August 25, 2023 • 20 mins
Do you ever feel like your words get muddled up, lost in translation, or simply don't have the impact you'd hoped for?
Open Strategy Partners Carl, Felicity, Chris, jam, and Christine are here to guide you through one bit of the writing wilderness with the CLEAR editing code. Increase the impact and effectiveness of your writing with this code: Pinpoint generalizations, request specific evidence when describing benefits, and ensure a logical flow in your writing, and other handy tricks :-)
As we move along, we'll also share how our own team navigated the buzzword-infested waters of corporate communication, developing a tongue-in-cheek "BS Bingo" card to keep our language authentic and grounded. More importantly, we'll journey into the heart of a mindful, human-first work culture, highlighting how something as basic as clear communication can have profound effects on your work environment. Whatever your level of experience, you'll walk away from this episode with valuable insights to transform your writing process and create a more positive, engaging workspace. Clarity awaits!
Welcome to the Open Strategy Partners podcast, "Communicate, Connect, Grow!" At Open Strategy Partners, we specialize in strategic product communication. We help you communicate the value of what you do, connect you with the people who need to know about it, and grow.
To get in touch with us, follow what we’re doing, or learn about our Writer Enablement Workshops, you can:
- Go to our website
- Email us at hello@openstrategypartners.com
- Hit us up on Twitter
- Subscribe to our podcast wherever you listen to podcasts
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carl Richards (00:07):
Hi, i'm Carl from OSP and this is Communicate,
connect, grow, the OSP podcast.
On today's episode, we'retalking about being clear in
your writing, with the editingcode CLEAR, if you want to be a
more effective writer, a moretransparent editor, develop
clear strategic thinking orlearn from our network of expert
(00:29):
friends and colleagues.
That's what we're here for.
We divide our episodes acrossthree themes communicate,
connect and grow.
This is a Communicate episodeand we're talking about avoiding
vague descriptions of benefitswith our editorial code CLEAR.
The CLEAR editing code fallsinto the style and phrasing
(01:06):
phase of the editing process andit's about being specific.
In our documentation about thiscode, it says write clearly,
avoid vague descriptions ofbenefits, be as specific as
possible.
Felicity Brand (01:20):
Hi, i'm Felicity Brand.
I work as a communicationsconsultant at OSP.
I do a lot of writing and a lotof technical editing and I
really like talking aboutwriting and editing.
Chris Fenwick (01:32):
Hi, I'm Chris Fenwick.
I'm a copywriter and editor atOSP.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (01:38):
Hi, this is Jam.
I'm a partner at Open StrategyPartners.
Most of my day used to befilled with writing and editing
and figuring out how to do thebest kind of communications for
our clients.
Nowadays, my responsibilitiesare slowly but surely shifting
elsewhere and we have systemslike our writing and editing
(01:59):
codes and a fantastic team.
That all means that I can trustthat we're doing great work
helping our clients along theway, even if I am distracted by
other shiny things.
Christine Buehler (02:10):
I'm Christine Bueller.
I'm a communications consultantat OSP.
That means every day I work onwriting landing pages, blog
posts, emails and creatingcommunication strategy for our
various clients.
Felicity Brand (02:28):
The editing code .
Clear is about being asspecific as possible.
Clear is one of the five or sixC's of technical writing
effective writing.
You can Google the rest.
I think it's clarity clear,correct, concise, complete,
concrete, consistent.
I got six.
Suffice it to say clarity isone of the pillars of effective
(02:53):
writing.
Being clear in your writing isbest practice.
What we mean by that is beingas specific as possible.
Particularly when you'rewriting about technology, it can
be really easy to rely ongeneral statements like cutting
edge, best in class.
Being clear is about avoidingthose vague descriptions.
(03:16):
We really want to try and be asspecific as possible because
it's the quickest path tounderstanding for your reader.
Chris Fenwick (03:23):
I think CLEAR could also be called something
like specific.
