Page 73 - How to write effective business English your guide to excellent professional communication by Fiona Talbot

62 How to Write Effective Business English

Do also consider posting your own interesting content on
SlideShare, a LinkedIn company that’s the world’s largest profes-
sional content sharing platform. It’s a great way of getting noticed
professionally.

What excites people so much they
want to share it?

You already have an idea about this and indeed, analysing across
all channels, these messages get shared most:

● ● Lists and tips – especially things on how to work better, for
example, ‘How Successful People Stay Calm’; ‘The Three
Qualities of People I Most Enjoy Working With’; ‘Ten Top Tips
for Leadership’.

● ● Articles that bring out an emotional response – positive emotions
get a faster response on most channels, eg greatest, happiest,
cutest, wow this is GREAT! That doesn’t mean that negative
emotions don’t work, however. ‘Four Destructive Myths to
Banish’ definitely gets shared. ‘Do you know how many things
you could be sued for?’ will most likely work better for an
insurer than ‘We introduce our exciting new insurance product!’
But choose your negatives carefully in a business context.

● ● Quotes – as with articles, people share emotions just as much
(maybe more) than they share facts. Share others’ words of
wisdom or witticisms, etc, and you can become part of the
chatter. If the quotes are your own, you may have more influence –
and lead the conversation.

● ● Verbs – whether knowledge- or action-based, for example:
know, prove, think, grab one now, hurry, don’t miss out.

● ● Captivating captions/slogans that underpin and enhance a
relevant and brilliant visual/picture/video – for example: