Preparation guides | Proof Communications

Preparing for Presentations

July 9, 2020

English language, Preparation guides, Presentations

Everyone dreads public speaking. It doesn’t come naturally to most of us – it’s a skill we have to learn. Like many things in life, practice makes perfect and the more we do it, the more assured we become. Overcoming fear Public speaking generates fear – usually that we will: • Fail to educate, persuade or motivate, depending on our goal. • Look and/or sound stupid or boring. • Forget what we want to say or a point we want…

Preparing for Presentations was last modified on July 9th, 2020 by Proof Communications Team

38 surefire ways to write better business documents

June 9, 2020

B2B documents, How to win business, Preparation guides

1. Whatever you write online represents your brand, so make sure your company’s social media pages look and sound as professional as your website. 2. Use humour sparingly and wisely. 3. Using contractions such as “you’ll”, “it’s” and “we’ll” reduces formality and puts your copy on a much more personal level. 4. A great headline zeroes in on one big idea; usually your most important benefit. 5. Watch out for overly long sentences. Break them up to make copy more…

38 surefire ways to write better business documents was last modified on June 9th, 2020 by Proof Communications Team

Could this be the only policy the UK Parliament will agree on this year?

August 12, 2019

B2B documents, English language, How to win business, Preparation guides, Style Guides, Writing tips

As the UK comes to terms with a new Prime Minister, officials for the new leader of the House of Commons are also grappling with change. It seems Jacob Rees-Mogg MP has wasted no time in issuing a style guide, making his views on language usage abundantly clear. ‘Lot’, ‘got’, ‘hopefully’ and ‘I am pleased to learn’ are just some of the many terms now strictly verboten. And heaven help anyone who uses a comma after ‘and’. So, are style…

Could this be the only policy the UK Parliament will agree on this year? was last modified on August 14th, 2019 by Proof Communications Author

A communication tip that’s bound to help

June 5, 2018

B2B documents, How to win business, Preparation guides, Presentations

Andy Bounds makes good sense. As a former British Sales Trainer of the Year and in demand all over the world as a presenter of sales and communication workshops, he maintains that, ‘It’s not what you say that counts. It’s what people do differently after you’ve said it.’ This month, one of his Tuesday Tips highlighted that message. According to Bounds, the whole point of communication is to cause something to happen. Sure, there are conversations where we’re just shooting…

A communication tip that’s bound to help was last modified on June 5th, 2018 by Proof Communications Author

Why it’s important to create an organisation Style Guide

December 1, 2017

B2B documents, copywriting, Grammar tips, Preparation guides, Style Guides

Big businesses have in-house style manuals or style guides which set out basic grammar rules and conventions, plus those used specifically by the company. This is so each document put out by the business, including emails, is presented consistently. For instance, every time an employee creates a bullet list, the style guide means, in theory anyway, that they will stick to the company’s convention for bullet points. It could be that semi colons are always used at the end of…

Why it’s important to create an organisation Style Guide was last modified on December 1st, 2017 by Proof Communications Author

Make video marketing work for your business

July 4, 2017

B2B documents, copywriting, How to win business, Preparation guides, Writing tips

Look at forecasts for marketing trends for the next twelve months and it’s a safe bet that video content is in the top five. Tim Asimos from Circle S Studio sums up video’s success: “Video – done well – is engaging and generates ROI, with four times as many consumers preferring digestible video content over text.” Asimos believes that the increasing number of live streaming tools is a huge boon for forward thinking marketers, opening up “virtually endless possibilities for…

Make video marketing work for your business was last modified on July 4th, 2017 by Proof Communications Author

How to generate more Ideas for your business blog

May 31, 2017

B2B documents, Blogs, copywriting, Editing, How to win business, Preparation guides, Writing tips

That business blog you started recently is no doubt coming on a treat. However, even the most ardent blogger can find it challenging at times to come up with new topics. Check out these great ideas for some inspiration. Has your company just won an award? Why did you enter and how will winning help your customers? What’s a typical problem that your target customer has? Outline your best solution. What other industry blogs do you read regularly? Share your…

How to generate more Ideas for your business blog was last modified on June 25th, 2017 by Proof Communications Author

Strong capability statements work in more ways than one

December 15, 2016

B2B documents, copywriting, Editing, Preparation guides, Writing tips

A capability statement is a versatile thing. It lets everyone know who you are and what you can do for them. But if you’re only using it externally, then you’re not using it to its full potential because a capability statement can be used in lots of ways for your own business, too. Induction tool A capability statement is an ideal way to introduce new employees to the depth and breadth of your company and will help to give them…

Strong capability statements work in more ways than one was last modified on December 15th, 2016 by Proof Communications Author

How to write newsletters that won’t comatose your readers

January 22, 2016

copywriting, Newsletters, Preparation guides, Punctuation, Writing tips

Well written, targeted articles can breathe new life into business communications. But you also want to avoid your newsletter being sent straight to the reader’s recycle bin. Rather than bore customers to death, here are three ways to keep newsletter content fresh and your customers focused on the good work you do. 1. It’s about your customer Important though it may be to you, no one wants to read about how your business operates or who has been moved from one…

How to write newsletters that won’t comatose your readers was last modified on September 19th, 2017 by Proof Communications Editor

EoI RoI RFT – What Does It All Mean?

November 22, 2015

Preparation guides

If you are new to writing tenders, you’ll be bamboozled by all the abbreviations: RoI, EoI and RFT. What do they all mean, and how do you respond to each of them? Very large tenders involve a number of stages, but most involve only stage three listed below – the RFT. For those times where you are faced with the full evaluation process, each stage will require a different type of submission. The stages are: 1. RoI – Registration of…

EoI RoI RFT – What Does It All Mean? was last modified on November 22nd, 2015 by Proof Communications Team