Finding the right writing tone

Finding the right tone for your writing can sometimes feel tricky, especially in professional contexts, and especially if you regularly switch your writing for different audiences or forms. Often advice about tone is focused on the intent of your writing, or your audience’s needs, or even the expectations around the writing genre or form. And […]

Lift Up, Don’t Water Down

How to make complex ideas accessible without losing their depth Nobody likes watery soup.  Or coffee.  Or hot chocolate.  And it’s probably safe to say that nobody likes a watery learning opportunity.  Or art.  Or writing. But is it possible to make your teaching, art, writing, or communication accessible and clear to people without watering […]

Sometimes ‘less is more’ when designing a good presentation

I was chatting with a former student recently about giving a guest lecture.  As a new grad student, he was in the throes of preparing to give his first and was asking for advice (so exciting!).   My big overarching message to him: Less is more. For reals.   I see a whole lotta “more is more” […]

Design a session that will knock their socks off

You’ve been invited to give a guest lecture/workshop/presentation (yay!) but the prospect causes you to break into sweats (ack!). The good news is that people think highly of you and value your expertise – they have invited you to share your awesomeness!  And the other good news is that you don’t have to cram all […]