Jargon in this case means terminology that is particular to your industry. So jargon is any kind of language that might not be understood by your reader.
But, to be honest, when I think of jargon I’m really thinking of something much worse: management speak. Things like:
going forward
deliverables
paradigm
eventualities
synergies
incentivise.
These are awful, evil words that you should only [...]
As a copywriter who specialises in web copy and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) I’m pleased to be able to report that my own website has been steadily climbing up the search results.
http://kendallcopywriting.co.uk is now
1st for “brighton copywriter”
3rd for “brighton copywriting”
6th for “web copy brighton”
and 10th out of 479,000 results for “freelance copywriter”.
Of course, the secret [...]
I was recently asked to contribute an article to Bizezia’s Better Business Focus magazine. I decided to adapt an earlier blog post - but ended up changing it beyond all recognition. So here’s my latest thoughts on why you might need my help:
Who Needs Copywriters? - A Quick Look at the Benefits Copywriters [...]
Editing is a crucial part of the writing process. But editing does not just mean removing words, or attempting to make a piece of writing shorter. You should look to remove unnecessary words. The part of editing that requires the most thought is deciding exactly what is necessary and what isn’t.
When writing, always keep in [...]
Have you got a story to tell?
I’m helping to create a new kind of news website. It’s called Nyouse.com and it aims to put you back in the centre of the news. There won’t be journalists or editors. There’s just you and me and everyone else. We are the people and we are the news.
If [...]
Autobiographies are fine for the famous, but for everyone else it’s probably best to cut yourself out of your copy. So if your copy begins anything remotely like:
“We at Jazzclapper Bargain Drains are the best drain supplier in the world. We offer three hundred kinds of cast-iron drain and we are renowned world-wide [...]
I stumbled with interest upon this article, which I hope is more evidence of a backlash against jargon and management-speak. Apparently, the chairman of the Local Government Association, Sir Simon Milton, is encouraging all employees to avoid “non-words” such as those on this list.
The offending words include: incentivising, coterminous, subsidiarity and synergies. It’s good to [...]
This recent article from the Guardian suggests that journalists should learn lessons from bloggers, and adapt.
While I agree with the author’s assertion that journalists should be less suspicious of bloggers and their work, I don’t agree that "there is no perfect example of journalists and bloggers working in harmony". Surely bloggers and journalists are [...]
Your copy might be correct, but is it boring?
It’s easy to get obsessed with marketing principles when writing copy - there are lots of rules to follow, and all kinds of advice to cloud your thinking. So it’s easy to forget that you also need to be interesting.
It’s worth re-reading your copy to make sure [...]
This isn’t really a catastrophe; the alliterative headline was irresistible.
Corporate communication is a difficult thing to get right. There are endless possible ways to say something and invariably many people choose the wrong way.
I’d like to show you a couple of examples that I noticed recently, and explain why they could be better. The following [...]