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Wisdom and Wit About Words
Published by Bob Kelly
Resident Wordsmith and Quotemeister
WordCrafters, Inc.
www.wordcrafters.info
Providing the Right Word for Speakers, Writers, Ministry Leaders and Business Executives – since 1979!
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Volume 1 – Number 7 July 2003
In This Issue:
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BACK ISSUES AVAILABLE
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A number of our readers have expressed interest in seeing previous issues of The KellyGram, and were pleased to announce that theyre now available on our website: www.wordcrafters.info.
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THE QUOTE CORNER (Freedom)
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Posterity you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.
- John Quincy Adams
The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.
The spirit of man grows in freedom; it withers in chains.
- Bernard M. Baruch
In their cry for freedom, it may truly be said, the voice of the people is the voice of God.
- Grover Cleveland
Freedom is the oxygen of the soul.
- Moshe Dayan
The winning of freedom is not to be compared to the winning of a gamewith the victory recorded forever in history. Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshedelse like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.
- Benjamin Franklin
We are free, not because we have freedom, but because we serve freedom.
No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
- William Pitt
Freedom is indivisible, there is no "s" on the end of it. You can erode freedom, diminish it, but you cannot divide it and choose to keep "some freedoms" while giving up others.
Ammunition beats persuasion when you are looking for freedom.
For those who fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
- Anonymous
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TOP NEWSLETTER TIPS (third of a series)
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Three critically important rules
1) Readability! 2) Readability! 3) Readability! Ignore these three rules, and you're inviting disaster. Aim for a "FOG Index" of 12 or less. The Index equates to the educational level needed to even comprehend written material (16 = college graduate). Readers are generally more comfortable with material below their comprehension level.
The most popular business publications average in the 11 range, and the Wall Street Journal reports that "virtually all general-audience publications are written in the sixth- to twelfth-grade range, as are novels of high literary merit."
(for more information about the FOG Index, please refer to the April 2003 edition of The KellyGram, by visiting our website at www.wordcrafters.info and clicking on "Archives.")
DON'T write to please yourself
Your newsletter MUST be written with your reader in mind. Otherwise, you may as well save your time and money.Use contractions
You use them all the time in speaking; don't hesitate to do the same in your writing. Contractions enhance readability.Read copy aloud
This is an excellent way to determine how readable your copy is. An even better way is to close your eyes and have someone else read it aloud to you. Bonus: another reader may notice errors you missed, or have questions about the content, which could indicate a need for rewrite. Including ads? Watch out!
If you want to occasionally include ads for your own products, or to promote an upcoming seminar you're sponsoring, that's acceptable. But keep them to a minimum. And avoid outsider ads. Thats a sure way to destroy the image youre trying to build.
Avoid "wall-to-wall" copy
Don't write so much copy that you fill all the space with type. Nothing will turn readers off more quickly. If youre doing a printed version, use pull quotes, subheads, screens, boxes, informational graphics, art and photos.Avoid the first person
A lot of "we" and "us" and "our" in a newsletter diminishes credibility. A third-person news style sounds more believable than the first-person style many newsletters employ. The closer a publication gets to sounding objective, the more credible it becomes.Stick to a schedule
Start with your targeted mailing dates and work backward. Include deadline dates for every step in the process: copy submission, typesetting, printing, etc. Its wise to have your schedule, including major themes, prepared several issues in advance.
And dont waste your time and money putting out your newsletter every "now and then." Monthly or quarterly issues work best. Getting them out once or twice a year doesn't build the consistency or reader loyalty you seek.
(The previous articles in this series are available on our website. Go to www.wordcrafters.info and click on "Archives")
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THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMOR
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Zig Ziglar has described Fred Smith, Sr. as "the best and wisest teacher I have ever met." A former vice president for Gruen Watch Company, and consultant to Mobil, Caterpillar and GENESCO, Smith later established a successful food packaging brokerage firm in Dallas, Texas. Currently, he mentors executives and professional individuals.
In a recent interview with Leadership Wired, Smith was asked about the importance of humor in our lives. This was his reply:
"A sense of humor makes up for all of our imperfections. Most of humor is in the area between where we are and where we think we ought to be. Harvard followed a group of executives for about 30 years, studying their basic traits. Four points came up consistently, and one of them was a sense of humorthat they were able to laugh at themselves. I do think we can be terribly serious about things that we should laugh about. The things we worry about today, we laugh about tomorrow. When you go back to a school reunion, what do you laugh about? The times you almost got in trouble. And I think if we just simply say, Is this something I'll laugh about a year from now, two years, five years from now? and just maintain a sense of humor, particularly about ourselves, then we will be okay. You know, pious people or pompous people, they dread a sense of humor. They're afraid of it."
(Used by permission from Dr. John C. Maxwell's free monthly e-newsletter, Leadership Wired, available at www.MaximumImpact.com.)
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OUR NEW BOOK NOW AVAILABLE
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Were pleased to announce the publication of our newest book, which has just been released by Kregel Publishing. Worth Repeating: More than 5,000 Classic and Contemporary Quotes includes many familiar quotes, along with a variety of unique items weve been collecting over the course of 20-plus years. The selections range from funny to profound, from inspirational to entertaining, and from educational to spiritually motivating and uplifting.
Designed as a helpful resource for speakers, writers, teachers and preachers, the book is arranged alphabetically by topic, and by author within each of the more than 700 topics. Both author and subject indexes are also included.
Worth Repeating will be in bookstores shortly, or may be ordered directly from our website at www.wordcrafters.info. Upon request, we will be happy to autograph or personalize books ordered via our site, at no additional charge.
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SMILE AWHILE
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IT'S SO HOT HERE IN ARIZONA RIGHT NOW THAT......
But its a DRY HEAT!
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A FINAL WORD
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Former professional football star and actor Alex Karras was once asked his opinion on the most profitable type of writing. His reply: "Ransom notes."
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© 2003 by Bob Kelly. All rights reserved.
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