If you’re reading this, you’re probably a designer, which means you’re more likely to express yourself visually than with words. That also means attending a writing workshop is probably not your first choice on how to spend a perfectly good lunch. But wait! What if we told you that today's designers are destined to become web writers? True – you may not feel comfortable with words, but neither do most web audiences! These days, communicating verbally is part of the job description for all of us. Let Alice Williams show you how to communicate what your next web visitor wants to know as painlessly as possible – for both of you. Listen, have a nice lunch, make friends with fellow designers – and maybe even cozy up to words. All in all, it's not too bad for a lunch. Connect with Alice before the event (@StratChick) and let her know what you'd like to learn about writing for the web.

1. Good start. Needs
more gibberish.

2. Let’s get warmed up
 Who are you in six words or less?
Kindle is not quite the same.

3. First Things First: Who are you?
(But really, Why should I care?)
OUR BRAND

4. Why does it matter?
 The Web is about SHOWING, not TELLING.
 If you don’t figure out who you authentically
are, you have nothing to show.

5. Why does it matter?
 hesketh.com: Web-powered outcomes for
empowered clients

7. Why does it matter?
 Museum of Life & Science
•
•

9. Going Deeper
 Establishing Persuasion, Emotion and Trust
(PET)

10. How do you PET your audience?

12. Your Tools: Elements of Tone
? Mirroring of user mental models
? Use of person & voice
? Content choice (how much detail, which
details, what forms of evidence)
? Word choice (connotations, level of technical
usage, complexity, parts of speech)
? Sentence structure/cadence
? Information chunking
? Selection of visual elements

14. Working on the Web means saying
goodbye to control
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzee_que/3852900728/

15. Banner
May quickly Blindness
scan for a
call to action
1) Top line of F
is first
2) Middle line
3) Vertical line of F is second
of F is third &
most intense
Source: http://www.useit.com/eyetracking/

16. Visually
Visual division of
highlighted areas
space can extend
can change
the lines of the F
patterns
Source: http://www.useit.com/eyetracking/

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* HaraldWeinreich, HartmutObendorf, Eelco Herder, and Matthias Maye. ”Not Quite the Average: An Empirical Study
of Web Use," in the ACM Transactions on the Web, vol. 2, no. 1 (February 2008), article #5.

18. For every additional 100 words on a page,
visitors will only spend another 4.4 seconds
there
Source: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/percent-text-read.html

23. 
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29. Our Goals Audience Goals

31. 
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32. What are
your
questions
?
Alice Williams
alice@hesketh.com
@StratChick
919.834.2552 ext. 17