Talk it out: Run the ‘Hey, did you hear?’ test on your copy. Does your copy sound like conversation or confusion? Run this simple test. | Continue reading
Write cliff-hangers: External transitions move readers from section to section and aim to keep the reader’s attention beyond a natural stopping point. | Continue reading
‘But then the dream became a nightmare’: Avoid transitional clichés, use fresh transitions to drive readers further into the story. | Continue reading
Quotes on transitions: What writers and others say | Continue reading
If I've told you once: The deck should expand on the headline, not repeat it. Don't replicate yourself Don't repeat words from the headline to the deck. | Continue reading
Take a load off: Three ways to streamline your headline with your deck. To keep your headline short, move your secondary angle to the deck. | Continue reading
What happened? Why?: Put news in the headline, the cause in the deck. They've got questions. But don't put all of the answers in the headline. | Continue reading
End with a bang. Leave a lasting impression in the kicker. Surprise and delight readers with your kicker. Make your kicker concrete, creative, provocative. | Continue reading
All's well that ends: Draw to a close in the conclusion. Feature-style stories require a wrapup and kicker. | Continue reading
Quotes on endings. What writers and others say. “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | Continue reading
Aim for one-syllable words: Churchill was right — short words are best. The words we use most often in the English language have just one syllable. | Continue reading
Cut long words: Make copy easier to read, understand. Here are four ways to reduce your average syllable or character count: | Continue reading
Harness the power of one: Single-syllable words can shock, jolt and pop. Short words help you tweet and text more economically. | Continue reading
Metaphor at work. Learn 6 reasons analogy is more persuasive than literal language. Sopory and Dillard outline six perspectives on metaphor and persuasion. | Continue reading
How readers process metaphors. People feel good when they figure analogies out. Learn how this makes metaphors so powerful for communication. | Continue reading
Up close and personal. Metaphor creates intimacy, builds understanding, helps us understand each other. Want to build common ground? Make it a metaphor. | Continue reading
Get the words out: Write tight sentences, like the Times. Short sentences make it easier for your audience members to understand. | Continue reading
One-minute sentence clinic: How to fix this winner of Ann’s Bad Writing Contest. Use these three techniques to fix bad sentences. | Continue reading
Quotes on using more periods: What writers and others say. “We’d all do well to use more periods.” — William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well | Continue reading
Six secrets of persuasion: Robert Cialdini shares the principles of influence. Which of these principles do you use to move your audience members to act? | Continue reading
Take the pledge: Ask people to make a commitment. Our audience members want to act consistently with their commitments and values. | Continue reading
Promises, promises: People want to act consistently with their commitments and values. Asking for an active commitment can help you move people to act. | Continue reading
Turn programs into people: Bring stories to life with human interest. Why not let people stand for programs in your next piece? | Continue reading
CPAs aren't all business: Center campaign themes on people. Let people stand for your point. | Continue reading
Miguel and Joe and Harry: The AFL-CIO profiles nonmembers. Want to showcase what your organization does for members? Showcase nonmembers. | Continue reading
‘Say Goodbye to the 60-hour Work Week’. Steal techniques from this great WIIFM copy. Reach more readers and sell more ideas when you write in WIIFMs. | Continue reading
What do employees want? It’s all about me, says Roger D’Aprix. What information do employees want? Employees care about me, myself and I. | Continue reading
Quotes on WIIFMs: What writers and others say. “Your reader is a narcissistic 2-year-old saying, ‘Me, me, me. What’s in it for me?’” — Anonymous | Continue reading
Made you look. Captions get 16% more readership than text. Captions can be workhorses of communications — but only if you use them and use them well. | Continue reading
No more excuses! How to spot hidden measurement resources. Learn four ways to overcome obstacles such as no time, budget, expertise or support. | Continue reading
Top 10 measurement mistakes: How to avoid these research problems and avoid rookie measurement mistakes But here are some workarounds if you do. | Continue reading
Start making sense: Sell your reviewers on avoiding jargon. Here’s a list of reasons to avoid jargon. it hinders communication and hurts business. | Continue reading
Use the terms in your readers’ heads: Not the terms in your head. Use the language of the reader, not the language of the industry. | Continue reading
Here & there, now & then: 3 ways to measure how your message changed behavior. Make sure communicators get credit for their share of sales. | Continue reading
Demonstrate the value of your communications: Diane Gayeski, Ph.D., offers a model for demonstrating the value of your communications. | Continue reading
Take me to your reader: How to write tweets that go viral. Provide information that's relevant, valuable and useful, according to the research. | Continue reading
Thank you for sharing: Features go viral more often, says Reuters Institute. Features are more likely to get shared than news shows new research. | Continue reading
Shatter the pyramid. Three ways to create more feature-style stories. To increase readership, make most of your messages features. | Continue reading
A way around the pyramid. Lift ideas off the page with display copy - Make it easy for readers to get the most important information quickly. | Continue reading
Avoid online ADHD: Embed links carefully. Embedded links distract and confuse, but readers prefer them anyway. Limit links. But embed the links you use. | Continue reading
Format links for clicking: Five tips for formatting links to drive action. Learn how you can increase the chances that they’ll get clicked. | Continue reading
A link is a promise: Don’t disappoint readers. Tell visitors what they’ll find if they click. Good links are essential to building your visitors' confidence | Continue reading
The Goldilocks Conundrum: Write links that aren’t too short or too long. Learn how long should a link be and how to write links that are just right. | Continue reading
Ask the right questions: Find benefits in the interview. Benefits will make your products, services and ideas more relevant and valuable to your reader. | Continue reading
‘That means you will …’: Identify — and present — your benefits. Use this technique to prompt your subject matter expert help identify benefits | Continue reading
Don’t forget the cost of benefits: Measure the ‘invisible chunk’. When measuring the value of your employee communications, include the cost of benefits. | Continue reading
Measure on a shoestring: Six free or cheap tools for tracking communication success. Use these tools to measure audience perceptions and message spread. | Continue reading
Five ways to measure for free: Check out these no-budget tools, from Angela Sinickas to measure the success your communication efforts. | Continue reading