Help yourself. I find it invaluable. You will too.

Image by Martin Shovel / Creativity Works

In the course of a normal working day, I get through a hell of a lot of words. Some I write myself; others I read.

I’ve been stockpiling countless books and articles about the best way to communicate. Now I’m in ‘New Term Decluttering’ mode and you’ll benefit.

As I clear out my hard drive and desk, I’ll share any pearls of wisdom with you.

Be heard above the din.

Like this gem of a blog post. It comes from Martin Shovel at Creativity Works.

Martin is a communications consultant, writer and cartoonist. (That’s one of his characters, surrounded by menacing megaphones. You can see many more his wry creations on his twitter feed – @MartinShovel.)

In this article – How to be an outstanding communicator – he explains:

why it takes a lot of courage to use simple language, especially in a commercial setting;
why everyday words like ‘friend’ and ‘dog’ make an impact and their Latinate equivalents, ‘acquaintance’ and ‘canine’, leave you cold;
how to get people to care about what you’re saying by ‘warming up’ your words.

I read this post two years ago and I still go back to it. Time for another helping. Enjoy.

And come back soon. There’s more where this came from.