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Talking shift

Hot off the press: our thoughts on what's happening in the world of brand language and business writing. Warning: may contain the occasional rant.

Writing tips

Effect or emergency? How you talk about environmental matters, matters

How you talk about environmental matters

Writing tips

Captivate with chemistry: three tricks for irresistible storytelling

The psychology of storytelling

Brand & marketing

Naming

What do pancakes and naming have to do with one another? Dig in and find out.

What do pancakes and naming have to do with one another? Dig in and find out.

Brand & marketing

Writing tips

Be a greenhouse brand: transparent and environmentally friendly

Green hushing could cause companies more harm than good. 82% of shoppers want a brand’s values to align with their own. And they vote with their wallets. Three out of four say they’ve ditched a brand over a matter of principle. It follows that, if you’ve got principles, you should voice them.

Writing, Brand & marketing, Customer experience

Writing tips

Carbon copy: what writers can learn from the language of climate emergency

In November 2022, the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt will host COP27. On the agenda? Getting past negotiations and taking action. No doubt participants (and spectators) remember how COP26 stalled and overran as governments picked apart the difference between phasing out and phasing down.

Consulting, Brand & marketing

Training

And you’re back in the room: the return of face-to-face training

I write this from under the blast of aggressive air con in a co-working space in Singapore, looking out at a line of skyscrapers that curtain off the bay. That’s not a flex

Training, Learning & development

Diversity and Inclusion

What’s the hidden link between mental health and language?

92% of companies know they need to be doing more to support their people’s mental health. One way to do that is to pay attention to your words in the workplace. And to use language – writing in particular – to boost wellbeing while you’re at it. Here’s how…

Writing, Learning & development

Writing tips

Leave the power tools behind: how do you write inclusively about Father’s Day?

It’s not just another event on the content calendar. It’s a chance to show readers that your brand is socially conscious and authentic. Here's how.

Writing, Brand & marketing

Writing tips

Fighting talk: how words can help you win the great talent scrap

It’s happy days for job candidates. Unemployment levels in the UK and US are at record lows. Over two-thirds of businesses globally are facing a talent shortage. Almost half are intending to increase advertising for their job vacancies. The pickings are rich.

Writing, Brand & marketing

Writing tips

Broad and brilliant brains: how to attract neurodiverse talent

We’ve talked before about how two brains are better than one. But even 20 great brains won’t make anything exceptional if they’re all wired the same way. What you need in your team is the perspectives and skills of all kinds of minds — a bubbling pool of neurodiverse talent.

Writing, Brand & marketing

Writing tips

Brand language: two things to try in 2022

Two trends are changing the way readers think – and what they expect from brands. To keep up, you’ll have to learn how to write for an audience with a strong social conscience and a short attention span. Here’s how to make a start.

Consulting, Brand & marketing

Naming

It’s all a bit Meta: Facebook and the parent brand problem

A name is the biggest building block in the story you tell about your brand. So Meta – the revamped Facebook parent brand – is a name with a lot on its shiny, augmented reality shoulders. And it can tell us something about the challenge posed by parent brands in general.

Naming, Brand & marketing

Tone of voice

How tone of voice can improve your customer experience

There’s often a disconnect with tone of voice & customer service, which harms customer experience. Our 5 tips will help you stay on brand, even on the spot

Training, Customer experience

Customer Experience

Better writing equals better customer experience

Clearer writing doesn’t just help you connect. It makes you more efficient, saves you money and sharpens up your processes, which customers will love you for.

Training, Writing, Customer experience

Culture

Digital Poets Society: will AI replace or enhance human writers?

Let’s start with the good news: writers aren’t about to lose their jobs to robots.

Consulting, Learning & development

Tone of voice

Ten and-a-half things brands should know about tone of voice

We help brands with their tone of voice every day. We’ve even commissioned UK tone of voice research. Here are 10.5 things we’ve learnt as the go-to experts.

Writing, Brand & marketing

Writing tips

What’s brand messaging – and how do you create it?

Our tips for creating an authentic brand message, plus a quick guide to what brand messaging houses, brand purpose and value propositions are all about.

Consulting, Brand & marketing

Writing tips

Language barrier: why using jargon can exclude your readers

Business or academic jargon can create a language barrier. We share 5 ways you can make your writing clearer and reach a wider audience. Have a read.

Writing, Brand & marketing

Training

Half full: how to write with optimism

Customers will spend money with any brand that can legitimately promise a better tomorrow. So, how can you infuse your writing with gentle rays of sunshine?

Consulting, Brand & marketing

Writing tips

Why readability means drawing in, not dumbing down

Why readability means drawing in – The Writer Did you know? The more readable your writing, the more people you’re likely to reach with it. See why readability and inclusive language go hand-in-hand.

Consulting, Brand & marketing