what you need to unlearn, learn and relearn
DESCRIPTION
Based on my book Write Like You Talk Only Better, I talked to students about unlearning academic style writing, learning to shorten and avoid spinach in their teeth and relearn the magic of storytelling.TRANSCRIPT
What you need to unlearn, learn and relearn
Presentation by Barb Sawyers toCentennial CollegeMarch 2012
What you need to unlearn formal, objectivestyle
Go back to your first and favourite way to communicate
What works in conversation?
Meet Patricia Davies, Report on Business
What gets Patricia up in the morning?
What keeps her up at night?
What is the personality of the organization you are writing for?
Pretend you are RIMWhat’s your personality?
Yoritex Inc., developer of the first medical diagnostics accessories for BlackBerry® smartphones, today announced the successful conclusion of its Medical Network HUB® prototype testing. Having successfully completed comprehensive hardware and software testing, Yoritex Inc. will commence manufacture of a pilot batch of Medical Network HUB® in October that accelerates development of its medical plug-in units line.
Rewrite this news release from Ms RIM or Rim Dude
to Patricia
Talk the release to Patricia.
How did it change?
Meet Sid Patel, hospital administrator
What gets him going in the morning?
What keeps him awake at night?
Yoritex Inc., developer of the first medical diagnostics accessories for BlackBerry® smartphones, today announced the successful conclusion of its Medical Network HUB® prototype testing. Having successfully completed comprehensive hardware and software testing, Yoritex Inc. will commence manufacture of a pilot batch of Medical Network HUB® in October that accelerates development of its medical plug-in units line.
Rewrite thisfrom Ms RIM or Rim Dude
to Sid
Talk your rewrite to Sid.How did it change?
Connect with 1
Attract many
Connect with one
What you need to learn write shorter
Why shorter?
How?
What you need to learnavoid two common flubs
1. Confuse possessive pronouns with contractions
It’s
Its
Its’
2. Other sound-alikes
accept except
affect effect
alternate alternative
boarder border
cite site sight
complement compliment
chord cord cored
council counsel
coarse course
discreet discrete
More in your handouts and in my book
What you need to relearnHow to tell stories
What made this story so compelling?
Why are these shows so popular?
How do you tell stories to friends?
Write like you talk only better
So
Read my book
Free download
link on your handouts