Cut Through the Clutter
New teleseminar shows communicators how to make their copy easier to read and understand
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Dec. 23, 2009. People decide what to read based on two factors: what they’ll get out of the information vs. what they’ll have to put into processing it.
That second issue — the need to, or reduce the time and energy it takes to read something — trips up many otherwise savvy communicators.
A new teleseminar aims to help communicators reduce the effort required to read their copy with a system for making their material clearer and more concise.
“Researchers have identified how long the average paragraph, sentence and word should be to make reading easier,” says Ann Wylie, president of Wylie Communications Inc., and author of “Cut Through the Clutter” (http://bit.ly/8718YX). She will present the teleseminar. “The problem is, too often that information stays in academic journals. My mission is to help professional communicators use those findings to make their copy more readable.”
Program details
What: “Cut Through the Clutter” teleseminar (http://bit.ly/81Mn5n)
Why: To help communicators make every piece they write easier to read and understand
Who: Presented by Ann Wylie (http://bit.ly/60rAFt); sponsored by the Public Relations Society of America (http://www.prsa.org/)
When: 3 p.m. Eastern time (2 p.m. Central, 1 p.m. Mountain, 12 p.m. Pacific) on Jan. 21
Where: Register online (http://bit.ly/81Mn5n)
In this program, Wylie will share:
- How to edit by the numbers: How long should your paragraphs be? Your sentences? Your words?
- Three effective ways to shorten your copy
- A “funnel system” you can use to make the editing process more efficient and effective
- How to avoid a reader backlash that could be causing people to toss your copy without reading it
- Techniques for solving the “visual duration-sensing apparatus” problem
- An easy approach for making your copy more conversational
- How to use the word-count function to make your copy easier to read
Quotes:
From teleseminar attendees:
“The most concise, outstanding ‘short course’ on cleaning up copy.” — Kevin Trenga, manager, marketing communications, The Raymond Corp.
“My copy is tighter. More succinct. The ideas are still there, but the filler is gone or trimmed considerably (and better off for it). The other night I was proofing my latest blog entry and I thought, ‘What would Ann think about that second paragraph?’” — David Shoffner, public relations strategist, Pavone
From the PRSA professional development director:
“Ann’s insights are especially valuable because she has worked on all sides of the communication ‘desk’ — as a corporate communicator, in a PR agency, as a magazine editor and as a consultant. Her workshops are always extremely well received by our members and other writers.” — Judy Voss, PRSA’s director of professional development
More information about writing tight
- Ann’s resources about writing tight
- Information about Ann’s manual on writing tight
About Ann Wylie
Ann Wylie is president of Wylie Communications Inc. (http://www.wyliecomm.com/), a training, writing and consulting firm. She works with communicators who want to reach more readers and with organizations that want to get the word out. Her workshops take her from Hollywood to Helsinki, helping communicators at NASA, FedEx, Motorola, H&R Block and other organizations improve their skills. She’s the author of a dozen learning tools, including RevUpReadership.com (http://bit.ly/KJ2t3), a toolbox for writers, and Wylie’s Writing Tips (http://bit.ly/6JgZLJ), a free e-zine. Her work has earned more than 60 awards, including two IABC Gold Quills.
About PRSA:
The Public Relations Society of America (http://www.prsa.org/), headquartered in New York City, is the world’s largest professional organization for public relations practitioners. The society’s members represent business and industry, counseling firms, government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and nonprofit organizations. Chartered in 1948, PRSA has 116 chapters throughout the United States and extends services and professional development to the student level through the Public Relations Student Society (PRSSA) with 209 chapters on college campuses throughout the country.
For more information, contact:
Ann Wylie
Wylie Communications Inc.
816/997-8753
Ann@WylieComm.com