Yes, it's true that you canwrite in a muddled, unclear
fashion, but often the source ofthat is that you're not being
concrete or specific enough inwhat you're talking about.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (03:39):
Clear is another one of those codes that
is deceptively simple.
Our internal documentation saysquote clear writing.
Avoid vague descriptions ofbenefits.
Be as specific as possible, endquote.
There is a bit of depth to that.
Christine Buehler (03:57):
The clear editing code just emphasizes
clear writing.
Avoid vagueness of pretty muchevery kind.
When it's possible to bespecific, be specific.
Carl Richards (04:12):
As an editor.
How would you use this writingcode in your workday?
Felicity Brand (04:16):
When I'm editing for clear, i'll look for
generalizations like efficient,streamlined, effective, and I'll
ask the author to drill down onthose and expand into specific
reasons about how the product orthe technology achieves the
benefits that the author isdescribing.
So we really look out for thosekind of extraneous or filler
(04:39):
words.
When I'm editing, i think mostoften with this code I'll be
asking what are we really tryingto say?
Let's get to the nuts and bolts, let's get down to brass tacks.
With clear, it's also a goodopportunity to use our other
editing code fact.
So you're maybe providingquantitative or qualitative
evidence to describe the benefit.
(05:00):
Statistics or a quote arealways going to carry weight,
demonstrate a benefit and helpyou be specific and clear.
Chris Fenwick (05:07):
I think it's easier to.
It's a thing that's easier tobe aware of when you're editing,
maybe, than when you're writing, Because often when you're
writing, you have in mind aswell what it is that you're
driving at, But editing you'rereading it a bit like a reader
as well, And then you'll noticeif you just think, okay, this
sounds vague, this soundswishy-washy.
(05:28):
It would be much better if theygave a concrete example here.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (05:32):
And that perfectly ties into a couple of
the other codes that we have.
So the code system itself.
Sometimes it's hard todelineate between concepts
because they're you know itmakes perfect sense.
It's.
A great example is clarity isdefinitely helped if you explain
what you mean.
If you use an abbreviation oran acronym, right, and we have
(05:53):
an actual code for that, whichis ACRO.
So I noticed that differentpeople have different you know
main groups of codes that theyuse.
Like people have selected theirown kind of dialect of the
thing.
But in the end, reading itthrough, do I follow?
Do I have a question that popsinto my mind?
If a question comes up in mymind when I'm editing something
(06:15):
that someone else has written,then I stop and I want to
investigate that.
Does it need explanation?
Does it need more facts?
Does it need a link tosomething?
You know that can often helpclarity And all the stuff that
we always talk about on here.
How many pronouns are you using?
Is there a logical flow?
Is there irrelevant informationfloating around at a post?
(06:36):
All of that contributes tocreating clear writing.
Christine Buehler (06:40):
I am definitely using the clear
editing code when I'm looking ata piece of writing.
I think it can really help.
if you are feeling confusedabout something, it could be
because you maybe don'tunderstand a technical turn of
phrase, or it might be becausethe writing is not clear and
(07:03):
there's good reason you don'tunderstand.
As an editor, i'm always goingthrough a piece, looking at
words and phrases and likeasking myself could this be more
specific?
Do I know what they'rereferring to?
Would the reader know whatthey're referring to?
Would it help to know more here?
Carl Richards (07:24):
In your draft editing as a writer.
Here's how you can explore thiscode.
Felicity Brand (07:28):
I think the clear code is really aided at
OSP because of our content brief.
So, to be clear, you need astrong brief to start with, so
one that's going to articulatethe reason you're writing, what
it's about and who it'stargeting.
The way you're going to beclear is to understand your
target audience, their painpoints and your key message.
(07:51):
And that's all coming from thebrief and that's going to drive
your ability to be clear.
When you're writing your content, you're really going to
empathize with your reader, putyourself in their shoes and
think deeply about theirchallenges, their day, what
they're trying to overcome, whatthey're trying to achieve.
