The flurry of end-of-year lists is well underway, and I’m jumping in. As 2019 winds down, here’s my last post this year: The top 10 most-viewed posts on the blog.
1. The post that got the most traffic this year by far was on a topic I periodically revisit: Is blogging still alive and well? It was in 2019, and Is blogging dead in 2019? spells out why.
Oh, jargon and buzzwords. They just never go away. Two posts this year in particular struck a chord:
2. Ecosystem may be a thing – but it’s a buzzword, which describes how PR and tech consultants have taken the word “ecosystem” outside the realm of biology and science.
3. Communicators aren’t immune to jargon pointed out IABC’s email explaining-not-explaining “leadership changes.”
4. I often blog about what’s happening in my life that may be of interest to readers. So after my website refresh in the spring, I interviewed my web manager to learn more about when and why you might do it. Find out in How to know when it’s time for a website refresh.
5. People also seemed to enjoy the 2019 edition of my annual Gifts for writers and readers. You’ll find Scrabble wall art, literary scarves and tees, greeting cards and more. Let me know if you’ve spotted other items that should make next year’s list.
And since words are my business, you’ll often find posts about writing:
6. Timeless writing advice from Don Ranly shares some of this journalism professor’s tips. These include “Get the word ‘you’ into the lead” and “Start your story with a story.”
7. I always notice interesting and colourful ways of explaining something, which I call “expressive writing.” One collection this year was in Penguins like an audience + more expressive writing.
8. Being creative about explaining is another way to help readers make sense out of numbers, as in 8 ways to make numbers meaningful. The post links to an edition of my newsletter, with tips such as “Find the story [data] tells” and “Use analogies to show size and scale.”
9. “Reduce wordiness” and “Trade long words for short” are among my suggestions for tightening up your writing in 7 ways to trim & tone flabby writing. I’m flattered that Ragan Communications also used this as a guest post.
10. The show Dancing With The Stars (DWTS) is my guilty pleasure. Perhaps surprisingly, I found 8 lessons for writers from DWTS, like “Watch your frame” and “Model the masters.”
As always, thank you for reading. Here’s to a terrific year in 2020!
Image: Gerd Altmann and Pixabay.
Related reading:
The top 10 posts of 2018
The top 10 posts of 2017
The top 10 posts of 2016