Create Confidence With Your Writing
Whether you are writing a magazine article, composing a press release, or editing the sales copy on your website, the end goal is always the same - to influence the thinking, and probably actions, of other human beings. To do that, your writing must instill confidence in a mind that is inclined to doubt you.Here are a few tips on keeping the reader on your side.Keep your word count under control. Keep it simple and don't say any more than necessary; when you write, limit your word count from the start. Never spend 1000 words covering ground that could have been covered in 200 words - the extra material looks exactly like the useless filler it is.Don't hedge. At all.
Sometimes a writer is worried about offending the reader, and so either avoids making direct statements or pads the statements with language designed to soften the blow. Don't hedge - be bold and direct, and let the reader be offended. You can't make everyone happy, and you'll look like a fool if you try.Be on the lookout for language - phrases like "taken as a whole" and words like "basically" - which doesn't contribute anything towards supporting a direct claim. Weed out the hedging and get back to simple noun-and-verb statements.Use active verb tense - avoid passive tense at all costs. Active verbs describe the subject committing an action and influencing its environment ("Jim drove his car"), while passive verb clauses dislocate the subject so that it becomes secondary to the predicate clause ("The car was driven by Jim").
Typically any verb clause in the "to be" family ("has been", "is being", etc.) is a passive clause.Don't use passive verbs; they express impersonal events rather than committed actions, and they create distance with the reader. They avoid a sense of personal accountability. Active verbs draw the reader closer and fix responsibility.Maintain an optimistic, positive tone. Politicians everywhere know that good news wins elections. Limit your use of negative statements as much as possible, and focus on the positive.
Give your reader a sense of hope rather than apathy.Even if circumstances require that you deliver bad news, do so with optimism: there are problems, but we are solving them. Don't deny or avoid obvious unpleasant truths - if your reader knows about them already, your avoidances will only damage your credibility - but keep control over your tone. Promoting a consistently optimistic image to your readers goes a long way towards generating confidence, or at least benefit of the doubt.Structure your writing carefully. Carefully plan out what you intend to write, and then follow the plan. Don't make it up as you go along.
Don't wander and don't be indirect - organize your message carefully, to say the most in the least words possible. Demonstrate that you are in control of your communications, and worthy of reader confidence..
Robert Warren (www.rswarren.com) is a Florida-based freelance copywriter specializing in the unique marketing needs of independent professionals. writer@rswarren.comGingerbread Homes for Animals - December 1st-5th at the Dana Discovery Center in Central Park - A Benefit for NYC's At-Risk Animals
(ContentDesk) November 26, 2004 -- A celebrated group of New York's foremost Pastry Chefs will kick off the 2004 holiday season with GINGERBREAD HOMES FOR ANIMALS, an exhibition and fair at Central Park's Dana Discovery Center, to benefit New York's at-risk animal population. The event, set from Wednesday, December 1st through Sunday, December 5th, will feature each pastry maker's creation of a unique gingerbread house, inspired by an animal he or she loves. The one-of-a-kind edible sculptures will be sold by raffle. Admission to the exhibition and fair is free.GINGERGBREAD HOMES FOR ANIMALS is presented by Rational Animal and hosted by a list of prestigious city gourmets and animal-related organizations. Held during the holiday season, its goal is to illuminate the plight of the city's most needy four-legged inhabitants and raise awareness and funds for them.
In addition to the edible sculpture exhibit, the fair will feature a list of daily activities including animal-related...
Gingerbread Homes for Animals - December 1st-5th at the Dana Discovery Center in Central Park - A Benefit for NYC's At-Risk Animals
Hedge funds > Gingerbread Homes for Animals - December 1st-5th at the Dana Discovery Center in Central Park - A Benefit for NYC's At-Risk Animals
All-Star Weekend NFL/NBA Celebrity Models Raise Chartiable Funds with Fashions
Houston, TX (ContentDesk) February 18, 2006 -- The highly anticipated 2nd Annual Houston Fashion Weekend kicks off this Friday, February 17, 2006 from 12pm-1pm beginning with a visitation and Pizza Party, with children at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The event culminates on Saturady February 18th following a silent auction from 11:30am- 12:30pm. A lavish Glaceau Water sponsored reception and after party follows at the Kasbah, an upscale Moroccan themed venue from 10 p.m.
to 2 a.m. Throngs of international talents from the fashion industry including noted Designers such as Reggie Gillam of Atlantas Inner City Couture will flank the runway. Gilliams blazers, embroidered and hand- painted denim have been draped on Oscar Winner Jamie Foxx and pop icon Usher Raymond. Other designer industry mammoths such as Demarcus Faggins, Ramon Walker, Robert Pack, Antonio Wingfield & others will also be showcased.Sean Florence of Phaparazzi Couture, A Featured Celebrity...