(08:11):
And then you think about theproduct or technology that
you're writing about and youdescribe how its features
address those challenges.
So you're thinking how is thismaking someone's day better?
How's it making their jobeasier, how is it making a
process faster or cheaper?
That is really going to helpyou cut straight to the heart of
(08:34):
the message.
So don't be afraid to be toosimplistic.
You want to achieve clarity Andthere are ways to come back
later and add colour with wordchoice or maybe the visual
presentation, but really it'sgetting those words nice and
clear.
So you're kind of speakingdirectly to the heart of your
(08:54):
reader and they can understandyour message straightaway.
They don't have to work hard tounderstand it.
They can clearly see thebenefits of what you're writing
about and how it impacts oraffects them.
Chris Fenwick (09:07):
Yes, i think this is quite a difficult one to
deal with sometimes, though,because depending on the clients
that you're dealing with aswell, because, again, the demand
is for specificity, and ifyou're listing, they provide XY
solutions for young digitalbusinesses It's one thing just
(09:30):
to sort of say e-solutions, andanother It's perhaps more
transparent to sort of say thatthey will build web applications
or implement front end websitesand this sort of thing.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (09:43):
And would that be as opposed to digital
solutions or some vague termlike that?
Chris Fenwick (09:49):
Yeah, exactly, i think it's also kind of easy
when you're writing to slip intothings that sound good, maybe,
but which are not sufficientlyspecific.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (10:02):
When we are talking with clients of clients
to prepare case studies, forexample we're always looking to
collect evidence that theprojects went well, and we talk
a lot internally aboutquantitative versus qualitative
proofs, and a qualitative proofis the team was great to work
(10:24):
with.
We're doing so much better, welove this And it's great to have
a testimonial in there, and I'ma big believer in having the
humans really, really present.
The quantitative stuff can besuper helpful.
So here in our definition quoteavoid vague descriptions of
benefits.
I think in a case study it's waymore powerful to say increased
(10:47):
conversion rate by 7% andmonthly visitors from 50,000 to
100,000 or something like that.
That's a kind of a B2C case.
But numbers, numbers, numbers,engagement metrics or whatever,
rather than saying more peoplecame.
I mean, maybe that sounds alittle bit obvious.
The other side of this for meis learning from comedy writing
(11:12):
that the more specific you are,the funnier.
Something can be like notsaying blah, blah, blah tasted
like dishwashing detergent, butsaying oh, it was like having a
mouthful of tide in the US orhaving a mouthful of Spüli
whatever brand of something inGerman.
So I think that being clear andspecific, naming technologies,
(11:36):
really getting down to thedetails helps us be clear.
Christine Buehler (11:42):
Clarity is one of our main pillars at Open
Strategy Partners and it isreally something we try to make
sure we are emphasizing in allof our writing.
We are definitely aboutavoiding marketing hype,
hyperbole, exaggeration, justbecause there's a lot of that in
(12:04):
the marketing world And it'sone of the ways that we can
differ from other agencies.
I think we're just cognizantthat being specific is just
honestly, more helpful to theaudience.
They came here for specifics.
They didn't come here foranother best in class or any of
(12:27):
the other phrases that arethrown around in marketing,
especially because we work withtechnical clients who are often
inclined to be more specific andthat's what they want to hear,
so that's what we strive to givethem.
Carl Richards (12:43):
As a reader.
Here's why this editing codemight be really important.
Felicity Brand (12:47):
Waffles are delicious for breakfast, but not
when you're reading a technicalpiece.
No one wants waffle.
When I'm reading, my eyes willglaze over If I see blurb for
yet another app or product orAPI.
That is reimagining how I workor play.
Being able to find out thespecific details of how it's
going to improve my day is goingto help break through those
(13:10):
vague benefits and reallyconnect with me as a reader.
It shows that the authorunderstands me and my workflow
and my problem, And it placesthe author as a credible voice
which is more likely to increasetrust and therefore compel me
to act.
So it makes me feel comfortableand respected.
