The Washington Post reported on a study showing that adding two spaces after a period improves readability. Now all the use-two-spaces philistines are using this to justify their depraved practices. But the study proves nothing. Three researchers at Skidmore College, Rebecca L. Johnson, Becky Bui, and Lindsay L. Schmitt, published a paper called “Are two spaces…
If you’re at the Content Marketing Conference 2018 in Boston, bring your copy of Writing Without Bullshit to the event at 12:30 tomorrow (Friday). I’ll be doing a book signing. Don’t have a copy? I will be giving away a limited number of uncorrected proofs. This is a collectible! Content is 99% the same as the…
I delivered my Writing Without Bullshit workshop and seminar this morning to 72 people at the Content Marketing Conference. When you are in front of an audience, you can immediately tell what resonates — you hear laughter, see heads nodding, and hear a warm murmur of sympathy. So what resonated with these writers? “81% of…
On April 21, 2008, ten years ago, Charlene Li and I celebrated the publication of our Harvard Business Press book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. It was the first book for each of us. It made an impact, selling over 150,000 copies. Ten years later, I’d like to talk about how…
It is very exciting to work with your company. As a one-person operation, I work with other individuals, small businesses, and huge companies. When I work with big companies, there is a lot of potential for growth. I am just wondering, is there a requirement that I must go through some sort of pain before…
I have been relentlessly focused on accomplishment. Reaching for the top is fun, but I need to pay more attention to what’s happening as I’m climbing. I don’t know where in my youth I developed the obsession to always reach for more, but it has always been there. SAT scores, graduating top of my class,…
When you’re reconnecting with someone you haven’t seen in a while — months, years, decades — what do you say? I’m changing the way I make conversation. There are basically three ways to answer the question “So, how have you been?” Brag You can start ticking off the accomplishments. Since I am an accomplishment- and…
Starting today and for at least the next year, I will focus my work on this question: What is the evolving dynamic between truth and influence, and what should you do about it? What do I mean by truth and influence? Here’s how I define these terms: Truth refers to the insights that research creates….
It’s been a hell of a year, and every month was filled with its share of bullshit. So let’s review 2017 through the lens of the most popular Without Bullshit posts in every month. January: “What’s really wrong with millennials?” asks Simon Sinek Simon Sinek has it all figured out. Millennials are screwed up because…