Connecting with the audience
Connection is my greatest strength, and it’s why I love communications work. I have created content for a wide variety of communication pieces, from a pack of gum to billboards. My strength is putting myself in the audience’s shoes and asking why I would care about this? Why would I read it? I don’t like to waste anyone’s time. One of the first ads that I wrote came with the following instructions: write this so that a woman at the beach reading the paper while supervising three kids will notice the ad. I think about that a lot.
Writing for everyone’s level of attention
I love short pieces and giveaways with a clear, concise message that matters to the recipient. Another strength is working to make each part of the content stand alone. When I work on longer publications like reports and magazines, I want them to work on multiple levels so that if the recipient only looks at the cover or the first few pages, they’ll get the core message(s). Same if they only look at the headlines and callout text. And if they only look at the photos and captions, I want them to walk away with a clear message.
I know that time and attention are at a premium, so I want everything I do to reach many people in many situations. Sometimes we only have a little bit of attention to work with as content creators: my job is to make it count.
A picture is worth a thousand words – maybe more. Sometimes it’s the whole thing.
I like images that create a shortcut to meaning, images that evoke feelings and emotions, and images that capture the imagination. Images can take content to an entirely different and fantastic place.