They've done the hard work tomake something easy for me to
(13:33):
understand by having a reallyclear message.
Jeffrey A. McGuir (13:36):
Interestingly if we think about the readers.
now we have a concept at OSPthat we call authentic
communication And we talk aboutusing empathy and clarity to
build trust, and the trustbuilding is to get to
conversions or sales or whatever.
(13:57):
And then empathy and clarityhave several different meanings.
operationally, very briefly,empathy can be choosing the
right language that an audienceknows how to deal with, or
interviewing a subject matterexpert to make sure that you're
getting exactly the rightdetails, and clarity Can mean
writing clearly, using a goodstructure on the page, and so on
(14:18):
.
i think there's this one otherexample, especially in
technology don't write thingsthat are true and don't be
afraid to admit Things that youcan't do.
if you're clear about acapability that you don't have,
that might be better than tryingto sell vapor, where sometimes
i think it's a fine line.
our job is to write the mostpositive, best things For
(14:39):
clients, but they have to betrue in terms of building trust
with someone.
if you're clear that and yousay we do a bnc really well and
we can help you here and wedon't do that some of our
competitors do, that might helpyou win someone's trust.
Chris Fenwick (14:53):
I think for readers it's about reducing
frustration with the text again.
I mean, i think it may be intwo ways.
Actually, that can be The casewhere you're reading something
and it does just seem vague andyou wonder well, this hasn't
told me anything at all.
In the other cases, youactually just can't really
understand the text at all.
If they're talking about, youknow, vague but using throwing
(15:15):
vague buzzwords around likesynergy or whatever.
I think there's kind of twoways.
There's ones where it's justlike the text itself seems just
totally like incomprehensible.
You can't get hold of anythingthere.
And there are others where it'sjust like what you sort of wish
you You can get hold of enough,but you want a concrete example
.
Christine Buehler (15:34):
The clear code is important to readers for
clarity.
Like i mentioned before,readers want to know the
specifics, and i think it isalso another Building block of
trust.
Like i said before with gram,the clear editing code is
another way to build trust withreaders, because they can see
(15:58):
that you know what you'retalking about, you're not trying
to just like sell them nonsense, and so they will be more
inclined to trust you more, tostay on the page longer, to be
more interested in your servicesor your product.
It's just another kind ofelemental building block of
(16:20):
trust between the reader and thewriter or the reader and the
company.
Carl Richards (16:40):
I hope you, dear listener, appreciate the clarity
of today's episode.
Next time you sit down to write, watch out for filler
adjectives and generalizations.
Try to get down to specifics tocreate a quick path to
understanding for your reader.
Share your examples orquestions with us via Twitter at
open underscore strategy, oremail hello at
(17:02):
openstrategypartnerscom.
Next time you're writing, bemindful of word choices that
contain references to time.
Oh, and speaking of time,yesterday I bought six watches.
You could say I have a lot oftime on my hands.
How do you use date in yourwriting?
(17:23):
Share your examples orquestions at open underscore
strategy, or email hello atopenstrategypartnerscom.
This was one of the edit codeswe use at OSP.
If you'd like to learn more inthe meantime, come on over to
openstrategypartnerscom, have alook on our writer enablement
workshop case study offering orget in touch to talk about your
(17:45):
strict communication needs.
Thanks to everyone whocontributed to this podcast All
the peas at OSP.
Thanks to our clients.
Who believes shout out?
to Patrick Gaumont for our highenergy maple syrup flavored
theme music and to Mike Snow foradditional horn arrangements
for listening and subscribingAbout our three themes.
(18:06):
On the podcast you'll heardifferent members of the OSP
team hosting episodes over time.
Communicate all thingscommunication, or how we tackle
writing, editing, word choices,formats, processes and more.
Connect in depth conversationswith interesting, smart people,
who they are, what they do andhow they approach their life and
(18:30):
work as communicators,technologists and leaders grow.
Cover approaches tounderstanding and expressing the
value of what you do, includingtools, tips and practical.
