It probably comes under the law of unintended consequences, but apparently Google allows people to think they’re cleverer than they are. This is because someone believes they know the answer to something; but they don’t. They know they can look up the answer – and confuse that with thinking they’re smart. There’s a big difference. … Continue reading A reminder re ChatGPT…you don’t hire a hammer, you hire a carpenter
Category Archives: Secret Sauce
We have seven words to propose an idea according to Andrew O’Keefe of Hardwired Humans. 7±2 words is about two seconds – which is our brain’s working memory with information says the Sydney based people-strategies- design author and consultant. Our human instinct when we propose an idea, delegate a task or make a request is … Continue reading Hardwired humans…first seven words
Knowing the framework around which you’re going to build a house, or a website, make construction so much easier. The alternative is to start building, see what happens…and then have to change it all completely. Getting that framework right is the difficult bit. But once you have it, you’re filling in the gaps. For a … Continue reading The five-vital-pieces framework for website copy
We’re a self-interested species, and we’re driven by story. As much as we might care about others, it’s our own now and future which more concerns us. The lens with which we view any advertisement or offer is naturally biased towards what we see is in it for us. What might be non-interest today could … Continue reading Why you should make your story appealing, succinct and problem-solving
A good story is obvious…once you see it The best stories appear effortless. Whether it is someone spinning a yarn, telling you in less than 10 seconds why you should be interested in what they’re selling, or the first thing read on a website, a good story captivates us. As Lisa Cron outlines in her … Continue reading A good story is obvious…once you see or hear it
Have a look at the pix of a billboard on Wellington’s Adelaide Road. Now, I walk past this most mornings, and have the comparative luxury of enough time to figure out what it is trying to say. It took me a couple of goes, and a bit of time to do so. But pity the … Continue reading Petrol saving ad, too clever by half
Inspired, or rather uninspired by the use of the world ‘solution’ in a brand name or tagline, the thought came around what other words should be given the big miss. Without too much trouble, superior, excellence, committed, unique.There’s two good reasons to steer well clear of such terms. They mean nothing – and, in actual … Continue reading ‘Solution’ is not the solution – even if it sounds like it should be
If we’re being persuasive with our messages, we must make it easy for our readers. One of the keys to this is making your idea, or whatever it is that you’re selling, easy to picture. No matter how abstract your concept, unless someone can see it concretely in their mind’s eye, you’ll never get them … Continue reading A picture (in the mind) is worth much more than a thousand words
Show me someone who knows it all – and I’ll get them to run for god. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your point of view) no one knows everything. No writer, no matter how intelligent, can know the ins and outs of a particular industry or sector. No business person, in spite of a depth … Continue reading Collaborative message making means you can make 1 + 1 = 3
A recent Quartz article compares The Economist magazine’s style book for writing to Bloomberg’s. Across a lot of differences – including one major one on how much you should ‘interfere’ (my term) with or edit a writer’s words – the style books both agree on one thing. That is, that George Orwell’s six timeless rules … Continue reading Orwell’s right…but persuasive messages take more than just good writing