Welcome to the blog – advice, opinions and musings on how to make words work
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 (31%) say they're currently struggling to compose a message or have struggled to recently. And the survey of over 3,000...
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?...
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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....
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...
Corporate jargon and management buzzwords are persistent pests. We train around two thousand people a year in business-writing skills. But we've yet...
Some sentences leave you gasping for breath. Try reading aloud this extract from the minutes of a recent meeting of West Lindsey District Council,...
Imagine you've got to write a set of instructions for a total stranger; no, millions of total strangers. It's a huge audience, made up of people...
We’re lucky here in Emphasis Towers. Five minutes from Brighton beach and five minutes from the station, we really have got the best of both...
The pressure on Barack Obama as he makes his inaugural speech later today will be almost unimaginable. As 'Dubya' dons his spurs and rides into the...
Recruiters say grammatical sloppiness is depressingly common among young job seekers – but could you do any better? By Emma-Jayne Jones and...
Lawyers are not renowned for their punchy prose. But clients do not have time to be baffled by confusing terminology and verbosity; nor do they...
New research reveals that an inability or reluctance to use plain English – or to keep it short and simple (KISS) – is still the single...
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