Blog - Better Writing Tips

NEW online course Technical Report and Business Writing

Sep

5

2016

Announcing the launch of my new online training course Technical Report and Business Writing with ICE Training (The Institution of Civil Engineers). This course is designed for those who need to turn their technical knowledge and expertise into business documents, including reports, proposals, instruction manuals and even minutes. It covers every part of the writing process, ...

Top tips from Smart Bidding event, Brighton July 2016

Jul

29

2016

See me and other panel experts giving our top tips for smart bids at Ride The Wave, Brighton Chamber of Commerce in July. You can also hear more in this podcast from the Brighton Business Show (bidding tips start from 15.55 minutes to 20.00 minutes into the recording).

8 awesome resources for your business blog

Apr

30

2014

I’ve been in a lot of conversations lately about where to find resources for business blogs. If you’re using a blog to market your own business, or are responsible for contributing to your company’s website, it can be overwhelming. What should you write about? How do you write gripping headlines? And how do you master ...

Think first, then write 4: now start writing

Apr

3

2014

In this fourth and final post in the series on planning your business writing task, let’s look at the actual process of writing, or drafting, your document. 4. Now start writing “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by” – Douglas Adams I don’t know about you, but I’ve ...

Think first, then write 3: create an outline structure

Mar

20

2014

In the last two posts on business writing we looked at writing yourself a clear brief and researching your readers. In this third step, let’s look at designing your structure, and some of the tools and techniques you can use to organise your content. 3. Outline your structure Often, organisations have preferred templates for their ...

Think first, then write 2: your readers shoes

Mar

6

2014

In the last post we looked at writing yourself a clear brief – identifying the why, who and what of your business writing task. In this post we’ll look at the second step – analysing what your readers need and want from your content, whether it’s a blog, report, email or user guide. 2. Step into ...

Think first, then write 1: what, why and who?

Feb

20

2014

So you have a business writing task – a report, proposal, blog post or email. There’s a deadline. What do you do first? Stare balefully at a blank computer screen? Write two paragraphs and then delete one of them? Make a cup of tea? If so, you are certainly not alone in the world of ...

No more commas?

Feb

10

2014

A news story caught my eye this weekend. An American scholar has suggested that the comma could be abolished without harming the English language, according to an article in The Times. This, I imagine, will cause some debate amongst academics, writers, editors and readers. John McWhorter, associate professor of English and comparative literature at Colombia ...

Business email can damage your health!

Feb

5

2014

Like it or loathe it, business email is a part of everyday life. But it’s not just the content that gets our blood pressure rising. Recent research from Kingston Business School has identified seven ‘deadly sins’ of business email that can damage your mental health. Occupational psychologist Dr Emma Russell carried out research on 28 ...

Inspiration for your business blog content

Aug

19

2013

If you manage a business blog, you’ll know how challenging it is to come up with ideas for quality blog content. There are hundreds of content services, plug-ins and applications out there, but here are some of my favourite (and free) tools. 1. Google alerts Set up Google alerts for your keywords to find web ...