Good Copy, Bad Copy
Doris and Bertie’s blog dedicated to helping you find and keep your business writing mojo!
Tautology Tuesday: how to avoid inflation when introducing a bulleted list
This tautology sounds as if you’re trying to cover your back about not providing a definitive list - which makes you seem rather desperate. And that’s so not a good look in a writer.
Tautology Tuesday: "Working in partnership together"
No doubt the employees of all “worldwide, global businesses” are also committed to the equally tautological “working in partnership together”. Ah, we’re all so collaborative, aren’t we?
Tautology Tuesday: "World-wide global business"
Remember: your business is either global or worldwide. It can’t be both.
In praise of the simple word "said"
Only inexperienced writers believe that when you're quoting several people in an article, you need to avoid repeating the word “said”.
How not to quote someone in an article
News and feature articles are an established staple of the comms professional's repertoire. But you can always spot when they've been put together by an inexperienced writer. The biggest give away? How they handle quotes.
The annoying habit that makes business types sound desperate and untrustworthy
The more you emphasise what’s great about your product (or service or skill) the more impact your words will have, right? Not if you fall into the trap of tautology.
So what exactly does a "concept shop" stock?
Now that every other item with a price tag seems to have the word “designer” attached to it, something more impressive was needed for those wanting to stay ahead of the retail game.
Jargon: why you should steer clear of 'leverage'
The word “leverage” has to be top of my list of jargon that should be banned. I’d never really come across it since ‘O’ Level Physics. But then I started working in marketing and I heard it all the time.
Strapped for ideas?
Straplines tell your customer what you’re about and they capture the essence of your brand. So why do so many businesses seem to bang out the first thing that comes to mind?
Ditch your communications strategy and just talk
Reading noun-heavy prose is like having to complete an obstacle course, in which every word you encounter slows you down and depletes you of the energy to read on.
Don't follow the crowd
Writers seem to have suddenly developed a mistrust of the word ‘after’, preferring instead the more cumbersome ‘following’.
Hard to stomach
Surely a writer using the phrase 'dining experience' is merely trying to differentiate their restaurant from all the other, lesser restaurants out there. Hmm - let’s google that phrase and see.
What's it regarding?
As the Penguin Guide to Plain English notes: It would be good advice to any writer to say, "If you are thinking of using the word 'regarding', don't".
No experience necessary
Have you noticed that every other thing we’re asked to part money for is an ‘experience’?
Charming sub-penthouse benefits from Juliet balcony
A brief guide to the slippery language of estate agents - lifted direct from a property magazine.
A question of empathy
One of the secrets of writing well is empathising with your reader - something this multinational household name clearly forgot with prose guaranteed to alienate rather than woo its intended audience.