Are you an expert in your field? Do you get asked to write about what you know by your marketing department? How do you go about that task?
I ask because I find so many times that people write what they think they should write, not what they know.
Marketing departments ask me to help shape knowledge into words that make sense to customers. The expert has put together the first cut, and it's complex, convoluted and sprinkled with jargon.
So I get on the phone to the expert to get a better understanding of what they're saying. After all, if I can't understand it, I can't explain it to an audience.
Nearly every time, the expert explains the story to me lucidly, and answers my questions clearly. They could have used those words to write their piece. Writing doesn't have to be that far apart from speaking. Don't be afraid to write as you would talk, just with a little more polish.
Showing posts with label content writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label content writing. Show all posts
Are you being a bit too random with your CAPS?
Once upon a time, when I was the editor of a technology magazine, I would receive a daily mountain of press releases about new products and services. We were short of space for this sort of news and short of time to put those pages together. We had to find a way of quickly sifting the wheat from the chaff.
I will admit now, many years later, that one of our criteria became the speed at which we could turn a press release into a decent news story. So all those companies who insisted in throwing random capital letters into the middle of their organisation or product names were some of the first to hit the bin. It was just so hard to type them accurately in a hurry.
There are other reasons to consider carefully how you use capital letters.
First, where do you start and stop? At school we were taught that job titles should have initial caps. But if you're going to write Managing Director or Sales Manager, will you also write Teacher and Gardener? Consistency is important in making your writing credible, so decisions will have to be made. Personally I don't consider any job title important enough to warrant caps (even queen).
Second, caps are nowadays considered to be shouting. So if you've decided to name your company NewSOLUTIONS, you risk your readers feeling like they're under attack.
Finally, business writing is about making your messages clear and easy to read. Sprinkling capital letters throughout your text really breaks up the flow - making your content far less accessible.
So think hard about your capital letters. The beginning of sentences and the start of real proper names may be all you need for speed.
I will admit now, many years later, that one of our criteria became the speed at which we could turn a press release into a decent news story. So all those companies who insisted in throwing random capital letters into the middle of their organisation or product names were some of the first to hit the bin. It was just so hard to type them accurately in a hurry.
There are other reasons to consider carefully how you use capital letters.
First, where do you start and stop? At school we were taught that job titles should have initial caps. But if you're going to write Managing Director or Sales Manager, will you also write Teacher and Gardener? Consistency is important in making your writing credible, so decisions will have to be made. Personally I don't consider any job title important enough to warrant caps (even queen).
Second, caps are nowadays considered to be shouting. So if you've decided to name your company NewSOLUTIONS, you risk your readers feeling like they're under attack.
Finally, business writing is about making your messages clear and easy to read. Sprinkling capital letters throughout your text really breaks up the flow - making your content far less accessible.
So think hard about your capital letters. The beginning of sentences and the start of real proper names may be all you need for speed.
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