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Corporate writing
Why corporate writing?
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Too much to read, too little time to read it
Information overload
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Cut through the competition
Literacy rates
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18% of U.S. adults have below-basic reading skills
How much time do people spend reading?
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Americans spend 16.5 minutes a day reading for fun
Quotes on time spent reading
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What writers & others say
Persuasive writing techniques
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Sell products, programs & positions
Think Like a Reader
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Position information in the readers’ best interest
‘What’s in it for me?’
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Stop writing about ‘us and our stuff’
Benefits copy moves readers to act
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Stop focusing on features
Quotes on benefits
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What writers & others say
‘You’ writing puts the reader first
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Write to and about your audience
Quotes on ‘you’ writing
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What writers & others say
Cialdini’s secrets move people to act
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6 principles of persuasion
Fear appeals work
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We’d never buckle a seatbelt without them
Types of persuasive writing
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How to write ads, case studies, sales letters
Models for persuasion
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Make ’em sick, make ’em well & more
Writing structure
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How to organize every piece
Why writing structure?
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Among the 4 components of readability
Feature story structure
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Increases reading, understanding
Why feature story structure?
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Top writing structures
Feature story examples
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How to organize this writing structure
Leads for feature stories
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How to write a good hook
Nut graph
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Put your feature story in a nutshell
Background section
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Fill in the blanks in a feature story
Body
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Build out your key points in a feature story
Writing a conclusion
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Writing a conclusion for a feature story
Transitions
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Mind the gaps between sections and ideas
Inverted pyramids
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First things first
Other writing structures
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Beyond news & features
Readability
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Don’t build a wall of words
Story length
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Don’t leave them wanting less
Paragraph length
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Make copy look easier to read
Statistics in writing
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Take the Numb Out of Numbers
Sentences
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Add a word, reduce comprehension
Short sentences drive readability
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Add a word, reduce comprehension
Quotes on short sentences
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What writers & others say
Resources on short sentences
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Websites, books and tools
Sentence structure
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Subject-verb-object is best
Other sentence issues affect readability
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From embedded clauses to prepositional phrases
Phrase tighteners
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Avoid jargon, passive voice & more
Word length
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Avoid a multisyllabic pileup
Readability
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Everybody benefits from readable copy
Why readability?
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Convince approvers that easy is better
Measure readability
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Determine reading level with these tools
Readability indexes
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What do the numbers mean?
Improve readability
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Boost readability scores
Resources on readability
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Websites, books & tools
Quotes on readability
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What writers & others say
Conversational copy
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Write as you speak
Headlines & display copy
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Lift your ideas off the page or screen
Display copy
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Reach flippers, skimmers and other nonreaders
Callouts
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Pull quotes draw readers in with provocative details
Captions
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Aka cutlines, these get 16% more readership than text
Decks
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Summarize your story in 1 sentence under the headline
Headlines
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Display copy gets more readership
Benefit headlines
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What’s in it for me?
News headlines
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Announce what happened
Feature headlines
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Try a little cleverness
Headlines for the web
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Optimize for humans, not just Google
Highlight key words to lift ideas off the page
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But if everything’s formatted, nothing is formatted
Lists: How to write them
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People look at 70% of lists — if you follow these best practices
Subheads show the parts
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Layer on the display copy
Content promotion: Advertise stories
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Promote pieces within your vehicle
Microcontent: Little things mean a lot
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Make the most of online display copy
Approval process blues
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Rein in reviews
Approval process design
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Streamline your system
Approval Process Disorder
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Do you suffer from it?
Story types
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Executive notes, survey stories & more
Digital writing
Email writing
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Before you push Send …
Why email?
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Don’t neglect this powerful medium
Get emails opened
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Make it past the mind filter
Subject line secrets
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Sell your message, e-zine or newsletter
Quotes on subject lines
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What writers & others say
Resources on subject lines
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Tips, tools and techniques
Get emails read
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Make e-zines, email blasts relevant, interesting & easy
Make emails interesting to readers
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Grab their attention in seconds
Make emails relevant to readers
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Personalize, deliver real value in email blasts
Quotes on relevant emails
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What writers & others say
How to write short email
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Make email newsletters and blasts easy to read
Quotes on how to write short email
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What writers & others say
How to write scannable email
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Help readers skim email newsletters, e-blasts
Quotes on scannable email
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What writers & others say
Quotes on email content
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What writers & others say
Email distribution
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When and how to send
Quotes on email
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What writers & others say
Social-media writing
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Get the word out via blogs & status updates
Social media — Make it relevant
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Think Like a Friend, Fan, Follower
Entertaining status updates
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All you need is LOL
Entertaining tweets
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Keep followers interested
Personable tweets
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Make them social
Blog post structure
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Craft content marketing pieces that almost write themselves
Social media: Make it easy
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Cut Through the Clutter
Blog writing
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Create a good business weblog
Writing for Facebook
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Get liked on the 2nd-largest site in the U.S.
LinkedIn
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Connect with other business people
Twitter
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Tweak your tweets
Short tweets
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Make the most of 280 characters
Twitter distribution
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When to tweet — and how often
YouTube
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Are you watching me now?
Web writing
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Craft copy that clicks
Screen reading hurts
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Overcome the obstacles of reading online
Web-writing techniques
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8 ways to reach readers online
Quick web copy
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Put the hot stuff up top
Webpage structure: Master the temple model
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New approach increases reading by 520%
Chunk web copy up
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Think Post-It notes, not toilet paper
Tight web copy
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Visitors process only 20% of the words on a webpage
Scannable web copy
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Put your message where their eyes are
Eyetracking | Where web visitors look
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Can you move them from the F-shaped to the commitment pattern?
