This post is part of a series I started after reading “Notice, Collect, Share” by Russell Davies. I’m more inspired than ever to get back into the habit of…noticing, collecting and sharing. As part of that return to habit I’m going to try and find five things that interest me every week, and share them here on my blog. 5 things per week, for 20 weeks, equals 100 Interesting things. Maybe one of these things will inspire you. Maybe one of them will inspire me. We’ll all learn something along the way.
#21 How To Write More Polished At Work I’m obsessed with getting better at writing right now. This series of blog posts is part of it: I’m convinced that the regular practice of just writing more will help me get better.
Herng Lee’s 9 tips for how to write more polished are absolutely killer. Like, print-them-out-and-put-them-on-the-wall-next-to-your-desk killer.
They are:
Always start with a "tl;dr."
Use the "duh" test.
Pick the right moments to sound "dumb."
Avoid long sentences.
Leverage bullet points and tables.
Signpost. A lot.
Demand precision.
Lead with the beef.
Write with an audience in mind.
But you should just read his full post that goes into the details of each one of fhese.
#22 Everything I Learned About Copywriting I Learned From Angus Tucker*
Angus Tucker has had a lot of free time lately, and the world is the better for it. His essays on better writing have been great.
His latest, “Don’t reinvent the wheel. Tweak it.” is a reminder that there is already a lot of great writing out there. We don’t need to try and come up with our own. But that that we can adjust what’s out there to make it suit our needs better.
Even if you don’t follow his advice on writing better, you should at least follow his recommendation to watch the PS3 Kevin Butler ads.
*Well, not everything. But I’m at least trying to put what I learned from him into the title of this section.
#23 Ryan Broderick Is The Internet’s Last Great Journalist
His writing doesn’t just tell it like it is, it zips and sings.
And he isn’t afraid to dig deep into the esoteric and filter slop to tell us what’s happening and why.
Read his newsletter Garbage Day to get a slice of what great looks like.
Runner up for the title of Internet’s Last Great Journalist is Max Read, who offers an incredible explanation for the state of the modern social web: “The Zynternet,” as he calls it.
#24 Barbara Minto and The Pyramid Principle
I spend a lot of time thinking about presentation decks: A good deck has the ability to transform mediocre thinking and work into great, sellable work. A bad deck can torpedo even the best ideas.
One of the easiest ways to improve your presentations (and thinking and work) is with structure, and a super easy structure to follow is The Pyramid Principle.
Start with the answer first.
Group and summarize your supporting arguments.
Logically order your supporting ideas.
It sounds super simple. And it is (though there is a little bit more to it than that, including the concept of Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive and The Rule of Three).I’ve actually used this structure in a few decks recently and it’s been pretty effective.
”The pyramid is a tool to help you find out what you think,” she says. “The great value of the technique is that it forces you to pull out of your head information that you weren’t aware was there, and then helps you to develop and shape it until the thinking is crystal clear. Until you do that, you can’t make good decisions on slides or video.“
#25 Dan Nelken thinks you’re a ding dong.
Or at least he thinks your inner critic is a ding-dong, and he wants you to get better at writing.
Like Angus Tucker above, I’ve really been enjoying Dan’s posts on LinkedIn. He’s been breaking down copywriting concepts, showing examples, and just pushing people to push their craft.
*Once again, I’m trying to practice what I learn here with the headline of this section. I probably still need to workshop my technique a bit. Dan - if you read this let’s get a coffee or a beer in Vancouver sometime.
This week’s photo is again taken from NASA”s photo of the day: The Dragons of Ara are a stellar gas structure almost 4,000 light years away.
