Run the B2B test
Are you using industry terms or in-house terms?
As I was conducting one-on-one writing coaching with a client recently, I noticed that he’d used the term “onboarding” without defining it in a press release for trade publications.
“Onboarding,” he told me, is an organization’s process for bringing new employees or vendors “on board.” And, while I wasn’t familiar with the term, he assured me that in his industry it was so common that it didn’t require a definition.
Fair enough. As a consultant to companies in, among other fields, the semiconductor, telecommunications and electrical utility industries, I’m used to being the only person in the room who doesn’t speak the language.
But let’s make sure, I said. Let’s run the B2B test.
Will your readers know the term?
The B2B — or business-to-business — test is a creation of Kelly Parthen, PR manager of Agilent Technologies. If you’re not sure whether a word is a well-known industry term, Parthen suggests that you:
- Head to the website of one of the biggest B2B publications in your field.
- Search for the term there.
- If you can’t find it, chances are, it’s not a well-known industry term.
In my client’s case, “onboarding” was nowhere to be found on his industry’s major trade magazine’s site.
If that’s the case with your term, act as if none of your readers have ever heard it before. That means defining it on first reference — or, better, using the reader’s own language and dropping the unfamiliar, in-house term altogether.
Cut Through the Clutter
Is your copy easy to read? According to communication experts, that’s one of the two key questions people ask to determine whether to read a piece — or toss it.
Fortunately, academics have tested and quantified what makes copy easy to read. Unfortunately, that research virtually never makes it out of the ivory tower and into the hands of writers who could actually apply it.
At Cut Through the Clutter — a two-day concise-writing master class on Aug. 17-18 in San Francisco — you’ll learn “the numbers” you need to measurably improve your copy’s readability.Specifically, you’ll learn:
- How long is too long: For your paragraphs? Your sentences? Your words?
- Three ways to shorten your copy — and which is the most effective way.
- How to avoid causing your reader to skip your paragraphs.
- A tool you can use (you already have it, but you might not know it) to quantifiably improve your copy’s readability.
- A seven-step system for making your copy clearer and more concise.
Learn more about the Master Class.
Browse all upcoming Master Classes.Would you like to hold an in-house Cut Through the Clutter workshop? Contact Ann directly.
