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Talking shift

Hot off the press: our thoughts on what's happening in the world of brand language and business writing. Warning: may contain the occasional rant.

Tone of voice

Accessibility. Inclusivity. Global readability. Cisco’s behind it all.

We talk to the Managing Editor of Cisco’s Global Employee Communications, about accessibility, inclusivity, and global readability—from a language perspective.

Writing, Brand & marketing

Writing tips

Brainstorming is broken. Here’s how we fix it.

Pass the shovel. We'll dig brainstorming's grave and then show you a better way to run team thinking.

Consulting, Brand & marketing

Tone of voice

Final moment of truth: will your pack copy seal the deal or break your brand?

Hear how language is key for brands to get their products into customer baskets.

Writing, Brand & marketing

Culture

The next chapter at The Writer: Charli Nordone appointed as CEO

We sat down with Charli to ask what advice she has for brands, now and in the future. And a little on what she hopes her future might hold.

Consulting, Customer experience

Writing tips

Get what you want: start planning reports with reason

Here's a secret: report writing's easy. We share three steps to write reports that get you what you want.

Consulting, Learning & development

Diversity and Inclusion

How Mindful Language is Boosting HSBC's Bottom Line

Hear how HSBC are creating a more mindful workplace culture. Learn how to put mindful language into practice at work.

Training, HR & internal comms, Learning & development

Writing tips

Captivate with chemistry: three tricks for irresistible storytelling

The psychology of storytelling

Brand & marketing

Writing tips

Artificial intelligence: Human alchemy

Generative AI: without a human hand, heart and mind, it’s mute . Artificial intelligence is best paired with human intelligence, creativity, curiosity and craft.   When it comes to writing, it needs us.

Writing, Brand & marketing

Naming

To Name Or Not To Name?

Naming things is fun. It’s a science and an art all at once. And we love helping our clients name all sorts of things: products, processes, services, you name it (or rather, we do).

Naming, Brand & marketing

Writing tips

Tackling tricky messages: the good way to give bad news

Companies need to communicate bad news all the time, so it’s surprising they often still get it wrong. Learn the science behind delivering difficult messages.

Writing tips

You get what you give: the basics of using AI language tools

When it comes to AI models like Chat-GPT and its language-learning brethren, we’ve found one thing to be strikingly clear: you get what you give. Which means that prompt design – or what you say to Large Language Models

Diversity and Inclusion

A dose of our own medicine: lessons from our D.E.I. audit

We talk about the language of inclusivity for a living. Time to walk the walk. This year, we audited The Writer's website to see how it measured up to our own stringent standards for DEI.

Writing tips

How to take feedback (and like it)

We’ll let you into a grubby secret: this blog isn’t the work of one writer. No solitary genius sits down to hammer out our listicles. Even this post is a collaboration.

User Experience

Too little too late: why your UX isn’t delivering

Devices with ten tabs open. Inboxes spammed with abandoned checkout emails. Life admin lists with tasks outstanding. Sound familiar? We’d bet words are 50% to blame.

Writing tips

The one time we’ll let you use jargon

Jargon. You know we hate the stuff. Linguists prefer the term ‘occupational dialect’. And depending on the context, it may actually be useful. Let’s see what we mean.

Writing tips

The poets of packaging: three copywriting tips from lyricists

Next time you sit down to write some copy, tell yourself: ‘I am a poet of packaging’. And take three lessons from masters of verse.

Sustainability

Effect or emergency? How you talk about environmental matters, matters

The way we talk about the planet has changed. The language we use today mostly falls into two camps. And yours reveals your view.

Naming

What do pancakes and naming have to do with one another? Dig in and find out.

What do pancakes and naming have to do with one another? Dig in and find out.

Brand & marketing

Sustainability

Be a greenhouse brand: transparent and environmentally friendly

Green hushing could cause companies more harm than good. 82% of shoppers want a brand’s values to align with their own. And they vote with their wallets. Three out of four say they’ve ditched a brand over a matter of principle. It follows that, if you’ve got principles, you should voice them.

Writing, Brand & marketing, Customer experience

Sustainability

Carbon copy: what writers can learn from the language of climate emergency

In November 2022, the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt will host COP27. On the agenda? Getting past negotiations and taking action. No doubt participants (and spectators) remember how COP26 stalled and overran as governments picked apart the difference between phasing out and phasing down.

Consulting, Brand & marketing