Everyday I get emails from Axios summarising news stories. The stories are mostly American and of little direct importance to me but I don’t mind. I like the newsletter as much for its craft as its content.
Axios has a strong ethos of improving communication. This goes beyond its news stories to encouraging and supporting businesses to improve their internal and external communication. And two of its founders have written a book, Smart Brevity, setting out their philosophy.
These are the rules for smart writing, the Axios way.
- Rephrase sentences to be shorter and clearer.
- Reformat paragraphs so that what is most important stands out.
- Remove filler words so readers stay focused.
- Style your text to be quick and easy to scan. Use bold text for important words, use indents and bullet points and have lots of white space around your words.
As an accountant or auditor you can use those rules in your writing. Who doesn’t want to receive a document from you that is short, clear and easy to read?
I recently used the Axios style to makeover the monthly management report for a charity. I think the style works so well for finance reports that I’ll makeover your reports for you. Contact me to find out more.