Writing workshops, communication consulting and writing services
Screenwriter Nora Ephron long remembered the first day of her high school journalism class.
Ephron’s teacher announced the first assignment: to write the lead for a story to appear in the student newspaper.… Read the full article
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
What’s the difference between benefits and features?
A feature is what it is:
When you get to the feature, you will have arrived at a noun — tools, repositories, webinars.… Read the full article
Having trouble finding reader benefits? Maybe you need to ask different questions.
If you were giving away a Hawaiian vacation to people who signed up for your webinar, which would you lead with?… Read the full article
“Clean your face,” demands a hotel soap wrapper. No, YOU clean YOUR face! I want to respond.… Read the full article
Freud might never have figured out what a woman wants. But savvy communicators know what readers want — information that helps them:
Which of these benefits could you use in your campaign?… Read the full article
I once reviewed an article for a company’s sales force with the headline:
Remember Verb, the superhero on “Schoolhouse Rock”? He was great because he could do so many things.
His theme song went like this:
You. It’s a power tool of communications.
The second person increases readability, boosts opens and clickthroughs and is the most retweeted word in the English language.… Read the full article
