Business Writing With Buzz

Tell Me A Story: How To Colour Your Writing

Rosemary Gillespie - Thursday, March 31, 2011

In How the Big Bad Wolf Can Improve Your Business Writing, we talked about telling stories in your business communications. This time we look how you can illustrate, or bring colour, to your writing.

What is good story book without pictures? What would Winnie the Pooh be without EH Shepherd, Alice in Wonderland without Tenniel? These classic children’s book illustrators visually interpreted those stories in a way that has made an indelible mark on how they have been read and understood by generations of children.

We don’t generally get the paint box out when we are writing business communications, but bringing a bit of colour to your pieces can really improve your reader’s engagement level.

And we don’t mean letting your designer loose with the colour palette. You can illustrate the points you want to make, or the story you are telling, just through your writing.

Some ideas for bringing colour to your communications include: 

  • Stories
  • Observations
  • Anecdotes
  • Topical
  • Statistics
  • Examples
  • Case studies
  • Quotes
  • Humour (used with care – nothing smutty or inflammatory, thanks)

These elements make your writing more personal, engaging and interesting, allowing readers to engage at more emotional level. Use a smattering in the next piece you have to write.

 




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