Stop it with the ‘At XX, we …’ construction
At Wylie Communications, we believe that writers should write and that approvers should check the facts and leave the headlines alone.… Read the full article
Writing and editing
Learn reader-centered business writing from Dale Carnegie
Take a tip from the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People
I was coaching a communicator for a California health insurance plan the other day.… Read the full article
Use WIIFM marketing to persuade
Focus on what the reader wants
If you wanted to keep teens from smoking weed, what message might you communicate?
One health organization, reports Guy Kawasaki in his book Enchantment, used the message that young people who smoked weed were five times more likely to engage in sex.… Read the full article
Steal from this What’s In It For Me example
‘Say goodbye to the 60-hour workweek’
You know that the topic is never the topic: The reader is the topic.
You’ve acknowledged that readers don’t care about “us and our stuff”; they care about themselves and their needs.… Read the full article
How to write a case study [template]
How to organize a business case, step-by-step
A colleague in health system marketing counsels his case study writers to “Get the patient to the hospital.” Wrong!… Read the full article
Why are case studies important?
Your clients are your best salespeople
Call it the Peer principle of persuasion: People are more likely to believe that if a program, product or concept worked for someone else, it will probably work for them, as well.… Read the full article
7 persuasive writing techniques to try
‘Make ’em sick, make ’em well’ & 6 other ways to move people to act
Start with the problem.
Communicators are often too eager to rush in with the solution — the product, service or idea.… Read the full article
Information multitasking & continuous partial attention disorder
Americans consume 15.5 hours of media a day — outside work
When was the last time you found yourself text messaging while checking email, watching TV and talking on the phone?… Read the full article
How to overcome information overload in communication
Hint: Cutting copy is not the solution
It’s the communicator’s biggest problem: How do you get audience members to pay attention to, understand and remember your messages when they’re burdened with so much information?… Read the full article
What is information overload in communication?
Readers face the equivalent of 174 newspapers a day
Talk about TMI: Your readers receive the data equivalent of 174 newspapers a day[1] — ads included.… Read the full article