Take the "numb" out of numbers …

… and otherwise make complex, technical or difficult information clearer and more compelling through metaphor

Communicators too often think of metaphor as a poetic doodah that has no place in serious nonfiction writing. Not true. Metaphor is a workhorse of all meaningful writing.

Metaphors get their power from the fact that they compare the subject you're writing about to something that's more familiar to the audience. That way, they help our audience members understand new, complex information by means of something they already understand.

Human beings have always learned metaphorically. When my grandfather first saw a car, for example, he didn't think "automobile," he thought, "that's a carriage that moves without a horse — it's a horseless carriage." He added to his knowledge by comparing the new concept to something he already knew.

That makes metaphors a perfect technique when you need to:

• Make big numbers more understandable
• Make complex information easier to understand
• Draw attention to a key point
• Replace clichés
• Write snappy sound bites
• Help readers visualize your messages
• Make an important idea memorable and a boring topic interesting

So how can you put the power of metaphor to work in your very next piece?

Now you can write compelling metaphors quickly and easily with Ann Wylie's "Clarify Complex Copy" toolkit. With the toolkit, you'll receive:

• Ann's copyrighted four-step process for forcing a metaphor. (This works great whether you're in a brainstorming meeting or alone at your desk trying to crunch out a good comparison.)
• Eight ways to take the “numb” out of numbers by developing analogies that help your audience members understand your statistics
• A five-step approach for cutting the clichés out of your copy
• The CCP formula for writing effective leads
• Six top resources for finding the raw data you need to make your statistics more interesting and understandable
• The question to ask to get a metaphor in an interview
• Ann's copyrighted fill-in-the-blanks formula for writing a fascinating metaphor. (Writing compelling copy has never been this easy!)
• More than a dozen world-class metaphors to model. (Use the techniques of these masters to develop and craft your own winning metaphors.)
• Four techniques for finding and writing metaphors
• Five metaphor do's and don'ts to follow — or avoid
• Resources for creating more compelling comparisons
• A behind-the-scenes, step-by-step approach demonstrating how to track down numerical comparisons
• And more!

Best of all, Ann delivers her techniques fast, with no filler. In one hour and 26 minutes, you'll be writing metaphors that make even the most complicated information clearer and more compelling.

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Why learn this from Ann?

Admittedly, there are some skill sets that Ann lacks and some subjects about which Ann may be the last person on Earth you should get advice from. (Her fondness for chocolate and for lying around on the couch watching "Will & Grace" reruns probably means she'll never be a successful diet-and-exercise guru, for instance.)

But Ann has spent thousands of hours researching, developing, testing and sharing techniques for crafting compelling metaphors and otherwise improving your writing. She's done so for:

• The graduate writing classes she taught for 10 years in her "spare time"
• The more than 250 writing workshops she's presented to professional communicators at such companies as America Online, AT&T, FedEx, Delta Air Lines, H&R Block, Hallmark, Humana, Motorola, Mutual of Omaha, NASA, Nokia, SC Johnson and Sprint
• The award-winning writing, publications and Websites she's produced for such organizations as Hallmark, the Mayo Clinic, State Street and Northern Funds

Each year, Ann spends hundreds of hours researching and writing about communicating more effectively.

Frankly, you don't have time to do that. After all, you have a job. You have a life. You don't have 10 workweeks each year to spend finding ways to improve your writing.

Fortunately, the thousands of hours Ann has spent analyzing, reading, researching and developing techniques can cut hundreds of hours off your own learning curve.

Now you can learn some of the tricks and techniques Ann has used to earn more than 40 awards — including two IABC Gold Quills — in Ann's "Clarify Complex Copy" toolkit.

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Get ALL the tools you need to create effective metaphors for every piece you write.

The "Clarify Complex Copy" toolkit is a collection of ready-to-use tools to jumpstart your metaphor-writing skills. You'll receive:

• The "Clarify Complex Copy" audio workshop and workbook. You'll be able to "attend" a workshop outlining the key elements of the "Clarify Complex Copy" system.
• The "Clarify Complex Copy" handbook — 23 pages packed with tricks, tools, techniques and tips for writing more effective metaphors. Use this information to reinforce the skills you learn in the audio workshop. Plus: You'll get pages and pages of additional techniques and resources that just wouldn't fit into the workshop.
• The "Clarify Complex Copy" cheat sheet of formulas and checklists — all the action steps of the "Clarify Complex Copy" toolkit on one sheet of paper. Keep this checklist by your computer to use on every piece you write and edit. Our clients tell us that this job aide is one of the most valuable tools they receive for applying new skills to their daily writing.

