Truly good jazz is all about the notes that aren’t played. Same goes for good professional writing. Ask yourself ’does my audience really need this much detail? Am I confusing them or worse annoying my time-poor bosses or board members?’ So if it’s not crucial delete it. .
When we meet a stranger, we have one fundamental question — “are they friend or foe?” Everything follows from that decision. The same goes for what we read, writes Andrew Pegler. When language is obscure, it promotes doubt. Doubt leads to hesitation and fear of engagement. In other words, if you’re selling something or offering a…
A big part of plain English is writing in a conversational tone – kinda like how people talk. Here’s four steps to help you in to your next “conversation”… 1.Create a firm image of a typical member of your audience – a hairdresser, a lawyer, your boss. 2.Don’t overthink it. Let it flow naturally. 3.Avoid…
Gone are the days of annual reports produced as a simple statutory obligation and, generally, with the visual appeal of a telephone directory. Today, there’s an unmissable opportunity to present your brand, values and achievements through a well-designed, strategically-focused annual report. Think of it as the flagship of your organisation and an extraordinary marketing tool.
Annual reports are often considered the ‘thoroughbreds’ of corporate document production: they need a steady hand on the reins to get across the finish line. Over the past 17 or so years Andrew Pegler Media has been involved in the plain-English editing, writing, layout and design of over 100 annual reports. This includes three for…
We’ve all had to navigate them … the protracted strings of words (otherwise known as sentences) that seem to stretch to the horizon and veer out around Pluto, before finishing with a lap of the sun. The meaning of these arduous, dull assaults on our concentration is generally lost somewhere on the journey through the…
The concept of robots arrived along with the 20th century, as a logical progression in an increasingly industrialised and mechanised world. Pundits at the time, driven by imagination and a new landscape of endless possibilities, wove tales of how these mechanical marvels would help free us from drudgery and menial work. Since the mid-20th century…
Change is the essence of capitalism. Back in 1942, Joseph Schumpeter popularised the idea that creative destruction of economies, and/or sectors of economies, was critical to prosperity and growth. He argued that progress in a capitalist system relied on the destruction of an existing economic order to make room for the next. Capitalism was, essentially,…
It’s budget night. You’re nestled into the couch armed with a coldy, a crisp chardonnay or something stronger depending on your passion/frustration for things political. Josh Frydenberg steps up to the dispatch box and unleashes an avalanche of lingo that leaves you scratching your head. My advice? Blast that budget blathering with my plain English,…
Now where’s my plain English marble saw at? As a plain-English editor and writer I sometimes feel like a stonemason. Please, let me explain. Let’s enter a parallel universe (or at least one where matter can be emailed). In this world, I am regularly sent large stone sculptures that have been created by capable, smart…
