Welcome to the blog – advice, opinions and musings on how to make words work
I've got a quick question for you. How many people live in the Australian capital of Sydney? Is it two million? Five million? Seven million? The answer, of course, is none of those. Canberra is the capital of Australia, not Sydney. Well done if you spotted the...
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...
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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...
Gordon Brown mentioned the word 'Depression' for the first time yesterday at Prime Minister's Questions. Everyone jumped except David Cameron, who...
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...
For most actuaries, it’s a love of maths, statistics, probabilities and risk analysis that draws them into the profession. However, once...
Whether you’re setting up a new business venture or want the go-ahead for a project, there’s one essential document you need. Robert...
Managers are failing to update their staff just when they need to most, it seems. The training manager of a blue-chip multinational was telling us...
Look out for the latest innocent-sounding financial buzz-phrase that hides some very big news indeed. This one sounds more benign than...
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,...
If you’re struggling to read the latest lengthy management report, it could be worse. Take a look at this. It’s the original manuscript scroll for...
Your words could say more about you than you realise. New research suggests that changes in vocabulary could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s...
Start with the reader in mind Do they know much about the topic? Do they understand your jargon or acronyms? How important is this information to...
Beware the 'yawn factor’ when selling your organisation in writing. Attention spans are short and lots of clichéd customer-service terminology...
Plain language need not mean dumbing down. Clear, well-drafted advice makes things easier for clients, raising the chance that they will call on you...
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