I was interviewed recently by Susan Lancaster Maghrabi for her podcast The Online Entrepreneur Academy. We had a relaxed chat about writing and websites, and how my time as a teacher then a journalist in BBC World Service News led to my editorial training and consultancy work.
Susan probed me for my thoughts on how to make web content easy to read – don’t centre your text! – how to encourage people to use simple language and how constant feedback helps you improve your writing.
We agreed that too many websites fail to give you the most obvious information that people are looking for, such as time and date of an event and contact details. Also that with a little extra effort websites could adapt their language to be more in tune with their audience.
Susan even did the Desert Islands Discs trick on me: favourite book and favourite piece of music? You don’t need to know those, but for a final thought I said, do ask for help. There’s always someone who knows more about a topic or technique than you do. Make use of them and remember that people love to help.
You can listen to the podcast, it’s less than 45 minutes, on The Online Entrepreneur Academy on Spotify.