Welcome to the blog – advice, opinions and musings on how to make words work
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 tin on the coffee table. (Orange Cream, anyone?) But countless New Year’s resolutions made when the fairy lights were...
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...
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...
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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....
A client contacted us recently while still recovering from a mild trauma. He was the head of risk at an investment bank and had just finished...
'What people don't realise,' Nick said, 'is that I'm just like them. I get tired. I worry about stuff. I think maybe I should get to the gym more....
One of the great pleasures of my job is that I frequently get a chance to talk to people who really are at the top of their game. Over the last 18...
You don't have to work in a zoo, the circus or pest control to come face to face with a wild beast at work. Sometimes they're found lurking in our...
Bullets are designed to call out key points and help the reader scan large amounts of information. Or at least, that's the idea. You can start out...
Sometimes we can’t remember why we do things a certain way. This is certainly the case with company reports and other documents. It may not always...
What’s the right tone to strike in business writing? Formal? Yes, you want to come across as a serious contributor to the subject at hand and not to...
So, should you capitalise job titles? Ask around for opinions and you'll probably get several different answers. You might think this is because...
Bullet points can be a very useful addition to your documents. They can make it easy for your reader to quickly take in important information or...
If there’s one area that unites most professionals, it’s the struggle with email. Whether it’s how to manage the daily deluge of messages in our...
Putting people at the centre of everything you write is critical to the success of your documents and emails. (At least, it is if you want people to...
The monthly report to the board or senior management team is much more than just one more chore you need to get through. It provides a vital...
At this time of year, our thoughts inevitably turn to fresh starts and making resolutions for better ways to live and work. If you've pledged to...
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