21 eye-grabbing headlines (for better or...

I don’t like to admit this, but I’m terrible at writing headlines. It’s the pressure. A headline not only has to summarize the article, it also has to grab the reader’s attention and lure him or her into the story. While recently reviewing articles on how to write better headlines, I stumbled upon several lists of funny, outlandish and ridiculous headlines. I found them particularly inspirational. Here are a few of my favorites: County to pay $250,000 to advertise lack of funds Volunteers search for old Civil War planes Meeting on open meetings is closed Ten...

4 steps to help you conquer any editing ...

Professional editors are often made painfully aware that not all writers are created equal. Some of the content we are asked to edit may require a complete rewrite. Other pieces of writing may need only a single change. Because it can be tough to edit the work of writers with varying degrees of skill, I’ve created a process that helps me edit on different levels. Editing to improve the structure of an article or press release is different from editing for style and usage. Here’s a four-step method to help you “divide and conquer” any editing task. 1. Read...

3 more examples of bad email manners

Several weeks ago, I wrote a blog post on bad email manners. It described four egregiously rude email tactics and asked PR Daily readers to share their own examples. Here are some of those responses: The fake forward “Lately I’ve been receiving emails disguised as forwarded messages (from PR publications no less). It’s a weak attempt to make it look like someone is forwarding you information when in reality it’s still an e-blast.” The forward with no explanation “The email blunder/bad manners that drives me crazy is forwarded emails with no...

What your writing style says about your ...

What does your writing style reveal about your personality? How about your client’s personality? Find out with IBM’s Watson Personality Insights Service. Input any text — a set of tweets, an email, a blog post, an article — and Watson will analyze the characteristics of the person who wrote it. Try it. Watson, the cognitive computer system that can help diagnose disease, generate recipes, and win at Jeopardy — is being put to use to “help businesses better understand their clients and improve customer satisfaction by anticipating customer needs and...

31 ways to complicate your writing

Want to confuse your readers or have them stumble over unfamiliar and complex terms? If you don’t want them to understand a word of your message, try using the phrases in the right column. After all, why choose simple words when complex words can make you sound smarter? (Forgive the sarcasm, but years spent editing articles written by attorneys, whose writing is purposefully vague, and physicians, whose writing is full of jargon, has made me cross.) Instead of: Use:  after or later  subsequently  arms  upper...

4 examples of bad email manners

Whether it’s the neighbor who mows the lawn at 7 a.m. on a Saturday or the woman who cuts in front of you in the elementary school drop-off line, bad manners are everywhere. The online world is no exception. Last year, I wrote a post about social media etiquette, matching social media errors to Jane Austen characters. As a follow up, here are a few email faux pas. Communicators with plenty of corporate experience have likely experienced these and cringed accordingly. 1. Solicitation emails with huge attachments. In my day job, I often receive calls from publishers asking...

41 alternatives to the word “cool&...

Now that I’ve started paying attention to it, it’s appalling how many times I use the word “cool.” I don’t use it in any formal, written communication, but I do most assuredly use it too often in conversation and and in text messages. We’re all writers here, so let’s see if we can’t come up with a few alternatives to the word “cool.” (“Cool” as an adjective meaning good or excellent: “That Tesla is cool.”) Here are a few to get started, though not all of these will apply in every...

29 words that look misspelled

Writers and editors often find it difficult to take off their editing hats when they leave work. It seems that grammar, spelling and punctuation errors are everywhere, and we can’t help but notice them. It’s a gift and a curse. I was recently reading an article with the word pancreas in it. And I just knew pancreas was spelled wrong, but it wasn’t. Pancreas is spelled pancreas. Here are 28 other words that look misspelled but...