We also feel strongly aboutbuilding a mindful, positive,
human first culture at work.
That's bound to pop up fromtime to time to this podcast is
(18:52):
us figuring out communicationconnection thing together.
Subscribe now on YouTube Applepod, the podcast channel of your
choice.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (19:32):
In such an amazing coincidence, chris, one
of the very, very, very earlyI'm not I don't think it might
have been the firstpresentations that we did as a
company, Tracy and I presented asession called Words Matter
battling buzzword bingo withsmart content strategy and blah,
blah blah.
(19:52):
But buzzword bingo is somethingthat we really, really try to
avoid at OSP, and behind thescenes we have a BS bingo card.
I don't think you've seen ityet.
Hi, i'm Carl from OSP and this is Communicate,
connect, grow, the OSP podcast.
On today's episode, we'retalking about being clear in
your writing, with the editingcode CLEAR, if you want to be a
more effective writer, a moretransparent editor, develop
clear strategic thinking orlearn from our network of expert
(00:29):
friends and colleagues.
That's what we're here for.
We divide our episodes acrossthree themes communicate,
connect and grow.
This is a Communicate episodeand we're talking about avoiding
vague descriptions of benefitswith our editorial code CLEAR.
The CLEAR editing code fallsinto the style and phrasing
(01:06):
phase of the editing process andit's about being specific.
In our documentation about thiscode, it says write clearly,
avoid vague descriptions ofbenefits, be as specific as
possible.
Felicity Brand (01:20):
Hi, i'm Felicity Brand.
I work as a communicationsconsultant at OSP.
I do a lot of writing and a lotof technical editing and I
really like talking aboutwriting and editing.
Chris Fenwick (01:32):
Hi, I'm Chris Fenwick.
I'm a copywriter and editor atOSP.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (01:38):
Hi, this is Jam.
I'm a partner at Open StrategyPartners.
Most of my day used to befilled with writing and editing
and figuring out how to do thebest kind of communications for
our clients.
Nowadays, my responsibilitiesare slowly but surely shifting
elsewhere and we have systemslike our writing and editing
(01:59):
codes and a fantastic team.
That all means that I can trustthat we're doing great work
helping our clients along theway, even if I am distracted by
other shiny things.
Christine Buehler (02:10):
I'm Christine Bueller.
I'm a communications consultantat OSP.
That means every day I work onwriting landing pages, blog
posts, emails and creatingcommunication strategy for our
various clients.
Felicity Brand (02:28):
The editing code .
Clear is about being asspecific as possible.
Clear is one of the five or sixC's of technical writing
effective writing.
You can Google the rest.
I think it's clarity clear,correct, concise, complete,
concrete, consistent.
I got six.
Suffice it to say clarity isone of the pillars of effective
(02:53):
writing.
Being clear in your writing isbest practice.
What we mean by that is beingas specific as possible.
Particularly when you'rewriting about technology, it can
be really easy to rely ongeneral statements like cutting
edge, best in class.
Being clear is about avoidingthose vague descriptions.
(03:16):
We really want to try and be asspecific as possible because
it's the quickest path tounderstanding for your reader.
Chris Fenwick (03:23):
I think CLEAR could also be called something
like specific.
Yes, it's true that you canwrite in a muddled, unclear
fashion, but often the source ofthat is that you're not being
concrete or specific enough inwhat you're talking about.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (03:39):
Clear is another one of those codes that
is deceptively simple.
Our internal documentation saysquote clear writing.
Avoid vague descriptions ofbenefits.
Be as specific as possible, endquote.
There is a bit of depth to that.
Christine Buehler (03:57):
The clear editing code just emphasizes
clear writing.
Avoid vagueness of pretty muchevery kind.
When it's possible to bespecific, be specific.
Carl Richards (04:12):
As an editor.
How would you use this writingcode in your workday?
Felicity Brand (04:16):
When I'm editing for clear, i'll look for
generalizations like efficient,streamlined, effective, and I'll
ask the author to drill down onthose and expand into specific
reasons about how the product orthe technology achieves the
benefits that the author isdescribing.
