Welcome to the blog – advice, opinions and musings on how to make words work
Let's start out with a quick question. Look at the line on the left in the image below. Which one on the right do you think is most similar: A, B or C? It’s pretty obvious that the answer is C, right? Or so you'd think. Yet three out of every four participants...
Much of what we write often sails way over our readers’ heads. The problem is that we take our own knowledge for granted and assume that everyone...
The headline almost leapt out of my screen. It was June 2020. Every day was bringing another batch of harrowing news stories. Yet this one, on the...
One of the biggest killers of great ideas (and even greater careers) has to be impostor syndrome. I've met countless professionals who were held...
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...
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.
Our newsletter Writing Matters will help you to get your point across, supercharge your writing and make sure you stand out from the crowd. We’ve helped over 80,000 professionals achieve their goals.
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...
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...
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,...
There is a corner of Emphasis Towers dedicated solely to the behind-the-scenes team known as Operations. We are the stage-hands to the...
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...
Get your own PDF copy of The Write Stuff, the definitive guide for everyone who writes at work.