All-Star Weekend NFL/NBA Celebrity Models Raise Chartiable Funds with Fashions
Hedge funds > All-Star Weekend NFL/NBA Celebrity Models Raise Chartiable Funds with Fashions
Things Your Mother Never Told You: Closing Costs
Buying or selling a home can be one of the most life changing decisions a consumer makes.
Being educated about the real estate process and investigating things you don't understand is essential.
Working with trustworthy and communicative real estate professionals is important.
A lot of money is on the line when purchasing or selling a home, so be sure to ask questions when you need to about charges, fees or other issues.You Gotta Have Faith!Three days after an initial application has been submitted the lender must provide a Good Faith Estimate of settlement costs (GFE).
The GFE is a list of closing charges and the HUD settlement statement you receive at closing is the confirmation of these charges.
Carefully review the GFE costs and question anything you do not understand.
When you receive the HUD statement the charges and fees should be familiar to you and reflect the GFE.
There shouldn't be any closing cost surprises.
...
Hedge funds > Things Your Mother Never Told You: Closing Costs
Channel 933 and The Mighty 1090 Raise Funds to Help a San Diego Boy Learn to Walk
San Diego, Ca (ContentDesk) November 10, 2005 -- San Diego radio stations, corporate sponsors and families all
pitched in to help raise funds for The Dream Factory and Patrick Ivison, an 11 year old San Diego boy. Patrick was accidentally hit by a car when he was only 14 months old and has been confined to a wheel chair ever since. BUT, he wants to learn to walk.The Dream Factory recently granted Patrick his first month's tuition at Project Walk in Carlsbad Ca. Even though his mom Jennifer knew that the three year tuition (over $90,000 and none of it covered by insurance)was going to be tough, a grass roots campaign was started by her with garage sales and other local fundraisers. People from all over the world have now seen Patrick's story in the San Diego Tribune, CBS-TV National News and at www.helppatrickwalk.orgThe Bowling for Dreams fundraiser was attended by Scott & BR from the Mighty 1090, The San Diego Gulls Hockey players and AJ from AJ's Playhouse on Channel 933.Patrick's...
Hedge funds > Channel 933 and The Mighty 1090 Raise Funds to Help a San Diego Boy Learn to Walk
Lower Upset Amounts at Some New Jersey Sheriff Sales
(ContentDesk) March 26, 2006 -- In my recent travels I have been reviewing the results from past sales in a few different New Jersey counties. Two counties in particular showed that some properties are selling for less than the advertised judgment amount in the Public Notice.This is a very different story than what we were seeing just a few months ago. Now I am not talking about 20-30k less, but a few thousand is enough to notice a change in market conditions. Not to mention the recent proactive effort by most lending institutions. Did you know that most banks, for one of the first times in history, are calling up the homeowners and trying to make a deal with them before it gets too bad? In fact GMAC has just funded an entire organization to assist with homeowners in trouble.
It is called http://www.995hope.org/ . Press Releases say that GMAC contributed about 20 million in seed capital funds to get it going.What does all this mean? Well Im not actually sure at the moment, but...
Lower Upset Amounts at Some New Jersey Sheriff Sales
Hedge funds > Lower Upset Amounts at Some New Jersey Sheriff Sales
Buy and Hold: How to Perpetuate Your Investment Losses
A recent cartoon in my daily newspaper showed two guys sitting in a bar. One is saying to the other: "I did learn something from my broker...how to diversify my investment losses."While this struck me as funny, there is certainly an element of truth to it judging by the number of tragic e-mails and phone calls I have received over the past couple of years.This was brought home even more so by a reader who responded with strong disagreement to one of my articles. I advocate a methodical, disciplined approach to investing in no-load mutual funds. It keeps me invested during up markets and on the sidelines during down markets. It was exactly this approach that got me and my clients out of the market in October, 2000 and put us back in to take advantage of the April, 2003 upswing.Judging from the reader's e-mail it appears that he works for a major bank and is adamant about Buy & Hold and Dollar Cost Averaging.
Maybe it's the approach he has chosen and he doesn't like hearing that...
Buy and Hold: How to Perpetuate Your Investment Losses
Hedge funds > Buy and Hold: How to Perpetuate Your Investment Losses
ira Create Confidence With Your Writing
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