Wanderlust and Words

Telling Our Story: Helping Non-Profit Organizations to Get Their Message Across  Penny McKinlay, Communications Consultant  9 am – 3 pm, Wednesday, November 28, 2012  Room 403, Galleria Building, Innovation Place, Saskatoon  Advocacy organizations want to touch the hearts and change the behaviours of their public. That’s not easy, but effective communications can help you to get your message across. I am offering Telling Our Story , a hands-on, interactive workshop, to assist the staff and volunteers of advocacy organizations to share their message. Small group discussions and activities will help you learn new skills and integrate them into your professional life. The workshop is based on my study and practise of storytelling, effective writing, content design, and change management. Similar workshops for the League of Educational Administrators, Directors and Superintendents of Saskatchewan (LEADS) have been very well received. “The workshop...

Effective writing is simple and elegant – like a well-designed garden. It invites readers to enter, to follow the story, to explore the ideas. Enjoy the photographs of Spanish gardens and pick up some effective writing tips in my Elegant Simplicity slideshow. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you need help with editing or writing projects or would like me to facilitate a communications workshop. Elegant Simplicity: Bridging the gap between the writer and the reader View more presentations from PennyMcKinlay .

“The public is composed of numerous groups whose cry to us writers is: ‘Comfort me. ‘Amuse me.’ ‘Touch my sympathies.’ ‘Make me sad.’ ‘Make me dream.’ ‘Make me laugh.’ ‘Make me shiver.’ ‘ Make me weep.’ ‘Make me think.’” (Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant) Nancy Duarte owns an award-winning presentation design firm . Her first book, slide:ology , examined visual presentation techniques. Her second book, Resonate , demonstrates how we can apply storytelling techniques to our writing and presentations to help us share information more effectively. Why stories are important “The structure and significance of stories transforms information from static and flat to dynamic and alive. Stories reshape information into meaning.” People love stories – from a James Bond movie full of action and adventure to the latest gossip. Unfortunately, we often fail to apply storytelling techniques to our business writing – and that’s a shame. Resonate is aimed primarily at applying storytelling...

I magine you are on the escalator in a train station. As you scan the signs, there are only three that really matter – Trains, Tickets and Toilets. In Killer Web Content , Gerry McGovern recommends keeping this in mind as you develop the content for your website. Website readers want very clear messages that directly meet their core needs. For example, McGovern compares the content that different groups hope to find on an educational website. Government officials were looking for reports and policies. Teachers were looking for lesson plans. Parents were looking for information about how the schools would support and protect their children. McGovern believes that you can’t satisfy everyone. You need to identify your primary audience, find out what really matters to them – what they care about – and then develop your web content accordingly. “Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that, just because you passionately care about something, your customer will. This is one of the biggest ...

“ The vast majority of people come to your website to do something specific, and they want to get in and out as quickly as possible. Identifying the most important tasks that people come to your website to complete, and helping them do so as quickly and efficiently as possible, will be critical to the success of your website .” (Gerry McGovern, Killer Web Content) I was so excited when the Saskatoon Public Library got new software for reserving books and managing your account. But then I started using it, and I was horribly disappointed. They have fixed some of the most glaring errors, but it is still an unfriendly website. There are two different search features that are linked so the results can look different every time you enter the system. Important buttons are located in at least three different positions so I have to hunt for them. And there’s a reason why all the books I reserve come from Regina – Saskatoon staff haven’t been able to buy books online for the last six months. ...

Resolve Ambiguities, Impose Structure, Make Connections In the 1920s a group of German psychologists studying visual perception learned that the human brain seeks patterns. We don’t see objects in isolation; we see them as part of a greater whole, and we make connections between the individual parts. In fact, we often “see” things that aren’t really there because we are trying so hard to create unity and closure. This is the second of two blog posts ( Gestalt for Writers: Part One ) about applying gestalt principles to written text. Similarity If three sections of text are in blue ink and one section is in red, two things happen. First of all, readers will assume that the blue sections are related because they look the same. Secondly, the section in red will stand out and be perceived as more important because it’s different and because red symbolizes urgency. Symmetry We are very aware when designs are symmetrical and asymmetrical. In fact, we crave symmetry. A doorway with a...

Resolve Ambiguities, Impose Structure, Make Connections Text doesn’t exist in isolation. It is part of a page or a computer screen. And the way the words are organized on the page affects the way they are perceived. In the 1920s a group of German psychologists studying visual perception learned that the human brain seeks patterns. We don’t see objects in isolation; we see them as part of a greater whole, and we make connections between the individual parts. In fact, we often “see” things that aren’t really there because we are trying so hard to create unity and closure. The psychologists called their studies “gestalt,” which means “unified whole,” and they established a set of principles that are widely used by graphic designers but are also relevant for writers. The next two blog posts will explore some of the key concepts and how they apply to writing. Proximity If some words or objects are placed more closely together than others, they will be perceived as a group. We use this...