Blog - Page 15 of 17 - Judy Gregory Writer

Gaining audience forgivement

What's the best way to ask audiences to forgive an error Say sorry and admit the error, of course!Last week I commented on how I had become a non-financial member of a professional association, because the association made it difficult for me to re-join I hadn't received a renewal invoice, and was given the impression (via email) that I needed to log onto the association's website and access the invoice myself It seemed as though the association expected me to take some effort to renew my...

Making things simple for audiences

Communicators are usually interested in motivating audiences to do something We want people to buy our products, use our services, read our copy, and believe our claimsTo motivate audiences, communicators often work hard to make the proposed action as simple as possible We construct messages and processes that make it easy to buy our products or sign up for our services The more work we make our audiences do, the less likely they are to take the action we're afterThat's probably why I'm now a...

Pictograph confusion

This week I used my credit card to pay for a parking meter It seemed like a straightforward enough process - follow the prompts on the screen, insert the credit card at the right moment, and it should be done Yet somehow, I managed to put my credit card in upside-down three times It wasn't until the machine cancelled my payment and I had to start again from Step 1 that I realised the mistake I was makingHere's the machine I was using:I could see by the shape of the machine that the strip on my...

More mangled modifiers

Yesterday I received a letter that made me laugh out loud It was a fundraising letter, so that probably wasn't the reaction that the author was after But the first sentence created a wonderful image for me Here's the sentence:When I was told I might have leukaemia in 2008 I was shatteredThe image I got was of Mark (the case study in the letter) sitting in a doctor's office some time in 2006 (or around then) being told that, in 2008, he might have leukaemia It's like looking into the futureIt's...

Mangled modifiers

I've been focusing a bit on modifiers recently - those bits of sentences that add extra detail or explanation I'm amazed at how often they're put in a spot that's awkward or confusingTake this sentence - which I heard on an ABC news report last week:'There had been very little awareness for a flood in the community'I'm pretty sure that they intended for the community to have the awareness, rather than the community to have the flood This means that the sentence would have been better written...

Coping with unfamiliar settings

An unfamiliar environment is almost guaranteed to bring my facade of confidence unstuck It doesn't need to be a difficult or stressful situation - just something that I'm not familiar with It's all about lacking the 'script' for how I'm meant to behave in that environment And my reaction seems to be influenced greatly by interactions with staff and the surrounding signageA few weeks ago, I ended up buying lunch for my children at Hungry Jack's Hardly what you'd call a difficult environment, but...

Pesky possessives part 2

I didn't expect to find more to say about the possessive apostrophe in Mothers' Day But then I received an email from Grammar Girl, letting me know that I should write Mother's Day - it's singular possessive because the day is about families honouring their individual mothers, rather than being a plural possessive honouring of all mothersI'm still not completely convinced I looked up that source of trustworthy information, Wikipedia, and learned that Mother's Day was trademarked by Anna Jarvis...

Signs intended to calm disgruntled customers

Is it possible for organisations to diffuse customer frustration using signs The ultimate message of the signs is: Please, don't get frustrated with us; this is the way our system works, and we're not going to change it for youI've come across two examples of these signs recently, and I felt that one was much more successful than the other In fact, the second only increased my frustrationHere's the one that I likedI know that my poorly-taken pic isn't easy to read It's a sign in a cafe and,...

Pesky possessives

That day for mothers is fast approaching, and with it comes a possessive apostrophe question Should you wish your mother:Happy Mothers Day,Happy Mother's Day, orHappy Mothers' DayThe widespread consensus appears to be for Mother's Day That's what you'll find on cards, in ads, and on most of the signage in shops That makes it a day for motherMind you, last week I read about a restaurant chain that's offering a special Mother's Day breakfast, with a free kids banquet Maybe it doesn't make sense...