by Sue Horner | Mar 13, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
“Click here.” That’s a classic example of anchor text or hyperlink text done wrong. (Anchor text is a clickable link on a website, usually highlighted and underlined.) That’s because people want to know where a link is going to take them. Also, people who are visually...
by Sue Horner | Feb 23, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Do you want to explain something, make a point or spark that “aha” moment? Reach for a metaphor, which shows how two things are alike without using “like” or “as.” A metaphor gives people a shortcut to understanding new, complex or conceptual info, says writing...
by Sue Horner | Feb 15, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Have you ever noticed that suddenly everyone seems to be using a particular word or phrase? “Upskilling” is having a moment, unfortunately. “Overarching” has staying power, also unfortunately. But the one I keep running into lately is “[people]...
by Sue Horner | Feb 2, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
I’m always on the lookout for examples of good and bad writing, and you’ll find plenty out in the world. Here are some of the articles recently shared online, all related to plain language and getting rid of jargon and lawyer-speak. Plain language is all about helping...
by Sue Horner | Jan 21, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Have you ever started reading something, and had to stop because you lost your way in a long, meandering sentence? That’s what happened to me while reading an article in the Entertainment section of my local newspaper. The opening sentence rang in at 49 words....
by Sue Horner | Jan 12, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Surprise! Artificial Intelligence (AI) dominated the range of important things, events, people and preoccupations we talked about in 2023. An article about ChatGPT led Wikipedia’s most-viewed entries and Google search data also showed plenty of hunts for AI and...
by Sue Horner | Jan 3, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Somehow, December got away from me (you too?). So I missed my annual tradition of collecting the top 10 most-viewed posts on my blog. Here they are! 1. Is this the year you get certified as a Communication Management Professional (CMP) or Strategic Communication...
by Sue Horner | Dec 16, 2023 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
You may have noticed I have somewhat of a yearly tradition for the December issue of my newsletter, Wordnerdery. Rather than talk about words, expressive writing and so on, I usually share my thoughts about something more personal. The tradition continues! The...
by Sue Horner | Dec 4, 2023 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Amid the shiny new digital tools discussed at a recent session with IABC/Toronto’s Professional Independent Communicators (PIC) was an old standby: The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling book. I use it often for its Plain Words section, and I wasn’t the only word nerd...
by Sue Horner | Nov 22, 2023 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Do you pause what you’re doing for a moment of silence on Remembrance Day or Veterans Day? I do, and often turn on the radio (remember radio?) so as not to get caught up in work and miss 11 a.m. One year, the radio station introduced the moment, and then went...
