Clear Communication Archives - Page 2 of 9

Text over faces = graffiti

Anyone who works in any aspect of communication knows that words and pictures work well together But working well together is not the same as working well on top of each other Why would the designer of the Brisbane Writers Festival program graffiti over the faces of the presenters The result is unrecognisable faces and illegible copy I'm left with a sense that the people in these images are somehow being silenced by their own words These people are authors who are coming to Brisbane to talk...

When informality breaks convention

We live in informal times when many of the conventions of the written form are breaking away Emails are more likely to start with 'Hi' than 'Dear' And the sign-off 'Cheers' is now more common than 'Regards' I quite like a chatty, informal email For me, email sits in the space between a formal letter and a phone conversation But what about a printed letter And particularly, what about a printed letter or notification from a bank I received a notification from ANZ last week, attached to...

Sweat the small stuff by all means, but don’t lose sight of the big picture

The latest issue of Offpress (the newsletter produced by the Society of Editors (Qld)) includes an article on ‘The false precision of fetish editing’ by John E McIntyre It was originally published in McIntyre’s regular column for The Baltimore Sun McIntyre makes a point that is easy to miss in the detailed work of editing: ‘… there is the problem when copy editors fetishize minor details; the big errors can be overlooked’ It’s an easy trap to fall into: as editors, we...

The trouble with bills: when poor understanding defeats good intention

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the difficulties I was experiencing with billing systems and invoices as I learned to navigate a new industry At the time, I had paid some suppliers twice but missed payments to others Today I’ve encountered something similar – once again linked to invoicing, and once again linked to clear communication I encountered a system that might work well if my full-time job was to process and understand bills But paying bills is a tiny part of my work – and one...

Page design to encourage correct bill payment

I've been noticing lately that I make a lot of mistakes when paying bills Silly things mostly - like paying a page subtotal instead of the bill total, or paying the late payment fee when I didn't need to Last week I managed to pay just the GST amount instead of the full bill Mistakes like these are partly caused by busyness and a lack of focus But they're also a reflection of legibility problems If a bill is difficult to read quickly, then it will be difficult to follow and difficult to pay...

The premise of Background Briefing: Fibre to the premises is unlikely

I enjoyed the Background Briefing report this morning on the history and status of the NBN (ABC Radio National) But, no matter how many times I shouted at the radio, the presenter and his various interviewees (including people in senior positions at NBN Co) continued to discuss issues around connecting fibre/copper to the 'premise' So, at the risk of being irritating with my repetition, here's the relevant definition: Premise: a previous statement from which another is inferred; an...

Simplifying ASKO’s complex instructions

This week I've had the great joy of learning to use new kitchen appliances (I’ve waited a long time for this new kitchen) Mixed with the pleasure of having appliances that are new and clean comes the challenge of re-learning things that are almost automatic I've spent a week referring to manuals as I try to understand the simplest things At the moment, I can't imagine that I'll ever remember how to set the timer or choose the right cooking program Instruction manuals have a bad reputation:...

Is PR really dead?

I’ve recently been reading a book called ‘Trust me, PR is dead’ by Robert Phillips, which I bought on the basis of its title at the Hay Festival earlier this year (and if you think that perhaps I included that phrase simply to gloat about being at Hay, you’d be right) Phillips is a former CEO of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) division of Edelman, one of the world’s largest PR agencies He ‘saw the light’, realised that PR was dying, resigned from Edelman, and...

Short messages for fast times

I’ve recently finished Roy Peter Clark’s book ‘How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times’ It’s full of practical advice on ways to write compelling messages with few words Clark provides tools and practical exercises to help writers develop their short writing skills He encourages us to examine how successful short writing works, name and practise its strategies, then adapt the strategies for our own purpose and voice I appreciated the way that Clark recognises the history of...