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What do these people know that you don't know?

With the "Clarify Complex Copy" toolkit, you'll soon be writing metaphors that make even the most complicated information interesting and understandable — just like these communicators who have practiced Ann's techniques:

Ann’s “Clarify Complex Copy” toolkit is to concise writing what Clairol is to blondes. Her easy-to-follow suggestions have helped me brighten my copy and better engage my audience. The section, “Translate Numbers,” made me rethink the way I use numbers to make a point. Ann really distills what writers need to know and gives them the resources to apply the lessons.

 

— Loring Leifer,
president,
WordsWorth

 

 

This really forced me to write differently and try something new.

 

— Lea Ware,
senior communicator,
7-Eleven, Inc.

 

 

Full of practical and useful ideas that can improve your writing creativity to get your stories noticed and read.

 

— Teri Gorman,
Maui Land and Pineapple Company

 

 

Ann teaches us to avoid clichés like the plague and that metaphors are a literary device like any other literary device, only more so.

 

But seriously folks...it's great stuff that's easy to understand and easy to apply in our everyday work. I particularly like the four-part process for developing a metaphor. The handbook provides some great tools to make complex copy easier to understand and compelling to read, and that's something we are challenged with every day.

 

— Paul Barton,
director of internal communications,
PETsMART Inc.

 

 

We work in health care marketing, and Ann's tips have helped us translate technical medical terminology into language everyone can understand. Oftentimes we're trying to communicate life-saving information, so keeping our writing clear, concise and compelling is critically important.

 

— John Francis,
director of marketing,
Saint Luke's Health System

 

 

Ann's “Clarify Complex Copy” is to creative business writing as Orwell's 1984 is to paranoia. I loved it as much as radio loves males age 18 to 54. Like all of Ann's manuals, this is a quick, easy read that provides practical and applicable techniques.

 

— Lorenzo Sierra,
practice leader,
Aon Consulting

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Learn to write better metaphors for a fraction of the cost of mastering this material any other way.

Such organizations as NASA, Nokia, Motorola, Principal, AOL and AT&T pay Ann thousands of dollars to share her writing secrets with their professionals.

Communicators have paid up to $250 to attend one of Ann's "Clarify Complex Copy" teleseminars. (Of course, they didn't receive the handbook or cheat sheet. And they weren't able to listen to the program again and again to review and master key concepts.)

Now you can receive the entire "Clarify Complex Copy" toolkit for about half the cost of attending the teleseminar alone when you take advantage of the special introductory price of just $127. Plus, you receive the handbook and checklist, as well.

Gold member discount price: $97. You save $30.

Not yet a Gold member?

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Would you like to share "Clarify Complex Copy" with your entire team?

This toolkit is a self-study program. Each toolkit comes with an individual license. That means you may listen to the audio workshop as many times as you like and even pass the toolkit around for your colleagues and friends to hear and read. However, you may not play the audio workshop for a group or make copies of any of the printed materials.

Would you like to purchase "Clarify Complex Copy" for each of your team members? Contact Ann's office to receive a 10 percent discount when you purchase 10 or more toolkits. Plus, Ann will send you a one-page guide for getting the most out of your toolkits in a group-study program.

Would you rather bring Ann in to present a customized on-site workshop on "Clarify Complex Copy," where your group can ask questions, get feedback and hear Ann's analysis of your writing efforts? Or would you like to have Ann present a customized teleseminar to your group? To get the details, contact Ann.

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Start writing better metaphors today.

Order the "Clarify Complex Copy" toolkit today, and we'll rush it to you immediately. There's no reason to wait another minute to start taking the "numb" out of numbers and otherwise making your complex information clearer and more compelling.

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Serious about developing your skills? Get Ann’s Power Pack and save!