So we really look out for thosekind of extraneous or filler
(04:39):
words.
When I'm editing, i think mostoften with this code I'll be
asking what are we really tryingto say?
Let's get to the nuts and bolts, let's get down to brass tacks.
With clear, it's also a goodopportunity to use our other
editing code fact.
So you're maybe providingquantitative or qualitative
evidence to describe the benefit.
(05:00):
Statistics or a quote arealways going to carry weight,
demonstrate a benefit and helpyou be specific and clear.
Chris Fenwick (05:07):
I think it's easier to.
It's a thing that's easier tobe aware of when you're editing,
maybe, than when you're writing, Because often when you're
writing, you have in mind aswell what it is that you're
driving at, But editing you'rereading it a bit like a reader
as well, And then you'll noticeif you just think, okay, this
sounds vague, this soundswishy-washy.
(05:28):
It would be much better if theygave a concrete example here.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (05:32):
And that perfectly ties into a couple of
the other codes that we have.
So the code system itself.
Sometimes it's hard todelineate between concepts
because they're you know itmakes perfect sense.
It's.
A great example is clarity isdefinitely helped if you explain
what you mean.
If you use an abbreviation oran acronym, right, and we have
(05:53):
an actual code for that, whichis ACRO.
So I noticed that differentpeople have different you know
main groups of codes that theyuse.
Like people have selected theirown kind of dialect of the
thing.
But in the end, reading itthrough, do I follow?
Do I have a question that popsinto my mind?
If a question comes up in mymind when I'm editing something
(06:15):
that someone else has written,then I stop and I want to
investigate that.
Does it need explanation?
Does it need more facts?
Does it need a link tosomething?
You know that can often helpclarity And all the stuff that
we always talk about on here.
How many pronouns are you using?
Is there a logical flow?
Is there irrelevant informationfloating around at a post?
(06:36):
All of that contributes tocreating clear writing.
Christine Buehler (06:40):
I am definitely using the clear
editing code when I'm looking ata piece of writing.
I think it can really help.
if you are feeling confusedabout something, it could be
because you maybe don'tunderstand a technical turn of
phrase, or it might be becausethe writing is not clear and
(07:03):
there's good reason you don'tunderstand.
As an editor, i'm always goingthrough a piece, looking at
words and phrases and likeasking myself could this be more
specific?
Do I know what they'rereferring to?
Would the reader know whatthey're referring to?
Would it help to know more here?
Carl Richards (07:24):
In your draft editing as a writer.
Here's how you can explore thiscode.
Felicity Brand (07:28):
I think the clear code is really aided at
OSP because of our content brief.
So, to be clear, you need astrong brief to start with, so
one that's going to articulatethe reason you're writing, what
it's about and who it'stargeting.
The way you're going to beclear is to understand your
target audience, their painpoints and your key message.
(07:51):
And that's all coming from thebrief and that's going to drive
your ability to be clear.
When you're writing your content, you're really going to
empathize with your reader, putyourself in their shoes and
think deeply about theirchallenges, their day, what
they're trying to overcome, whatthey're trying to achieve.
(08:11):
And then you think about theproduct or technology that
you're writing about and youdescribe how its features
address those challenges.
So you're thinking how is thismaking someone's day better?
How's it making their jobeasier, how is it making a
process faster or cheaper?
That is really going to helpyou cut straight to the heart of
(08:34):
the message.
So don't be afraid to be toosimplistic.
You want to achieve clarity Andthere are ways to come back
later and add colour with wordchoice or maybe the visual
presentation, but really it'sgetting those words nice and
clear.
So you're kind of speakingdirectly to the heart of your
(08:54):
reader and they can understandyour message straightaway.
They don't have to work hard tounderstand it.
They can clearly see thebenefits of what you're writing
about and how it impacts oraffects them.
