Insights archive
Red Pony is a team of writers, editors, Microsoft Office template developers and communications trainers. We have been writing about our areas of expertise for over a decade in our Red Pony Express newsletter.
This collection features the best articles from the last 10 years.
What have the French ever done for us?
What we can say with a fair measure of certainty is that French brought with it a dose of class consciousness that’s never really left the English language. This is unsurprising when you consider that the invaders simply made French the official language of Church, Law and State. Any social advancement would therefore have to be done in French.
Using the comma
There’s an almost limitless range of conditional prescriptions to dictate comma usage, but I’ve boiled them down to a few of the most useful.
Using industry awards for a PR boost
Have you ever considered entering your organisation for an industry award? If not, you may be missing out on a golden opportunity for some excellent free publicity.
Bulleted lists
A bulleted list is an asset when you are supporting your argument. It’s a liability when your discussion is so underdeveloped that you rely on dot points to make your case for you. Only use them once you have already made your central point in the text and simply wish to provide some supporting evidence, examples or instructions.
Writing a tender and living to tell the tale (part 2)
In the first part of this article, we looked at what you need to do before you start writing your tender. In this second part, we look at some tips for developing your response to the request for tender (RFT).
Capital letters
Determining when to use a capital letter would seem to be one of the more straightforward grammatical choices. And so it is when you are dealing with proper names or words at the beginning of sentences. It’s pretty obvious to most of us that names of countries, cities, days of the week and specific individuals take a capital letter. But did you know that a reference to the current Australian prime minister should be capitalised, but that references to previous incumbents should not?
Writing a tender and living to tell the tale (part one)
Tenders present a terrific opportunity to win lucrative new business. They may also require a significant investment of your time and resources, with no guarantee of a successful outcome.
Minding your hises and herses
Many organisations and government departments have strict policies governing gender-neutral language. If you have them to hand, shut up and follow them. If you are left to your own devices, here are a few strategies you might employ to keep on the right side of the authorities …
Using the dash
Use dashes sparingly; instead, consider an alternative construction for the sentence, perhaps involving a semicolon. Still, there is a place for dashes, and you can employ them successfully by remembering a few simple guidelines.
Help documentation – how does this work?
If your business sells any type of product, whether it’s a physical object such as a board game or something less tangible such as a software application, providing your customers with clear, concise and easily followed help documentation is vital.
Politics and the English language
In 1946, George Orwell wrote one of the most prescient and influential essays, 'Politics and the English language’. In it he asserts that lazy writing prevents critical thought and ultimately leads to a corruption of political life.
Using the semicolon
You don’t see a lot of the semicolon these days, which is a pity; but it’s remarkable how much greater clarity can be brought to a complex sentence with the judicious application of a semicolon.
Why you need a style guide
A style guide is a useful tool (and, for a professional organisation, an indispensable one) for establishing the acceptable writing style or tone of documents as well as their physical appearance.
Lorem Ipsum
Have you ever come across the dummy text known as Lorem Ipsum? This is the text widely used in the printing industry to demonstrate how a publication will look when it’s printed.
Wielding the apostrophe
No single element of English usage produces such passionate outbursts as the correct use of the apostrophe. The commonest targets of grammarian wrath in this respect are greengrocers and signwriters—probably because their work is always on public display.
Using Microsoft Word templates
If all the documentation that flows out of your organisation to clients and to the wider public is consistent, clear and pleasing to the eye, you’ve overcome the first hurdle in communicating with your target audience.
Ending a sentence on a preposition
It's called a PREposition after all. And if it's 'pre' (or 'before') then it should have something after it, shouldn't it? Well, shouldn't it?
The case for case studies
Where have you been and what were the lessons you learned from the experience—positive and negative? Your clients and customers will be looking for this information too. They know that the best indicator of your future performance is your past performance.That's why a selection of case studies can be a very valuable addition to your website or suite of marketing materials.