374 words 1.30 minute read

What you say Matters

Soft words vs strong words and short sentences vs long ones are different ways of effective communication when writing your item. The most important thing is to strike a rapport with an audience, not annoy the audience with poor writing.  Look at the number of words and time needed to read your content, and if it’s more than a few minutes you need to take out your red pencil! 

TIP:  1-syllable words are powerful

• 1-syllable is good
• 2-syllable words are better than 3
• Use 1-syllable words in subject lines.

Vivid Writing

A strong word is vivid, precise, and something you will notice.

A weak word is abstract and hard to see.

Examples of strong words are any 1-syllable noun, e.g., fire or cliff; and 1-syllable verbs such as chop or taunt.

Simple Writing

Many complex words mean the same thing as common words:

• Conclave: meeting
• Verisimilitude: real
• Salient: on-point
• Paucity: scarcity
• Obfuscate: hide
• Vehement: forceful

These words are used to sound smart, but are a dying language. If the reader has to think to hard about your message they will give up.

Clear Messaging

Avoid foggy words like could and might because they tell you nothing in terms of what’s happening.   Phases like, “almost anything could happen” or “we’re hoping that this will change” do nothing to inform.

TIP: Say what is happening

Phrases such as, “it is planned” or being “considered” are better.

An active verb brings action to your writing - it’s someone doing something.

A passive verb is weak because it’s someone making an observation e.g., “Roy is known to race the London Marathon”

Story Telling

The most important thing is telling the readers a story, not telling the readers about a story.

STRONG phrases like short and crisp will be more memorable. A phrase that captures the reader’s interest is good:

• revenue boomed
• sales cratered

After writing an opening sentence, look at every word and check if you can say it with fewer words and syllables. 

Never get retri-bu-tion if you can get re-venge

Summary

• Good writing is about the big picture
• State your point in a few sentences and paragraphs
• Trim anything that repeats a point
• Keep the language simple