By the Oxford English Dictionary’s best guess, the English language contains more than a quarter of a million words. And, while scholars and researchers disagree wildly, most concede that the average intelligent person knows somewhere between 10,000 and 50,000 of them. Of course, there’s a difference between knowing 10,000 words and knowing the precise shades … Read more
I recently handled a project for an organization full of extraordinarily smart people, something you might not recognize if you read the copy they wrote. Their words were so unfamiliar, their sentence structure so complex only their peers could grasp what they tried to convey … and their peers weren’t the audience. You were. No, … Read more
The marketing assistant shook her head and sneered, “You just can’t be serious.” She saw the puzzlement in my eyes, and continued. “This copy is supposed to be aimed at the C-suite.” Whatever message her critique was supposed to convey wasn’t registering, and her frustration quickly became evident. “You know, it’s for corporate leaders. It … Read more
If your organization does business in the growing global marketplace, there may be times when you need to communicate with people in languages other than English. While it’s tempting to simply translate your existing materials, that may not be the most effective approach. That’s because writing for translation requires different thinking and approaches than writing … Read more
Entrepreneurs are amazingly brave people. No matter how they may publicly shy away from comments like that, they’re well aware of how much courage it takes to walk away from someone’s payroll and create or grow a business. But despite their courage, many entrepreneurs become downright timid when it comes to marketing. Specifically, these bold … Read more
He was a successful engineer with a nagging problem. It haunted him during his commute, in the shower, and when his golden retriever woke him up at 3:00 a.m. for a quick trip outside. Never was it far from his thoughts. It involved a process that he knew could be improved. He had a hunch … Read more
The new client and I were discussing the content he wanted me to produce. After discussing his general objectives and some thoughts about design, he handed me a brochure and said, “Everything you’ll need is in here.” Even a quick skim told me that it was an excellent, well-written brochure. The content was spot-on, and … Read more
I spend a lot of time performing research for projects, and I’ve discovered that many of the companies that have the best information do the worst job of presenting it. They have the expertise, but it’s clear that the wrong people are responsible for sharing what they know. Now, it’s not really their fault. Each … Read more
The contest wasn’t a big deal, but I thought the prize package was worth a few minutes of my time. So I obeyed the publication’s instructions and visited the website. “We’re sorry! Our new site is under construction!” What? Maybe I had an outdated publication. But no, it was dated for this week. The … Read more
Pardon me if I sound like a broken record, but I’m about to climb up on my soapbox, so don’t touch that dial! If that sentence made sense, you probably need to adjust the way you talk with colleagues and customers. If it didn’t make sense, you’re the reason why. As with nearly every other … Read more