0044 (0)1273 732 888
Uncategorised
Posted by: Rob Ashton
05 / 11 / 24
How much do big words and flowery phrases really impress our peers? A lot less than many people think, it seems. I’ve talked before about the strange, alternative language that we adopt whenever we sit down to write a document. I call this language Documentese, and it’s full of long or complex words and phrases […]
22 / 10 / 24
I confess that I can be a little paranoid at times. And never more so than when I’m sending important emails. It usually goes something like this. After agonising over the message itself, often rewriting it several times, I hit send and the clock starts ticking. If I’ve done my job properly, I’ll usually be […]
30 / 09 / 24
The strange thing about writer’s block is often it’s not writing that’s the problem at all. It’s thinking. ‘Thinking is to humans as swimming is to cats,’ the late psychologist Daniel Kahneman once argued. ‘They can do it, but they prefer not to.’ (Kahneman was no slouch as a thinker himself. He won a Nobel […]
03 / 04 / 24
Imagine you’ve just got a text from a friend. Which of these two messages would you react to more strongly? A: ‘The forecast doesn’t look great today.’ B: ‘The forecast is heavy rain and winds of up to 45 mph this afternoon.’ Most people would probably say version B, because it’s far more specific. Granted, […]
12 / 03 / 24
Have you ever missed an obvious typo and wondered how? Maybe it was even in a title in bold, 24-point type. Or perhaps you overlooked a howler in a PowerPoint deck until you were presenting on Zoom. Don’t worry – it’s not just you. We’ve all done it. In fact, I’m slightly terrified that I’ll […]
21 / 02 / 20
What is the one activity that unites all desk-based jobs? Here’s a clue: you probably do this as soon as you get into the office (if not before). In fact, if you work at a desk, this activity probably takes up more time than anything else you do, regardless of your occupation. If you’re a […]
Our newsletter contains proven advice and tips for transforming everything you write at work. Join over 4,000 professionals who receive our best advice for writing documents that help you achieve your goals.