Quit hiding your meaning!
Don’t make it hard for your readers to understand your meaning. Speak directly to your readers instead of hiding your meaning with nouns, passive verbs, and indirect references. A letter quoted by Joseph M. Williams’ Style: Toward Clarity and Grace illustrates failures you can find in financial writing. His solution can also help financial writers. […]
Mind maps: can they win buy-in for your writing?
“Do you ever circulate mind maps for buy in from executives at firm that you are writing for? For example, chief investment officer or marketing executives?” This question arose during my latest investment commentary webinar. I am a big fan of using mind maps in the writing process. Most people know mind mapping as a […]
Print newsletter vs. e-newsletter for financial marketers
Should you send a print newsletter or an e-newsletter? I’m asking this question because I just added a 28-page paper newsletter to my “to read” pile. This newsletter wouldn’t have commanded my attention if it had come via email. While newsletters printed on paper and sent via the postal service are becoming dinosaurs, you may […]
Why experts love bad writing
Many financial marketers and writers complain to me about investment and wealth management experts who love bad writing. Well, maybe they don’t love bad writing, but they insist on jargon-laden, wordy prose, even when offered better alternatives. I’ve tried to provide ammunition for talking experts out of bad writing, in posts like “Seven Ways to […]
3 ways writers drive investment professionals crazy
Investment professionals play an essential role as subject-matter experts. As writers, we help them to share their expertise. But sometimes we get on their nerves and waste their time. If you’re a writer, please try to avoid these three ways writers drive investment professionals crazy. 1. Don’t respect the investment professional’s time Investment professionals are […]