1. Talk to your audience in the language they use (not yours), about the things that matter to them (not you).
2. Stress benefits rather than features (unless you’re talking to a technical audience, and even then…).
3. Be clear and specific about your offer, benefits or expectations. Help people to visualise how you are going to improve their lives.
4. Don’t make claims you can’t back up. If in doubt, leave it out.
5. Whether the output is digital, print, broadcast or social, AIDA still rules – Attention, Information, Desire, Action.
6. Don’t write the same as everybody else unless you want to sound the same as everybody else. (AI, I’m looking at you).
7. Define two to three key messages, your most important reader, and write for her. When everything is a USP, nothing is a USP.
8. Avoid writing things like our “next-generation best-of-breed solution rewrites the rules, plucking the low-hanging fruit while ensuring buy-in”.
9. Active sentences are better than passive ones. But compelling sentences that get people to act are best of all.
10. Writing short is harder than writing long. And what you leave out is as important as what you put in.
11. If you normally write in another language but want to write in English, do this first: set your Word or PowerPoint template to the English of your choice (US, UK, etc) and set your spelling and grammar checker to ON.
12. Never trust a spelling and grammar checker blindly. They do make mistakes.
13. Don’t try to wing it using Google Translate or ChatGPT alone.
    

Get in touch

Good luck and have fun. But also feel free to give me a call if you find yourself overwhelmed or experiencing writer’s block.

Reach me on:

t: +31 (0)6 4565 2119

e: ab@matjanan.nl.