Fluff-free web copy
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Increase fact; cut fluff
Personable web copy
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Use your business casual voice
Mobile web writing
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Are you ready for the small screen?
Links & other online display copy
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Best practices for writing headlines & more
Microcontent
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Make the most of online display copy
Headlines for the web
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Optimize for humans, not just Google
Index pages
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Craft your website’s table of contents
Links grab attention, guide visitors
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How to get clicked
Page titles
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Help visitors find your page
Subject line secrets
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Sell your story
SEO for writers
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Help Google find you
Resources on SEO for releases
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Websites, books and tools
Quotes on SEO
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What writers & others say
Quotes on SEO for releases
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What writers & others say
PR writing
News release writing
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Write hot PR pieces
Relevant releases: Think Like a Reporter
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Develop stories media outlets want to run
Quotes on relevant releases
Anatomy of a release
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Tap current best practices, from lead to boilerplate
Leads for releases, pitches and other PR pieces
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Go beyond the 5 W’s
PR leads: Try features
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Surprise and delight readers
Quotes on PR leads
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What writers & other say
Body for releases
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Avoid ‘the muddle in the middle’
Quotations
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Turn lame-ass quotes into snappy sound bites
Rare quotes
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Choose only the best quotes
Keep quotes short
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Put the bite in the sound bite
Personable quotes
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Give them passion & humanity
Creative sound bites get heard
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Add color to your quotes
Quotation guidelines
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Attribution & other tips
Testimonials
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Find & craft tributes
Boilerplate for releases: ‘About us’
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Boil the company down to one short paragraph
Tight PR pieces
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Measurably boost readability with targets, tips & tools
Quotes on tight PR pieces
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What writers & others say
Display copy for releases
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Reach flippers, skimmers and other nonreaders with display copy
Headlines for releases
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Grab reader attention
Decks for releases
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Summarize the big idea
Links for releases
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Format them for news portals
Visuals for releases
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Looks do matter
Types of PR stories
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From bios and bylined articles to survey releases and testimonials
Bios and profiles
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Make the person the story
Bylined articles
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Write great columns
Moves and milestones
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Bring the listings to life
Survey stories
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Announce the results of your research
Quotes on releases
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What writers & others say
SEO for writers
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Help Google find you
Pitch? Perfect
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Just 4 in 10 PR pitches are good. Are yours?
Storytelling and creative-writing
Creative techniques grab attention
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Steal tricks from the fiction writers
Colorful details rivet readers
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Show, don’t just tell
Why concrete details?
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Specifics make copy more understandable, memorable
Types of concrete detail
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Fun facts, statistics, examples and more
Description takes readers to the scene
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Paint a picture
Research description
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Go to the scene & observe
Sensory reporting: Tap all 5 senses
Visual reporting: See here now
Sound effects: Tap the sense of hearing
Smell: A nose for news
Touch: Make it tactile
Human interest brings messages to life
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Find a poster person
Why human interest?
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There’s power in people
Humor
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You must be kidding
Metaphor writing
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Clarify complex copy
Storytelling wins hearts and minds
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‘The most powerful form of human communication’
Why is storytelling important?
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It’s a communication power tool
Find stories
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Identify good tales
Use existing stories
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Don’t reinvent the wheel
Tell your brand story
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Showcase what makes you different
Get personal stories
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Share your subject matter expert’s own experiences
Ask people to share their stories
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Solicit narratives from your audience
Create a scenario
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Simplify your message to increase comprehension
Narrative research
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Develop your narrative
Elements of a story
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Anatomy of an anecdote
Storytelling structure
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Follow the narrative arc
Present stories
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How to tell a tale
Quotes on storytelling
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What writers & others say
Wordplay surprises and delight readers
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Make your message memorable
Alliteration makes you ‘instantly eloquent’
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Tickle the intellect, please the ear
Balance taps the power of twos
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Makes message memorable with parallelism
Coin a word
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Create a portmanteau, make a mnemonic, verbify a name
Etymology adds layers of meaning
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Explore word origins
Rhetorical devices ring in their ear
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Practice persuasion through language
Rhyme is more believable
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Plus, it stands out in a crowd
Rhythm: You’ve got the beat
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Make your message ring in their ears
Twist of phrase tickles the brain
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Mark my words
Wordplay workout
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Practice playing with your words
Creative process
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How to have a great idea
Creative process
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5 steps to generating fresh ideas
Creative thinking
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Kick-start imagination
Model the masters
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Find mentors among your favorite writers
Creative story ideas rivet readers
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Go from lackluster to electrifying
Processes
Communication planning process
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Turn your communication idea into reality
Situation analysis
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Where are you?
Goal setting
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Where are you going?
Program planning
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How will you reach your destination?
Implement your plan
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What resources will you need?
Measurement
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Did you arrive?
Writing process
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Write better, easier and faster
Creative process
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How to have a great idea
Story types
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From tip sheets to survey stories
Bios and profiles
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Make the person the story
Bylined articles
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Write great columns
Case study writing tips
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Show what you can do
Editor’s notes
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Make it personal
Executive messages
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Put words in the CEO’s mouth
Graphic story types
Graphic stories
Lists: How to write them
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Show the parts, show the whole, lead with the verb
Man-on-the-street stories
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Make the most of employee roundups
Moves and milestones
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Bring the listings to life
Story templates
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Create fill-in-the-blanks story forms
Survey stories
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Announce the results of your research
Testimonials
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Find & craft tributes
Tipsheets & service pieces
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How to write how-to stories
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