Better Read than Dead (Boring)
By Debbie Mayo-Smith | February 5, 2008
BNET Australia Contributors
Aussie Rules
Biography
BNET Australia Contributors
Brian Haverty is editorial director for CBS Interactive Australia and is responsible for the company's BNET and ZDNet Australia sites.
Robert Gerrish is a coach, author and professional speaker and the founder of Flying Solo, an Australian online community for solo business owners.
Melissa Lourenco is the HR manager for CBS Interactive in Australia.
Chris Golis is the author of The Humm Handbook: Lifting Your Level of Emotional Intelligence. He runs seminars and workshops on EQ.
Suzi Dafnis is Community Director of the Australian Businesswomen's Network.
Yvonne Adele helps organisations build a culture of ideas by teaching people at all levels to access their untapped creative thinking skills.
Does your job depend heavily on written communications — memos, reports, articles? Do they get the attention and response you believe they deserve?
Why not have your recipients not only read them but look forward to them? It only takes a little extra thought and effort to turn your lacklustre verbiage into star communications — no matter how serious the subject matter.
Just steal a page from the success book of email and direct marketers. According to a study outlined in the Marketing Sherpa newsletter, readers responded best to these three types of articles.
- Humour — You might consider a funny “10 excuses for being late” as an alternative to the normal “Why is everyone always late for meetings?” memo.
- Headlines with numbers — Just take a look at Digg — everybody loves lists with titles like “Four Ways to Save Power in the Office” or “The 10 Most Popular Newsletters”.
- Controversial topics — Now there’s a surefire way to get your missive read!
Try it — see if you don’t get a better response to your communications.
