I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential.
Read, subscribe to my newsletter, enjoy!Tash
Legalese or clear English?
Legalese* is used a lot and is not what I call clear content or simple communication.
Legalese is usually both longer and more complicated than is necessary to communicate a message. Most people don’t read it in full because it is looks too boring and hard. And it isn’t truly necessary most of the time.
If you have terms or other important information to communicate with clients, by all means get a lawyer to review it for you to ensure you are saying the right things. However, make sure the information is presented clearly.
To help make it clear:
- find a legal advisor who is happy to work with you for commercially sound content – at a minimum, get them to approve what is written meets the requirements (and no more) even if they would prefer to include a lot more
- write a short and simple message and link off to a comprehensive list of legal terms elsewhere. The message alerts people that terms exist but keeps your main message clear – and most people really don’t need to know all those terms. I have used this strategy on product disclosure statements – we state the basic rules that apply to most people and list the finer terms elsewhere for unusual circumstances. The result is that people actually read those documents rather than letting them collect dust as they appear too hard.
- use good formatting to make the content visually appealing – lots of small print, long sentences and numbered items in paragraph style is very off-putting
What do you think – do you read content that is obviously legalese? Do you find some of that small print information worth reading, if only presented in a clear way?
I can think of a few instances where a document has not answered a question so I have to skim through a lot of tiny terms to find the information. A shorter legal statement with important details or a well set out page of terms would be much easier to achieve the same goal.
* Legalese is the usually complex way lawyers write information to ensure all angles are covered and liabilities avoided.
Breadwinner review
As 2012 is the national year of reading, I am going to share some of my reading this year through a series of book reviews. Here is the first one…
Breadwinner: a fresh approach to business success
by Tom O’Toole with Lowell Tarling
BAS Publishing, Seaford 2009
Some time ago, an IT trainer told me about a video by Tom O’Toole from the Beechworth Bakery. The trainer (and others at his training company) were using it in a business course to cover customer service. I then heard of Tom O’Toole in passing a few times.
Driving through Albury last year we happened across a Beechworth Bakery outlet and stopped for lunch. Whilst there, I bought a copy of Breadwinner by Tom O’Toole.
I admit I didn’t start reading it until January but was very impressed with it once I started. So much so we detoured to Beechworth on our way back from Canberra a few days later.
Personally, I generally don’t find biographies or autobiographies satisfying as a business book (as interesting as they may be to read for pleasure) but this book was a great blend of the two. Tom starts with a chapter on his philosophies from business and finishes with a chapter on his personal philosophies and lessons. In between was his autobiography from childhood to business success.
There are a number of thoughts in the book that I have come across before (if it’s to be, it’s up to me; it’s the little things that make a difference; goals are just dreams with a date) but they had an impact because they fit in Tom’s story – he shows how they helped him rather than lecturing readers with clichés.
Tom was a poor kid growing up on the banks of the Murray – and his childhood and family certainly gave him stories to entertain with in his book! Imagine kangaroos and frogs living in the house, brothers sharing a bed and living with your front door open and you’re heading towards young Tom’s world.
While Tom discusses his poverty and hardships, it is neither a pity party nor a ‘look how good I am for rising out of this stuff’. It is his story so he tells it, tells it honestly and lets us see how things influenced and taught him.
It’s a good read which will have you laughing and thinking.
From a business perspective, Tom does give ideas and examples of customer service and how to build yourself and your team for success.
In Tom’s words “this book is about making dough, the paper kind. It will hopefully get you out of your comfort zone, it certainly got me out of mine.” And me out of mine.
I recommend grabbing a copy and investing your time in it. Once you’ve read it, come back and let me know how it motivated you or changed your business.
Elocution is an art, locution a style
If you have ever tried acting or serious public speaking, you may well have thought about your elocution – but how about your locution?
locution: [noun] style of spoken language, a phrase or idiom
A linguist can easily tell people apart by their locution.
elocution: [noun] how speech is delivered, the art of delivery speech
The actress changed characters predominantly by changing her elocution.
To tell them apart remember that elocution is how you orally express your thoughts.
Collecting annual report content
Writing an annual report for many people is a big chore done over a stressful month or two just before it is due to be released.
I have suggested before that the process is better spread across the year by keeping notes so that the actual preparation is easier.
Another way I work on an annual report throughout the year is to copy chunks of text into an annual report document as well. This is content worked on during the year for a specific topic or use – for example, descriptions of a new service or product launched during the reporting year.
When it comes to writing about those topics in the annual report, I can pull out the existing, correct content and adjust it to need. It is much quicker than reinventing the wheel with new text or wasting time searching for that text “I know I wrote back then”.
Although a style guide often includes sections of useful text to be reused, it doesn’t always include text about specific events or external factors.
