Dragon slaying
The art of clear communication.
Befuddled, Bewildered and Bemused are three pesky word dragons that love nothing more than creating havoc with language. They leave their marks all over the place, especially in the current digital era of no word limits and reams of content being published constantly. They’re having the time of their lives with so many words to mess up.
They fill legal contracts with dense paragraphs chock-full of unnecessary jargon. They like to confuse people looking for clear information online with obscure vocabulary and bland corporate clichés.
They fill sales copy with hot air, creating absolute drivel that leaves readers disoriented and uncertain about what to do next.
One of their favourite places to lurk is in marketing meetings, where they like to muddle messages and leave people feeling even more confounded than before the meeting began.
I love slaying these dragons
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
Clear and concise communication is something I’m passionate about because, without it, you’re missing a brilliant opportunity to connect with your customers.
Also - and this is key - I don’t think clear communication is difficult to achieve. It’s about asking tough questions, keeping copy short and to the point, and caring deeply about the written word across all areas of your business.
Crucially, your team must understand what your key messages are. If everyone is on board internally, if the whole business understands where you’re going and what you stand for, it will be much easier to get this message across to your customers. And if your customers buy into your key messages, they’ll learn to trust you, and eventually, spend money with you.
How do we banish Befuddled, Bewildered and Bemused?
How do we stop fake news, clickbait and all the mumbo jumbo from taking over? How do we communicate clearly?
Harold Evans, in his book, Do I Make Myself Clear? has some brilliant advice on how to create clear communications. According to Evans, it’s all about investing in good writing. And like any other skill, “writing can be improved if you’re determined and put in the effort”. Here are some key points he makes in his book:
Avoid front-leading your sentences - get to the point as quickly as you can.
Try to use the active, not passive voice, as this adds urgency and typically uses fewer words.
Once you’ve written your copy, remove all superfluous words like “exactly”, “precisely” and “really”. Avoid superlatives. For example, a good writer shouldn’t say an event is shocking, but explain why it shocked people. Be specific. Add detail.
Beware of pleonasms - these are common phrases that are completely redundant. Some examples include: “Circular shape”, “collaborate together”, “descend down”, “new beginnings”, “sink down”, “uncommonly strange”, “merge together” and “anonymous stranger”.
Turn your negative sentences into positive ones by writing assertively. Aim to be engaging, meaningful and understandable at all times.
Think about rhythm - vary the form, the function and the style and avoid dry and mechanical language. Throw in a question now and then. American writer Joan Didion does this magnificently, using lots of short sentences mixed up with longer phrases to convey mood and meaning.
Beware of zombie nouns, verbose flesh-eaters and stale expressions. A zombie noun refers to words that began life as a verb but have since been turned into deadly sentence-ruining nouns, like “implementation”, “documentation” and “authorisation”, each of which were perfectly good verbs. Flesh-eaters are useless words that can murder a sentence, like “in the possession of” instead of “has” and “concerning the matter of” instead of “about”. Stale expressions are clichés like “blazing inferno”, “hammered out a deal”, “last-ditch effort”, “pool of blood” etc.
Care about meaning - investing in good writing is an important way to fight back against attacks on truth, or “Newspeak” as George Orwell called it in his book 1984. Fake news and propaganda are becoming more prevalent in our information-rich lives. We need to use the right words and show we care about their real meaning.
Bad writing can cost millions. The 2007 financial crash is a perfect example of how much damage bad writing can cause - the details of the subprime loan packages were so complicated and written in such impenetrable language that customers and regulators were duped into thinking they were viable products. Politicians and governments are also known to use bad communications to push forward harmful policies - just look at what’s going on in Ukraine.
What’s it about?
However, before you can even start to work on creating clear and compelling copy for your business, you have to know what you’re trying to say, and I think this is where many businesses stumble.
Companies often don’t know what makes them special or different. They’re not sure how to stand out against the competition. They can’t answer the simple question: So what are you all about?
Again, this might seem like a daunting task, but it’s easier than you think. There is always an angle. And knowing the answer will help you get to the point.
Business storytelling expert Steve Rawling has three top tips to help you create that killer elevator pitch, a concise summary of your work or a brilliant online profile:
CHANGE - We notice change; nobody pays attention to things that stay the same. So, does your business respond to an external threat/ change? Think about how you are initiating a change or creating an opportunity.
NEW INFORMATION - We are knowledge seekers, alert to new things in case they benefit or harm us. Does your business tell us something new? Have you spotted something that isn’t right, and can you help your customers by pointing this out?
PERSONAL BENEFIT - no matter how abstract or technical your work is, somewhere down the line, there’s a person in the real world who benefits. So, to explain what you do, you could say: “Ultimately, I’m trying to help X achieve Y.”
Who are your dragons?
In this article, I’ve used the dragon-slaying storytelling technique to explain my view on creating clear and concise communications. This is something you, too, can use in your business copy.
Thinking about the enemy in your industry and presenting your solution to this evil presence is an evocative way to get people excited about your work. You can bring your project or goals to life with an epic story about fighting dragons.
Have a think about the “dragon” in your world - what is the threat, and where is it coming from? How can you defend your city against this dragon? What’s the cost of staying put? Is your city, or the status quo, even worth defending, or is there a better place to go? What’s the cost of abandoning the city? If you’re going to attack, what’s the best line of attack? What are your chances of winning? What’s the reward, and is it worth the risk?
These are all simple questions that can be used in any business situation. Explaining it in this easy-to-grasp framework will bring people along with you. Because, as we all know, everyone loves a story. And everyone wants to know what happens at the end.
Book a free discovery call to find out how I can help you create clear, concise and compelling copy for your business. Let’s slay some dragons together.