Chris Fenwick (09:07):
Yes, i think this is quite a difficult one to
deal with sometimes, though,because depending on the clients
that you're dealing with aswell, because, again, the demand
is for specificity, and ifyou're listing, they provide XY
solutions for young digitalbusinesses It's one thing just
(09:30):
to sort of say e-solutions, andanother It's perhaps more
transparent to sort of say thatthey will build web applications
or implement front end websitesand this sort of thing.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (09:43):
And would that be as opposed to digital
solutions or some vague termlike that?
Chris Fenwick (09:49):
Yeah, exactly, i think it's also kind of easy
when you're writing to slip intothings that sound good, maybe,
but which are not sufficientlyspecific.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (10:02):
When we are talking with clients of clients
to prepare case studies, forexample we're always looking to
collect evidence that theprojects went well, and we talk
a lot internally aboutquantitative versus qualitative
proofs, and a qualitative proofis the team was great to work
(10:24):
with.
We're doing so much better, welove this And it's great to have
a testimonial in there, and I'ma big believer in having the
humans really, really present.
The quantitative stuff can besuper helpful.
So here in our definition quoteavoid vague descriptions of
benefits.
I think in a case study it's waymore powerful to say increased
(10:47):
conversion rate by 7% andmonthly visitors from 50,000 to
100,000 or something like that.
That's a kind of a B2C case.
But numbers, numbers, numbers,engagement metrics or whatever,
rather than saying more peoplecame.
I mean, maybe that sounds alittle bit obvious.
The other side of this for meis learning from comedy writing
(11:12):
that the more specific you are,the funnier.
Something can be like notsaying blah, blah, blah tasted
like dishwashing detergent, butsaying oh, it was like having a
mouthful of tide in the US orhaving a mouthful of Spüli
whatever brand of something inGerman.
So I think that being clear andspecific, naming technologies,
(11:36):
really getting down to thedetails helps us be clear.
Christine Buehler (11:42):
Clarity is one of our main pillars at Open
Strategy Partners and it isreally something we try to make
sure we are emphasizing in allof our writing.
We are definitely aboutavoiding marketing hype,
hyperbole, exaggeration, justbecause there's a lot of that in
(12:04):
the marketing world And it'sone of the ways that we can
differ from other agencies.
I think we're just cognizantthat being specific is just
honestly, more helpful to theaudience.
They came here for specifics.
They didn't come here foranother best in class or any of
(12:27):
the other phrases that arethrown around in marketing,
especially because we work withtechnical clients who are often
inclined to be more specific andthat's what they want to hear,
so that's what we strive to givethem.
Carl Richards (12:43):
As a reader.
Here's why this editing codemight be really important.
Felicity Brand (12:47):
Waffles are delicious for breakfast, but not
when you're reading a technicalpiece.
No one wants waffle.
When I'm reading, my eyes willglaze over If I see blurb for
yet another app or product orAPI.
That is reimagining how I workor play.
Being able to find out thespecific details of how it's
going to improve my day is goingto help break through those
(13:10):
vague benefits and reallyconnect with me as a reader.
It shows that the authorunderstands me and my workflow
and my problem, And it placesthe author as a credible voice
which is more likely to increasetrust and therefore compel me
to act.
So it makes me feel comfortableand respected.
They've done the hard work tomake something easy for me to
(13:33):
understand by having a reallyclear message.
Jeffrey A. McGuir (13:36):
Interestingly if we think about the readers.
now we have a concept at OSPthat we call authentic
communication And we talk aboutusing empathy and clarity to
build trust, and the trustbuilding is to get to
conversions or sales or whatever.
