Magneto Communications

Six ways to embed the learning

Post-training your people are inspired. But without intervention, this will eventually fade. Here are five ways to prolong the ‘training effect’ for as long as possible, and change their writing habits (and reviewers’ lives) permanently.

Get Credosity.

This is our ‘real-time writing coach’ designed to help attendees back at the desk. There are two versions

a. Credosity Online(no software install…

NEW from Credosity: Free writing analysis (your ‘report card’!)

Download your free writing analysis as a PDF Like some free writing analysis? If you’re writing important emails and documents at work you can now get instant feedback on your writing. Built by experienced enterprise writers, this powerful tool reveals your blind spots and sharpens your message. Try it now: Upload any text or document to https://www.credosity.com/

Writing to senior execs? Avoid this! [infographic: reading grade level]

How tough reading grade levels can limit your career I was training a group from a big-4 bank when a guy (bravely) shared a vital lesson he learned about reading grade level: I worked hard on a report for a senior manager. I dug deep, adding research, statistics and sound logic. After many hours at work and late at night, I sent it to him, certain it was excellent. So it was an unpleasant…

The Curse of Cognitive Load: Why complexity kills comms

  ‘When I saw them shuffling back from the director’s office, I knew he’d said no.’ If you’re like most people, you’re missing something crucial in how you think about communication: The impact of cognitive load. This true story sums it up: My client’s team pitched a project worth over $1m to the company head. They’d spent months working on it. It would benefit their department and the whole…

Meet CYBA: The Credosity Bulk Analyser

Bulk Analyser X-rays hundreds of documents at once What if you could generate a spreadsheet summarising the readability, professionalism and diversity/inclusion issues in hundreds of documents at once? Now you can! Well, specifically, we can, but we can do it for you. (We plan to make it a public tool eventually.) It’s invaluable for helping us tailor our writing courses to each group’s needs. In…

2017 New Year report card

Thanks for your support in 2016! Thank you for being a ‘comms convert’ in 2016. We’re so grateful for your commitment to becoming a clearer, more effective communicator. Your participation in our writing training and/or use of Credosity has been integral to our success last year. The cherry on top? You’ve helped us advance global literacy by supporting these two incredible charities each time you…

Communications Wisdom: Kate Toon, Copywriter

  In conversation with: Kate Toon, Copywriter and SEO lover More about Kate. Kate Toon is an award-winning SEO copywriter and SEO consultant with almost two decades of experience in all things advertising, digital and writing. Originally from the UK but now based just outside Sydney. She’s worked with big brands such as eHarmony, Curash and Kmart. And she’s helped countless small businesses…

Communications Wisdom: Amber Daines, Bespoke Communications

In conversation with: Amber Daines, CEO, Bespoke Communications Amber Daines has spent almost 20 years in communications, including print and TV journalism, PR, and marketing, working in Australia, Asia and Europe. She now runs Bespoke Communications, a boutique PR agency focusing on media training, public-speaking skills, and PR strategy, working with leaders. Her current clients span big and…

Communications Wisdom: Jeffrey Anthony

In conversation with: Jeffrey Anthony, Executive Consultant, Know Your Talents More about Jeffrey.   Jeffrey Anthony is a former Chief Financial Officer with 20 years of C-level experience building and developing teams. He’s been responsible for IT, Human Resources, Accounting, Logistics, Customer Service and more. He’s also been a member of several cross-function senior leadership teams. 1. Who,…

Communications Wisdom: Dean Mannix, SalesITV

In conversation with: Dean Mannix, CEO, SalesITV More about Dean. Follow Dean on Twitter @deanmannix Dean Mannix is one of Australia’s leading sales coaches. As the co-founder and CEO of SalesITV, Dean’s on a mission to empower sales professionals. He has more than 25 years experience in sales-performance consulting in over 25 countries. His client list includes Westpac, Macquarie Bank, News…

Communications Wisdom: Dan Ariely

In conversation with: Dan Ariely – Communications Wisdom We were thrilled when Dan Ariely agreed to our interview. For us, as corporate comms trainers and creators of ‘business-writing’ software, his books are some of our ‘bibles’. Those, his TED talks, and even his game are fascinating, because, well, human behaviour is fascinating. Become a better psychologist, and…

Avoid passive voice. Ask a zombie.

Now Credosity finds your passive voice Passive voice is one of the biggest problems we’ve seen in the 8000 corporate writing samples we’ve reviewed. You’re almost certainly doing it. But it’s bad. Evil, even. It’s unclear, clunky and people trust you less when you use it. Now, after seven months work, thousands of new lines of code, and a contribution to the world’s open-source community, we’re…

Communications Wisdom: Jim Bolton, Ridge Associates, Inc.

In conversation with: Jim Bolton, President & Owner, Ridge Associates, Inc. The book, ‘People Skills‘, is a comms classic. It was one of the texts I had to study for my communications degree, and has sold over a million copies. So it’s no surprise that the author’s son—Jim Bolton—ended up running his own comms training company! You’ll love Jim’s interview below. It’s the second in our…

Communications Wisdom: Karen Boalch, Macquarie Group

Communications Wisdom In conversation with: Karen Boalch, Associate Director, Macquarie Group With a 30-year writing career spanning journalism, politics and business, Karen was a prime candidate for our Communications Wisdom series. An Associate Director at Macquarie Group, she crafts communications for senior leadership. She was previously Press Secretary to the NSW Opposition Leader and NSW…

Made to Stick (5/6): Use emotion to engage

  (Reuters/ Jason Reed) Here’s a statistic that surprises almost everyone who hears it. Imagine you were the CEO of a large organisation, deciding on a $100 million project. How much of your decision would be based on tangible facts? And how much on instinct and emotions? You might think such critical decisions would be based on evidence. Surely emotions and feelings would be irrelevant when the…

Making Ideas Stick (4/6): Without cred, you’re dead

So far, in the Heath brothers’ SUCCESs model of what it takes to make ideas and messages stick, we’ve looked at: S: The importance of simplifying to the core U: Grabbing people’s attention, and keeping it, through the unexpected C: Making ideas concrete through bringing ideas to life and using sensory language. That’s all well and good. But why should your audience believe you? The second C of…