Search results for: quick tips
Quick tip: Read your draft to your SMEs
Did you ever work with a SME who kept putting off reviewing a white paper draft? Maybe English wasn’t their first language. Or maybe they weren’t sure how to express their comments on your draft. But they were too embarrassed to admit it. Here’s a smart way around that: 1. Schedule a meeting or Zoom,…
Read MoreQuick tip: Make every bullet count
There’s nothing like a set of bullets to make a list easy to scan. But are your bulleted lists as sharp as they could be? Here are four tips to help make every bullet count. Tip 1: Order bullets for quick scanning It’s obvious how to arrange a set of bullets, right? You put the…
Read MoreQuick tip: Fix a draft white paper that’s too short
So you’ve written a draft white paper, but it’s way too short. Now your reviewers and your sponsor are complaining. Can you expand it? Yes, you can. And here are some practical tips on how. But first, check out these one-page “white papers” What do you think? Are they long enough to be convincing? Or…
Read MoreQuick tip: Fix a draft white paper that’s too long
So you’ve written a draft white paper, but it’s way too long. Now your reviewers and your sponsor are complaining. So can you shorten a draft that’s way too long? Yes, you can. And here are five practical tips how. What’s too long, anyway? Technical people may read a white paper 30 or 40 pages…
Read MoreQuick tip: 6 easy hacks for ChatGPT [with sample prompts]
After using ChatGPT for a time, we learn a few hacks to get better results. Here’s a quick roundup of six easy ways to pump up your prompts: The first three are common tips you may have heard already. The last three are strange “emotional engineering” to push the AI further. Plus, a bonus tip…
Read MoreQuick tip: How to make better lists
Every white paper includes a list or two. No wonder. Lists have many benefits: Lists help us compare and contrast Lists gather together a lot of data Lists can be scanned at a glance Designers and UX researchers have known for decades that lists are a good way to “chunk” info into shorter pieces. Those…
Read More20 top tips for white paper designers
First time ever designing a white paper? You can make that a smash hit or a total flop. It’s as simple as that. White paper readers don’t demand anything fancy. They just want a document that’s easy to scan, easy to read, and professional. If you give them that, they’ll likely scan it to pick…
Read MoreQuick tip: Don’t go mobile-first with white papers
For years, we’ve heard that everything should be mobile-first. But I don’t believe this applies to long-form content like white papers. I’m not a luddite. I have an iPhone and I read my email on it. But when I find a white paper on my phone, I send the link to my desktop. That way,…
Read MoreQuick tip: Don’t sign any contract like this?!
I was recently invited to guest on a podcast for entrepreneurs. 1.5 minute read And I almost agreed… until I saw their Terms & Conditions. They asked to own and make unrestricted use of my voice and likeness, real or edited, for all time, in any medium, for no money. Check out this clause in…
Read MoreQuick tip: Don’t start your research with Google
Yes, you need a lot of research for a white paper. No, you don’t want to start with Google. That might send you down countless rabbit holes. And with AI content being dumped online, we can expect the web to get even more polluted with lies and disinformation in the future. So here are three…
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