates are finding it harder than ever to land a new position. Yes, the job market is tough. But could the way you’re using AI be harming your chances? If you...
When many people set out to write a report or proposal, they start with a standard template or adapt a...
I hope you are well. No, really – I do. But have you ever noticed how those five words have become the default opener for almost every email? Why do...
You might think of artificial intelligence mainly as a new way to draft short emails or outline reports in seconds. If you do, you're in good...
AI is already transforming how many of us write. But evidence is beginning to emerge that it may also be harming our organisations in a way that...
I’ll never forget the first time I was asked to write a report. I had recently graduated and was two months into a new job with the Environmental...
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Simplicity is often misunderstood and underrated. One of the biggest myths in business writing is that complex topics need complex documents. The...
Years ago, not long after I started Emphasis, I found myself in conversation with a young training manager for one of the UK’s biggest companies. We...
Many of us are still hoovering up pine needles from the living room carpet. There may even be a lone chocolate rattling around the Quality Street...
Disappointingly, the good people at the Oxford English Dictionary have chosen not to name Documentese as their 2024 Word of the Year. But as their...
A paper to the board can be incredibly powerful. But you have to tell them what you want and make sure they actually read it.
Organisations are full of documents that don't work. The CEO of a London bank recently told me that he'd spent 20 minutes of his last board meeting...
If you're putting off writing a tricky email or text right now, you're not alone. According to a recent poll by YouGov, almost one in three adults...
Getting someone to read a document is often a bit like pushing a car that won't start. You have to overcome a ton of inertia at first. But it then...
People read your documents until they can stop. Then they do. But that's not because we have limited attention spans. The truth is that we can focus...
One of the biggest business-writing myths has to be that shorter is always better. 'Less is more,' say those who claim to be in the know. Keep it...
Imagine you've just got a text from a friend. Which of these two messages would you react to more strongly? A: 'The forecast doesn't look great...
Have you ever written what you thought was a perfectly clear email, only to get a reply ten minutes later that left you scratching your head?...
Have you ever missed an obvious typo and wondered how? Maybe it was even in a title in bold, 24-point type. Or perhaps you overlooked a howler in a...
Have you ever noticed how something strange happens whenever we sit down to write a document? In person, we might be able to explain even the most...
When most people set out to write something like a report or proposal, they make one fundamental error. They might adapt a similar one that they...
Once, in pre-Emphasis days, I found myself in a training room full of people whose body language told me that they really did not want to be there....
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