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Orwell’s five rules

While moving house recently (packing endless boxes of books) I came across George Orwell’s five rules of effective writing. They’re as relevant today as they were in 1946… Read more

Strapline delivery solutions

There are so many ropey corporate straplines, missions and visions around, that I decided to establish some criteria for judging the worst ones. I feel that to be the worst of the worst, a strapline must pass three basic tests: It doesn’t say what the organisation does. When translated into normal English, it is either... Read more

What’s THAT all about?

Have you noticed how some passages of copy seem littered with ‘that’? And how removing all the unnecessary ones instantly gives copy more flow and conversational tone? Read more

It’s not about you

We’ve all been stuck in conversations that are one-way traffic. You listen and nod as the other person talks about themselves, unable to get a word in, until eventually you realise there’s nothing in it for you, and your mind wanders off. Unfortunately, many businesses have the same problem. Read more

Words that stand up

Think of a famous speech. ‘I have a dream…’, ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few…’, ‘It’s not what your country can do for you…’ or ‘You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.’ Or recall someone less famous, who you saw... Read more

Abstract words leave little impression

George Orwell wrote: “Most educated people don’t realise how little impression abstract words make on the average man.” We agree. So it’s always been a mystery to us why businesses seem to want to pepper their communications with them. Read more