Oh dear, Zhasper tagged me with one of those “tell us your 5 favourite feeds” memes. At least it wasn’t “5 things you may not know about me,” or I’d be forced to emulate Hugh MacLeod’s sarcastic reply. OK, here we go…
Say what you mean!
Most businesses are incapable of communicating clearly. They’re almost paranoid in the way they avoid short, direct statements.
Compare these two “positioning statements” from British companies, both in the business of writing.
Metia is a global provider of integrated marketing services and technology-based marketing solutions. We deliver services, programs and solutions that are relevant, smart and repeatable — and that generate measurable value for our customers.
And:
Our passion is communication. We help businesses talk about technology.
The second is from Articulate Marketing. Who would you pick to work on your communication?
I discovered this thanks to Matthew Stibbe, proprietor of Articulate Marketing. His blog Bad Language (“writing about business, technology and marketing”) is extremely readable.