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Zombies. Doge style.
Doge is funny, in part, because doge’s style is odd. As in not quite human. In other words, Doge’s language calls attention to itself. One of the explanations for odd-sounding style is called...
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If content is king, then usability is queen
You’ve heard me say how important reader testing is when you truly care about meeting the needs of your audience. The Before and After Gallery hosted by the DigitalGov User Experience Program provides...
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Friday fun with tearable puns
Found at Linguistics Girl . . .Filed under: Other Stuff Continue reading →
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Friday fun with emoji
I’m a couple of days late with this nod to April Fool’s Day fun. The folks at Google Chrome helped us celebrate with this tongue-in-cheek video about emoji, which the Oxford Dictionaries say originated...
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Insure readers understand your message with the right content
Workplace readers often say they want short documents. But shorter doesn’t always equal an easier reading experience. Consider these jury instructions: A fact is established by direct evidence when...
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Use parallel structure in lists to increase reading efficiency
Those offering advice to professionals who write have long suggested that similar ideas should appear in similar (or parallel) form. In fact, the advice appears in one of the earliest business writing...
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Think long-term and be kind to readers with well-formatted documents
It’s something of a paradox. But the space you leave blank in your documents matters. Compare these two forms discussed in an article about the importance of white space by the Nielsen Norman Group....
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Fun with Weird Al’s “Mission Statement”
MTV News says Weird Al sounds just like your boss. What? They’re talking about “Mission Statement,” the final video release this past week from the Mandatory Fun album. Weird Al Yankovic does not...
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Friday Fun with a Grammar Nazi
Thanks to one of the readers of Lingua Franca, where Lucy Ferriss weighed in on the buzz about “Word Crimes” last week, I happened upon this video. Perfect for a little Friday fun! Visit Arnold...
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The genre of research articles: The sections after methods
It took a loooong time. But this post concludes my series on writing a research article (RA) based on John Swale’s Create-A-Research-Space (CARS) model. See my first post for an overview of publishing...
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The sorry state of language education
Please tell me you had a teacher talk about homophones at least once during your educational experience. This story from the Salt Lake Tribune a few days ago depresses me on many levels. In short, an...
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Get clear about your purpose before you write for workplace readers
Pro workplace writers are strategic. Period. They begin a document with a predetermined goal and a plan for achieving it. Bryan Garner, author of the HBR Guide to Better Business Writing, makes the...
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Lead your reader through your content with transitions
Readers understand a message better when writers use explicit signals of what they want readers to get out of a document. Transitions like “unfortunately” are one type of explicit signal. (Headings are...
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Friday fun with the history of writing
Writing is a 5,000-year-old technology developed for commercial purposes like keeping a record of agricultural products. Ancient Scripts is an awesome resource to learn more about the world’s writing...
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3 guidelines for coaching novice workplace writers
I’ve been thinking about the nuggets of wisdom I have to share with those who are new to teaching novices to write successfully in the workplace. I came up with 3 guidelines, which I shared with some...
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What is the dullest, most vital skill you need to become a successful manager?
It’s the ability to write. I wholeheartedly agree with the author of this piece found on LinkedIn so I’m sharing it with Pros Write readers. Walter Chen uses three mega-successful business leaders to...
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Choose your words carefully — when it counts
Which should you write: “Jane is an adequate team member” or “Jane is an OK team member”? The adjectives in the two options are synonyms. So how do you choose? Are you wondering about “OK” in a...
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Friday fun with translating economic jargon
If your brain isn’t too tired yet, check out this quiz from the Washington Examiner and do your best to translate statements from the current and former Federal Reserve Chair(wo)man into plain...
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How useful are readability formulas?
Not very. I read about some interesting research last spring and meant to write more about it then. Here’s the bottom line. The researchers evaluated 9 of the most commonly used formulas. Here’s how...
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Friday fun with a passive quiz
I’ve been meaning to send you over to this grammar quiz from James Harbeck. But first let me remind you to avoid listening to any “expert” who focuses on limiting your stylistic choices by telling you...
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