Can you imagine how organised you will feel and look when you pull out a page of pre-prepared text when you start writing your annual report content?
Wrongs meanings can eclipse the message
A clear and simple message will always bring better results than a complicated or confusing message. However, even if your message is clearly written, one misused word can cloud the message and make it hard to understand or sometimes give the opposite meaning to your intention.
Make sure you know the meanings of eclipse, ellipse and ellipsis as you can eclipse your message by mixing them up!
ellipse: [noun] an oval shape
My daughter calls an ellipse a squashed circle!
ellipsis: [noun] a set of 3 dots to signify missing words
As a sole trader, Sally keeps all the profits… and accepts all the risks.
eclipse: [noun] loss of light or splendour, generally due to something coming between the light source and the eye. Common use is mostly about the sun or moon but it can be used for other situations
Huddled in a corner, they froze as the hunting man eclipse plunged them into darkness.
Note that ellipsis has more dots (as in “dot your i’s”) and means using 3 dots, and an eclipse includes a c for clouding over, and you’ll be using your words wisely!
Mock design suggestions
Using a mock design can help communications projects run efficiently because everyone can literally see where the project is heading.
Of course, its value depends on the project details so here are some examples of when a mock design is useful:
- my client AvSuper is going to use new software to produce their annual member statements so I produced a mock statement to show the software developers how we want the final statement to look. This means the software people don’t have to think of a design and I know how content is divided up so can write the content and have it technically and legally checked while the software is being developed.
- when having an interactive table prepared for another client, I used a mock design to plan the necessary fields with the client and then gave the refined mock to the tech team so they could easily see what was required and give a look consistent with my client’s style
- my designer prepared a mock window design to show the look and feel her client was after so that the sign writing team had a model to work from. They adjusted the design a little, using their expertise and knowledge of window design, but produced a shop front the clients were happy with without the need for lengthy discussions or costly errors
- I went to a meeting with a client to discuss updating their website. I took some mock designs with me (based on my knowledge of their style and general communications website concepts) which made it much easier to discuss possible improvements with the client who had limited website knowledge. For instance, one mock showed drop down menus to two levels so I didn’t have to explain that terminology but could show it in their colours.
Has a design mock helped in any specific projects you’ve done? Or maybe now you wish you’d had a design mock for a project? Share your stories and help make projects easier to manage.
Using mocks in projects
Having a mock design can make it much easier to plan content and other elements of a project
Getting a designer to prepare a visual mock early in a communications project will cost money of course, but it can often be well worth the expense. I am lucky in working with a designer who quickly grasps my intentions so can produce lovely mocks relatively easily. The mocks then form a basis for developing the main project, which often does not even involve my designer. From recent projects, having a mock prepared early in the process has meant:
- you can put various ideas in one place so details aren’t forgotten or overlooked
- everyone involved can see what is being discussed. Otherwise, everyone assumes they are imagining the same thing but could actually have some very different ideas of what is being developed.
- when giving the brief to a supplier, it is easy to ensure they understand how the final version should look and to specify key details. This obviously doesn’t apply to a design-based project but is very helpful for software or construction projects
- for non-designer suppliers, you can get a much better result if you show them what it is to look like – they can copy the design and save time
- you can be working on the content and other refinements while the underlying structure is being developed. For example, while the technical people are building the software, I can be working on the content of the user screens as I know where text will go (e.g. a heading and two short sections or one long section)
Before you start a new project and rely on written descriptions and your own rough sketches, think about the potential value of having a mock designed for your planning and briefing processes. Are you a visual person? If so, having a mock to work from is probably much easier for you. If you’re not quite so visual, don’t underestimate how powerful a visual can be for many people and how it can aid communication. Can you remember times when a mock made a project flow better than expected?
* Images courtesy of 123RF
Take counsel from the council
In business, you may well have to deal with your local council for registrations, permits and various services.
Yet are you sure of the spelling of council? Some spelling mistakes will be corrected by a spell check but sometimes it will lead you to writing counsel instead which will totally change the meaning of your sentence – make it completely meaningless.
council: [noun] an administrative or planning body or committee
The local council is responsible for assigning industrial and business zones in our area.
counsel: [verb] to discuss and debate, advise, talk over; a person’s views or intention
A business coach or mentor can counsel you about your priorities and objectives.
To remember which is which, think of the self involved in counsel.
Word Constructions slightly offline
For the next 10 days or so, we will be in Canberra meeting with clients. I have scheduled some blog posts for you to read while I am away, but please be patient as it may take me a while to reply to any comments or emails – I will be online at times, just not as regularly as usual.
I would love to know what you want to learn about (comms wise) so let me know in the comments below and I’ll get writing when I’m back!
Use your words wisely,
Tash
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