Insights

An easy-to-read prose style is the first thing you need to get people to read your posts. Here are a few pointers: Say what you mean Use an appropriate tone Call a spade a spade – don’t say ‘utilise’ when you mean ‘use’ Vary your sentence length – too many short sentences is ‘choppy’; too many long sentences is boring. Avoid passive voice, e.g. ‘the business was lost by the inability of the sales team to convince the buyer of the uniqueness of their product’ (replace with ‘the sales team lost the business because they couldn’t convince the buyer that their product was unique’) Avoid clichés and stock phrases, e.g. France bit off more than it could chew in Vietnam , and America’s intervention was too little, too late . Avoid too many qualifiers, e.g. Most people usually think that many puppies are generally pretty cute. Avoid too many prepositional phrases, e.g. “the organisational culture of [your organisation]” could be replaced with “the way [your organisation] is organised”. Avoid t...

A succinct and simple writing style can make communication much more effective. Here are some tips for writing in Plain English. Read it aloud Tip: read through what you have written, preferably aloud. If it is difficult to read aloud, it will be difficult for users to understand. Jargon and acronyms Try to expand acronyms and explain unfamiliar jargon the first time you use them. Explaining procedures If you are explaining a procedure, try to set it out in small steps in the same order as the person will need to carry out the procedure. Plain English Avoid passive voice , excessive formality and using unfamiliar terms without any explanation. Passive voice example Plain English "Books may be borrowed from the library" "You can borrow books from the library" "It is recommended that..."  "We recommend that..."  it is preferred that a booked appointment is made  we would prefer you to make an appointment  Exc...