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Blog
Here’s my blog on strategy, work, words and communications.
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More insight, more personal.
Making words work – Get It Write
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 44 per cent of Australians have low English literacy skills. And research shows that 80 per cent of people like plain language, no matter how highly educated they are. What readers want is simple, clear and concise language.
Talk to me about the Get It Write program if you’re interested in other ways to get words working for you.
Fourth estate under fire
I’m no apologist for online bullying; I loathe it. But as Margaret Simons writes in The Age there is a difference between abuse and legitimate critique.
The mainstream media is not itself always right, fair, or unbiased.
None of us is as dumb as all of us
Have you ever got caught up in a bad decision driven by groupthink?
Clarity counts
We are so focused on what we want to say we forget to think about how our communication lands.
The worst way to build a strategy
I’ve always been baffled by strategy programs that teach students to start by crafting goals and objectives.
Calling something strategic does not make it so
Does putting ‘strategic’ in front give the words more weight? I think not.
Just as tools and templates are not a strategy, calling something strategic does not make it so. It’s a meaningless modifier that adds bulk but no substance.
Top of the viral world
Emirates Airlines had a win last week with their latest Fly Better release. The ad features a nausea-inducing shot of a flight attendant standing atop the world’s tallest building. Online chatter immediately kicked off
Honesty, hype and hyperbole
A former colleague set up a consulting practice some years ago and asked me to help with copy for the website. We talked through the services she and her partners were offering, the problems they solved for clients, and their combined expertise.
There’s a whiff of ‘judginess’ in the air
I’m not suggesting that I’m not judgemental – it is perhaps a universal human trait. The problems start when we express our judginess and give unwanted advice and opinions. It makes others feel judged – and that feels lousy.
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