What's UP? | Marketing blog by UP THERE EVERYWHERE

Word Embezzlement

Written by Julian Stubbs | Stockholm | August 3, 2011

Following on from my last blog approach of ‘Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal ‘ this month I happily embezzle a few words from a person I have the great pleasure of knowing well – John Simmons. John is an inspiring creative business writer, who was one of the founders of the Dark Angels writers courses.

His contention, rightly, is that business writing is far too often dehumanised and lacking any emotional content. Businesses struggle to find their own voice. This is something we encounter at UP* all too often with corporations. It’s as if they feel threatened by actually saying something in a unique way that could actually make them stand out. So they resort to writing in a way that is similar, if not identical, to the way their competitors write. Safety in numbers I guess.

Anyway, some words from John below.

‘Banish any thought that you are writing for a business – either that you are writing on behalf of a business or writing to be read by a business. Ban the phrase ‘business to business’ writing along with that thought. I’m making a simple point: a business does not write to another business. A person writes to another person. Don’t ever think that you’re writing for an amorphous mass, a faceless organisation made up of groups. A business is made up of individuals – you are an individual too. Reach out through your words, make a human connection.’

 

Recommended reading is John’s book ‘Twenty-six Ways of Looking at a Blackberry’.