Two Minute Tips

Writing tips

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Narrative techniques can mess up your business reporting

Great narrative is prized in journalism. Long stories with protagonists, antagonists, narrative arcs, color, drama, conflict, intrigue … sorry, got carried away. That’s the potential problem facing business journalists and

Own your style but don’t get owned by it

There’s a level of writing development and individuality that many if not most reporters try to achieve—personal style. It’s a unique form of expression that identifies a writer’s work as

Write for the format the audience expects

Anyone can get into a rut. When you’re a working journalist, a rut can become so deep that you no longer see over the top. In the past I’ve mentioned

Make sure the trend or event is really new

Trends are a great topic for any sort of journalism and are of particular interest in business. Knowing where companies and industries are heading, what the best performers do for

Writing tips for kicking your personal clichés

You’ve heard more times than you could count not to use clichés, whether from a teacher or in the railing of some literary giant like George Orwell: A newly-invented metaphor

4 steps for improving your blog posts

Contributing to a blog has become an expected part of a business reporter’s repertoire. You may be producing fill-in posts between your regular filings at a publication, or perhaps blogs

Big numbers are hard to visualize, but there are some easy tricks to help your audience relate. ("Calculus" by "fitrihandayani" via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Making big numbers relatable

A calculator and some quick research can help you make enormous numbers more understandable to your audiences. Advertising research shows that millennials prefer a personal connection. They don’t want to

Applebee's millennial failure has some good lessons for business journalists. (Image by Mitya Ku via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

How to use FOMO to snag millennial readers

Millennials get a lot of attention in the media. To borrow a phrase from Homer Simpson, they’re either the cause of, or solution to, all of society’s problems. Either way,

up even the most meticulous writer. Here are common mistakes to keep on your radar. ("Question Mark Sign" image by Colin Kinner via flickr, CCO Public Domain)

Tricky punctuation tips for business writers

Even the most precise writers are occasionally tripped up by punctuation. That’s particularly true nowadays, when newsrooms are lean and reporters are often expected to copy-edit their own work. This quick refresher on

Fewer editors in the newsroom mean that reporters have to step up their self-editing game. (Image from "3844328" via Pixabay, CCO Public Domain)

Accuracy checklist for journalists

Fewer copy editors in the newsroom—in fact, fewer editors in general—means that reporters must increasingly perform that function themselves. Before submitting a story or hitting “publish” on a website’s CMS, take

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