Welcome to the blog – advice, opinions and musings on how to make words work
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 were meeting to discuss his organisation's training programme and I was curious to understand what he was focusing on....
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...
There’s one critical problem with most articles and videos on ChatGPT. And it’s glaringly obvious to anyone who works in a sizeable organisation....
I faced a slightly awkward moment in a meeting recently. Some consultants were presenting their ideas to me, but I stopped them five seconds into...
A colleague had a bizarre experience recently. While browsing the website of a well-known electrical-goods company, she idly clicked the Get Help...
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Some rules are made to be broken – even ones that I laid down just a few weeks ago. You know how I said recently that it's usually best to put your...
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...
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....
Like it or not, we all end up getting thrown into arguments about whether something we've written is 'correct'. This could be a colleague picking...
A colleague gives you a report (or letter or proposal ...), asking for your feedback. It's now suddenly on you to make their document great. Maybe...
The active voice gets a hero's welcome from most writing guides, which tend to demonise the passive voice as the root of all grammatical evil. Yet...
Look through your inbox or an online forum, and it won't be long until you hit someone making a request and concluding with 'thanks in advance'. But...
Do you ever feel like you're always in a face-off with your word processor – and losing? If so, you won't be surprised to hear that one of the...
We’re often advised to avoid long words in our writing when shorter words will do. Like many simple style tips, it’s useful but not...
There aren't many corporate CEOs who put improving writing skills at the top of their action list. In fact, I've never heard of a single one who...
How can you make your writing engaging? Or, more specifically, how can you make your business writing engaging? Why, surely that's a contradiction...
Cowardly writing is the linguistic equivalent of your unreliable ex. It avoids committing. It leads you astray. It wastes your time. And it evades...
For many people, feeling they have nothing to say is one of their biggest writing challenges. (Unfortunately, there are many more who have nothing...
Some documents succeed or fail based on how well they get key points across in the shortest time possible. If you need to write a document like...
It seems to happen at least once a week. Usually it's in my Twitter feed or on Facebook. Occasionally it's on LinkedIn. Regardless, I rarely make it...
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