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Does writing in present tense make you more persuasive? According to research on Amazon listings, the tense we use impacts how helpful reviews are, and more importantly, how persuasive you can be in your written communications.

Past, present and future tense

Across five studies, including over 2 million online reviews, researchers wanted to know whether using past, present or future tense matters most to the reader.

Starting with a database of 832,137 Amazon fashion and beauty product revi...

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

Very few are doing it well.

You see, reviewing the work of others is something I do a lot. 

When clients share with me their website, marketing, proposals and internal comms, I get to see what’s happening ‘out there’, across all industries, functions and sizes of organisation. 

I have a front row seat to people’s best work.

And here’s what’s disappointing.

The intent is there. People want to do great work. They may even think they are.

But fo...

Most of the letters and emails I receive are ‘safe’.

I was discussing this with a client the other day. 

Her communications specialist had drafted an email that was long winded, bureaucratic and entirely unengaging.

Lots of words, lots of waffle.

But being ‘safe’ is a risk.

Because you risk being ignored.

That’s fine if you want your message to be overlooked.

But if you want to engage? 

Be bold.

Learn how to write behaviourally effective emails and letters in my Just Do This progr...

Did you know you shouldn’t use “you” on your website’s help page, but you should on your home page?

Or that you should only use “we” with some types of customers and “you and us” with others?

Getting personal pronouns like “you, me and we” right is important. 

So important that using them in the right way can increase your revenue by up to 7%, and getting them wrong can lose you customers.

In this video, I share which pronouns to use when.

PLUS, you can download a free, exclusive 1 page...

Horrified.

That’s how I felt after watching an Apple TV ad spruiking its AI (Apple Intelligence) for emails.

It’s a business lunch with a writer meeting to discuss a pitch she’d emailed actor Bella Ramsey.

Bella, who obviously hasn’t read the email, quickly reaches for her phone and reads the AI generated summary of it, helping her feign knowledge of the project.

She lies, effectively.

The writer gets excited and says “Great, I’ll tell them you’re interested”.

Cue music track called “Ge...

“The form in which thoughts occur to a writer is rarely the same as the form in which they can be absorbed by the reader.”  Steven Pinker.

It’s the one quote I keep at my desk, reminding me that a logical narrative does not always result in an engaging one.

Bottom line? We need resolution near the start, not at the end.

Here’s what I mean.

I’ve noticed most of us tend to communicate in the following order: 

Problem – journey – SOLUTION.  

But for a business audience, especially for long...

When real estate legend Barbara Corcoran advertised for new staff in the competitive New York market, she wrote three simple words.

“One empty desk”.

Not only did this differentiate hers from the pages of ads seeking “sales person”, it hit a major psychological button.

Scarcity.

👉 In a world of content abundance and scant attention, how can you make what you do, who you are, scarce?

Learn more about how to influence action using behavioural techniques.

Painted walls can be cleaned pretty easily. A few squirts of “Spray and Wipe” and unsightly marks can be erased.

Walls with exposed brick are a different matter. Blemishes seep into the brickwork’s pores and crevices, making them impossible to expunge.

👉 When it comes to communications, a painted wall approach is often the default.

Our presentations, websites and emails look uniform. Our writing is professional.

👉👉 But as safe as this approach feels, it’s also bland and forgettable. Nothi...

I was updating my LinkedIn profile and was given the option for AI to rewrite it.

You’ve probably seen these AI integrations across a number of different platforms?

And to my delight, AI did an excellent job.

It covered all bases and flowed really nicely. (You can read for yourself it at the bottom of this post).

So I pressed publish.

But then I started to wonder, what is the point of my profile?

What am I trying to communicate BEYOND the words?

Because there were two problems with how...

There are seven words I guarantee you, your customers, and your boss will love. 

👉 👉👉 There is nothing you need to do.

Here's an example.

A few weeks ago I received an email from my website host Kajabi.

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"Hello Bri,

You may have heard about the new email requirements for bulk senders starting February 4, 2024. Yahoo and Gmail have separately announced updated requirements to deliver email to their platforms. Their goal is to better secure customers' inboxes and provide an improved co...