Writing workshops, communication consulting and writing services
People remember information better when stories are organized according to well-known structures. (Mandler and Johnson 1977; Kintsch, Mandel and Kozminsky in 1977; Mandler 1978; Stein 1976; and Thorndyke 1977)
The reason: People have mental frameworks — aka schemata — that they’ve built through experience and instruction.… Read the full article
Thank you, David Letterman.
The Top 10 list rules the web — or at least, Buzzfeed.… Read the full article
A colleague in health system marketing counsels his case study writers to “Get the patient to the hospital.” Wrong!… Read the full article
When the folks at Topolobampo, Chicago’s cathedral to Mexican cuisine, wanted to sell more syrah, they didn’t put signs on the tables saying “Buy wine!”… Read the full article
When you organize your copy logically, readers can read it more easily and get more out of it.
Or so says Bonnie J.… Read the full article
The feature-style story structure attracts 300% more readers and increases reading by 520%, according to an A/B test by Groove HQ.… Read the full article
Here’s the good news: You already know a structure that works for virtually everything you write.… Read the full article
Study after study shows that when you add interesting, concrete details to your message, people remember them — sometimes to the exclusion of less fascinating, more abstract ideas.… Read the full article
Talk about a transition. Here’s how author Erik Larson ends one chapter of Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America:
“Signal words” — aka transitions — are the narrative glue that helps readers see what’s coming next, understand your whole message and see how the parts fit together (Herber, 1978).… Read the full article
