5 steps to telling your story fast
Journalists spend, on average, less than a minute reading news releases, according to a study by Greentarget. You can reverse-engineer that to less than 200 words.… Read the full article
Writing and editing
How to research for writing
3 ways to get good at getting the goods
You’ve heard the phrase “hog in, sausage out.”
To get good at getting the goods, conduct three kinds of research:
1.
… Read the full articleUse the active voice in writing
Write about people doing things
Which of these headlines is most likely to spur you to sign up for a webinar?
New webinar helps managers improve productivity
Or:
Get all your work done in half the time, be the office hero and go home early
The first focuses on the webinar.… Read the full article
Why use short sentences in writing?
Because long ones reduce comprehension
Here’s the problem with long sentences: Every time you add a word, you reduce comprehension. Add another one, reduce it even further.… Read the full article
How to write a short sentence
6 ways to streamline sentences
If your sentences are too long, readers won’t understand them.
So how can you write shorter sentences? Here are six ways to streamline sentences:
1.
… Read the full articleHow to fix passive voice
Ask, who’s doing the verb?
How can you activate a passive sentence?
1. Identify the passive voice.
First, identify passive sentences.
Active voice
The active voice uses simple sentence structure:
Subject, verb, object.
… Read the full articleShort form vs long form for decision-making
People perform better when they’re not drowning in data
The more information you have, the better decisions you can make, right?
Wrong.
It turns out that doctors make better diagnoses when they have less information.… Read the full article
Short-form digital content helps readers choose
Too many options paralyze people
Here’s a famous story among persuasion researchers and Malcolm Gladwell fans:
When a researcher offered shoppers 24 types of jam, many customers stopped by for a sample, but only 3% made a purchase.… Read the full article
Let’s get real
How much time will readers spend with your message?
Talk about TMI: Your readers receive the data equivalent of 174 newspapers — ads included — every single day, according to USC’s Annenberg School for Communication.… Read the full article
Try these 5 ChatGPT prompts for writing clearly
ChatGPT wrote this article. (Well, sort of …)
I had Mexican Monday with one of my favorite tech friends the other day. “Ann,” he says, “when are you going to start helping your clients use ChatGPT to write better messages faster?”… Read the full article