Position your message in the reader’s best interest
Too often, communicators think the topic is the topic. But the topic is never the topic. The reader is always the topic.… Read the full article
Ann Wylie’s blog of writing tips
How to write with benefits vs. features
What can readers do differently with your stuff?
What’s the difference between benefits and features?
Features
A feature is what it is:
Multitrack recording tools
Documentation repositories
Wearable technology webinars
When you get to the feature, you will have arrived at a noun — tools, repositories, webinars.… Read the full article
How to craft reader-focused writing
Write to and about you
The product isn’t the topic. The service isn’t the topic. The organization definitely isn’t the topic. The topic isn’t even the topic.… Read the full article
How to write entertaining content marketing pieces
It’s the No. 1 type of social media people share
Want to write content marketing pieces that get shared?
Before publishing content, make sure it’s entertaining.… Read the full article
How to avoid cliché in writing
Shift imagery to refresh your metaphor
I was delighted when personal finance writer Tom Saler submitted this analogy in a blog post on investing in emerging markets:
Emerging markets are more volatile than developed markets in the same way that teenagers are more volatile than adults.
… Read the full articleHow to resurrect a dead metaphor
Revive or reimagine a cliché
Call it a cliché makeover.
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, breathes new life into old, worn-out phrases in a letter to shareholders.… Read the full article
How to avoid clichés in your message
Turn hackneyed phrases into fresh, exciting metaphors
Academics call clichés dead language.
Writers should avoid clichés in writing as they do with other types of lazy writing.… Read the full article
What’s in a buzzword? Nothing.
If you’re writing about vertically integrated digital-media companies, stop typing
Oh, how I miss the late, great Jargonator, the Gable Group’s tool to help PR pros cut buzzwords from their releases.… Read the full article
How to avoid dead metaphors
Don’t let zombies eat your readers’ brains
Like humans, metaphors have life spans. They’re born; they live full, productive lives; they grow old; they die. They’d even stay dead, if we’d let them.… Read the full article
Avoid clichés by using metaphor
Replace dead language with vibrant figures of speech
In 1832, French printers noted the sound metal plates made when they were cast from the original and then used to make copies: