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We thought it'd be interesting to compare Mr Obama's use of the tricolon with Mr Brown's. We know it's not fair – one's a world-renowned orator, the other's not – but it offers some useful lessons. For business writers, and maybe for political leaders too. More

The law of shiny things works like this: magpies can’t tell the difference between a diamond ring and a bit of Kit Kat wrapper. And humans aren’t that different. A new delivery format or an extra bells-and-whistles feature will attract client attention – even if it’s not a step-change improvement. (Penicillin was a step-change improvement, touch [...] More

Improving updates, briefings, and newsletters isn't hard, but it does take focus. We'd like to share our pet mnemonic with you – Running Animals Beat Crawlers. Hopefully it'll help with that focus thing. More

Lawyers who use numbers and data will stand out from the crowd There’s a myth that lawyers don’t ‘do’ numbers. Believers say it’s because lawyers live in a world of words where numbers don’t get a look-in. We’re less convinced – 0ur view is that business is pretty numbers-focused, and lawyers are part of business. Numeracy may [...] More

There's just no way to soften the blow – it may be worse if your clients do read your updates than if they don't. Few law-firms think about updates in terms of the risk that they pose to the firm's reputation – and revenue. But it's time to think again. More