(13:57):
And then empathy and clarityhave several different meanings.
operationally, very briefly,empathy can be choosing the
right language that an audienceknows how to deal with, or
interviewing a subject matterexpert to make sure that you're
getting exactly the rightdetails, and clarity Can mean
writing clearly, using a goodstructure on the page, and so on
(14:18):
.
i think there's this one otherexample, especially in
technology don't write thingsthat are true and don't be
afraid to admit Things that youcan't do.
if you're clear about acapability that you don't have,
that might be better than tryingto sell vapor, where sometimes
i think it's a fine line.
our job is to write the mostpositive, best things For
(14:39):
clients, but they have to betrue in terms of building trust
with someone.
if you're clear that and yousay we do a bnc really well and
we can help you here and wedon't do that some of our
competitors do, that might helpyou win someone's trust.
Chris Fenwick (14:53):
I think for readers it's about reducing
frustration with the text again.
I mean, i think it may be intwo ways.
Actually, that can be The casewhere you're reading something
and it does just seem vague andyou wonder well, this hasn't
told me anything at all.
In the other cases, youactually just can't really
understand the text at all.
If they're talking about, youknow, vague but using throwing
(15:15):
vague buzzwords around likesynergy or whatever.
I think there's kind of twoways.
There's ones where it's justlike the text itself seems just
totally like incomprehensible.
You can't get hold of anythingthere.
And there are others where it'sjust like what you sort of wish
you You can get hold of enough,but you want a concrete example
.
Christine Buehler (15:34):
The clear code is important to readers for
clarity.
Like i mentioned before,readers want to know the
specifics, and i think it isalso another Building block of
trust.
Like i said before with gram,the clear editing code is
another way to build trust withreaders, because they can see
(15:58):
that you know what you'retalking about, you're not trying
to just like sell them nonsense, and so they will be more
inclined to trust you more, tostay on the page longer, to be
more interested in your servicesor your product.
It's just another kind ofelemental building block of
(16:20):
trust between the reader and thewriter or the reader and the
company.
Carl Richards (16:40):
I hope you, dear listener, appreciate the clarity
of today's episode.
Next time you sit down to write, watch out for filler
adjectives and generalizations.
Try to get down to specifics tocreate a quick path to
understanding for your reader.
Share your examples orquestions with us via Twitter at
open underscore strategy, oremail hello at
(17:02):
openstrategypartnerscom.
Next time you're writing, bemindful of word choices that
contain references to time.
Oh, and speaking of time,yesterday I bought six watches.
You could say I have a lot oftime on my hands.
How do you use date in yourwriting?
(17:23):
Share your examples orquestions at open underscore
strategy, or email hello atopenstrategypartnerscom.
This was one of the edit codeswe use at OSP.
If you'd like to learn more inthe meantime, come on over to
openstrategypartnerscom, have alook on our writer enablement
workshop case study offering orget in touch to talk about your
(17:45):
strict communication needs.
Thanks to everyone whocontributed to this podcast All
the peas at OSP.
Thanks to our clients.
Who believes shout out?
to Patrick Gaumont for our highenergy maple syrup flavored
theme music and to Mike Snow foradditional horn arrangements
for listening and subscribingAbout our three themes.
(18:06):
On the podcast you'll heardifferent members of the OSP
team hosting episodes over time.
Communicate all thingscommunication, or how we tackle
writing, editing, word choices,formats, processes and more.
Connect in depth conversationswith interesting, smart people,
who they are, what they do andhow they approach their life and
(18:30):
work as communicators,technologists and leaders grow.
Cover approaches tounderstanding and expressing the
value of what you do, includingtools, tips and practical.
We also feel strongly aboutbuilding a mindful, positive,
human first culture at work.
That's bound to pop up fromtime to time to this podcast is
(18:52):
us figuring out communicationconnection thing together.
Subscribe now on YouTube Applepod, the podcast channel of your
choice.
Jeffrey A. McGuire (19:32):
In such an amazing coincidence, chris, one
of the very, very, very earlyI'm not I don't think it might
have been the firstpresentations that we did as a
company, Tracy and I presented asession called Words Matter
battling buzzword bingo withsmart content strategy and blah,
blah blah.
(19:52):
But buzzword bingo is somethingthat we really, really try to
avoid at OSP, and behind thescenes we have a BS bingo card.
I don't think you've seen ityet.
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