Writing in plain language makes your content easier to read, easier to understand, and more accessible. It’s the right thing to do for your customers and your business.
I try to keep these intro's inspiring & actionable. I hope you agree & find it helpful too! ; )
This week, I read a Handy List of Human Words, they revolve around the the basic content principles of keeping writing simple, direct, and human.
At Twotone, we're often answering questions like the following for brands, media, the public and even ourselves:
- who can do something
- what you can do or what you can’t do
- what you need and/or what you need to do
- how to do something or other ways to do something
- what happens if you do something or what happens if you don’t do something
- when something happens and/or why something happens
The full list is here. But here are my favorite 3 per category:
👥People
- he or she → they
- users → customers
- users → people
🎬Actions
- activate → turn on
- assist → help
- optimize → make it better
⛔Access
- able to → can
- allows you to → lets you
- required to → need to
👫Relationships
- regarding → about
- additional → more, other, different
- e.g. → for example
🕒Timing
- in conjunction with → at the same time
- simultaneously → at the same time
- subsequent → future, later, upcoming
💡Things
- credentials → username and password
- methods → ways
- optimization → improvement
As always, thank you for reading!
with appreciation,
Jon
p.s.
If you enjoy this issue, please consider spreading the word:
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Banner images courtesy Leon van Bon for the launch event we organized with Cannondale in The Hague last week starting at Lola Bikes & Coffee. I hope to share more about this event here in the newsletter soon! : )
Cycling
Rider Q&A Rei Miyoshi – Gravel Union
there’s not that many Japanese singlespeeders living, working and racing in Europe after all and certainly none with his riding skills or passion for riding. We thought we’d find out some more.
Proud to have Rei on the team! Even if only for a 6 month internship before he gets back to his studies in Japan!
Constantin Gerlach “onthenorway” – Far Ride magazine
My friend Constantin Gerlach and his partner Laura Droße are Berlin-based photographers who document a shared passion for slow travel with their online cultural magazine onthenorway. Capturing the beauty of natural landscapes, the visual stories that result offer a fascinating insight into the culture and traditions of the regions the pair explore.
From the interview:
Do you see a relationship between how modern society functions and a need for individuals to seek out adventure?
"I get the impression that too often we watch from a distance rather than actually experiencing things at first hand. I recognise in myself that I spend far too much time scrolling through Instagram. Time that I could use in a more productive fashion. So it’s good to occasionally slow down and really focus 100% on things; totally immersing yourself in the moment."
JRA with the Angry Asian: Enough already: "There’s no longer a need to debate whether more cyclists are being killed while out on the road"
Inspired by a Volkswagen ad promoting electric cars in general, James Huang asks:
"Now, think about the bike industry. How often do you see a bike company running a significant campaign of any sort that isn’t wholly self-serving?
The bike industry is really good at making better bikes, year after year after year. But it’s not very good at making cycling better."
Startups, Sales & PR
The demise of the advertising agency model was self-inflicted.
Agencies also forgot how to make money, and lost the spine to defend their value. They let clients and procurement degrade their purpose. They allowed fragmentation within their own industry to break apart revenue opportunities, thinking that acquisition was the only way out. They turned a blind eye to internal strife, fear, and fatigue of their one and ONLY asset, their staff. The focus was on the bottom line at any and all costs.
Brands and agencies sound off on why long-term brand building campaigns are so hard to do
There has been a shift towards short-term, one-off creativity, at the expense of long-term brand building work.
A Like Can’t Go Anywhere. But a Compliment Can Go a Long Way!
This is a blog post about how social networks can structurally inspire negativity by making positivity a feature.
How to...
How to Give People Advice They’ll Be Delighted to Take
Evaluate, collaborate and support.
whoa, this is really good!
How to talk to strangers
It’s possible you’ll feel really awful after this expedition.
How to Change a Mind
How to get someone to leave a cult, and what it can teach us about changing a mind.
Radness
Twotone Turns Five!
We've got some planning in motion already!
👀 Lookout for a 5 year edition emblem remixed by our original logo type designer Yorit Kluitman: instagram.com/yorit_kluitman
🖌️ We're working on tattoo flash to be available for a permanent party memento put into your skin by none other than our colleague Frank 'The Tank' van der Sman of instagram.com/pointofnoreturn.studio
🧵 Some sweet collabo projects with brands we admire are in the works along with some limited merch releases in the pipeline too! (apparel, patches, Ass Saver Fendor Bendors & more)
🤘 We'll have local live music booked! Bands announced soon but say hello if you wanna perform!
🍲 A food truck outside Workspace Six with tasty vegetarian options.
🍻 Some Of Amsterdam's tastiest local brews & other alcoholic options!
🎮 The N64 will be on with Mario Kart & Golden Eye matches....
🧑🏽🤝🧑🏻 Not to mention the who's who of our great city's tech & cycling scenes, out of town industry influencers and essentially everyone you're stoked to party with.
🥳 If you've never been to a Twotone party this is your chance & if you've joined us before, aren't you proud of how we're planning in advance?
🎉 See you Friday the 13th, December 2019!