You can make your written and verbal communications much more effective by toning up your verbs. A large minority of my students would not be able to find the verb in a complex sentence. I can see from a lot of corporate communications that the same is true of many writers. Verbs as muscles The Read More
Month: February 2014
Get to the point!
Just back from a trip to Melbourne, Australia. My hometown. While there, I was reminded of the Aussie idiom, their distinctive knack for slang and shortening words. Barbie, not barbecue. Garbos, not refuse collectors. And so on… Also their brevity and directness with the written word. You may have seen the Meat Marketing Board poster Read More
ABC’s for magazines show storm may be abating
Here’s a bold prediction: the perfect storm which has engulfed the UK magazine sector is abating. The latest ABC figures show some signs of stability: at a much lower level then before the storm but keeping afloat in the storm is success. Women’s weeklies down slightly That bell weather of the sector, the women’s weekly Read More
French’s gets its it’s and its muddled
Packaging and labelling are all part of corporate communications. Small grammatical mistakes degrade them. French’s Yellow Mustard may be yummy but its grammar is poor. The label says “An American family favourite since it’s introduction…” Oh dear. “It’s” means “it is”; “its” means “belonging to it”. Even my spell checker puts a query under “it’s” Read More
King at Sainsbury’s: communications is the king
Justin King leaves Sainsbury’s in a hail of praise: but probably for the wrong things. His real strength was corporate communications: a simple message clearly delivered from the top. He has been praised for reinvigorating Sainsbury’s after 10 years of transformation. Sainsbury’s is now challenging Tesco for the top slot in retailing. Five reasons for Read More