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As well as being a business copywriter with Wordsworks, I’ve been a journalist for over 12 years now (yikes!) And if there’s one thing that’s guaranteed to irritate a journalist (all of them, not just grumpy old men like me, honest), it’s bad quotes. I’ve seen so many press releases where quotes are used as an excuse to reproduce a sentence or two of marketing spiel or some bland self-congratulatory nonsense. Keep it snappy and make it sound like a quote.

Instead of saying: “It’s evidence that the integrated, holistic partnership approach implemented by John Smith Ltd in delivering dynamic sustainable engineering solutions to a range of clients across multiple industry sectors is continuing to reap rewards for the company.” Which a) isn’t a quote, unless the speaker is an android and b) is dripping with meaningless management jargon. Keep it brief, to the point and above all, quotable: “It’s a big boost. It was hard work and there were more than a few late nights involved, but the whole team worked very hard to secure the new contract.”

Similarly, why bother with something like, “We’d like to welcome Joe Bloggs to the team. He’s a lovely man and we’re all looking forward to working with him.” It’s hardly going to set any news editors or readers alight with excitement. Always try and make sure that your quote actually adds something to the story, or don’t use one at all.

This entry is taken from our monthly WriteWords newsletter. Each month, WriteWords contains a top secret tip that you can use to improve your writing. You can sign up here.

photo credit: Timothy Lloyd 

I had an interesting discussion recently with a lawyer I was writing an article for. It illustrates one of the key lessons of good writing that all of us, not just lawyers, can learn from.

He’d asked Wordsworks to help write an article a general business magazine. It was about current sentiment in the corporate finance market. In the notes the lawyer gave me and in our conversations, he insisted on using complex terminology and industry jargon.

I suggested that it would make more sense, given the audience, to ditch the jargon and instead explain the issues in simple, easy-to-understand language.  He responded that, “I have to use jargon to show people I know what I’m talking about.”

This shows a common but dangerous confusion about the purpose of business writing. You’re unlikely to impress your readers (often potential clients) by using jargon and terminology that they may not understand.  You are in effect saying, look how well I understand my business. But what is more relevant to your readers, is how much you understand their business. And that means using clear, simple language; language that shows that not only do you understand the issues well enough to explain them in plain English, but more importantly, that you understand how those issues relate to their business and the challenges they face.

This entry is taken from our monthly WriteWords newsletter. Each month, WriteWords contains a top secret tip that you can use to improve your writing. You can sign up here.