Our voice isn’t just for advertising headlines or posters.
Even the smallest piece of writing is an opportunity to show people what kind of organisation we are.
Take a look at this heading:
Barbican Venue Hire
It’s accurate. It’s easy-to-read. But it’s not likely to inspire anyone into choosing one of our spaces.
So whether it’s a heading in a brochure or a website cookie message, we need to make sure our writing works as hard as possible.
Start your sentences with imperatives: short, active verbs like ‘find’, ‘explore’, ‘discover’, ‘join’.
They make your sentences sound energetic. And they force us to talk about our readers, not about ourselves.
Business Membership provides a variety of exciting opportunities to entertain your clients.
=> Entertain your clients with Business Membership at the Barbican.
Questions draw the reader in, and make them take notice of what we’re saying.
Questions are also a useful way of breaking down detail or instructions:
We take a look at how musicians have dealt with the subject of masculinity.
=> How have musicians dealt with masculinity?
Long-winded sentences make our writing sound slow and stuffy. Combine short and medium sentences to add pace and energy.
A world-class arts and learning centre, the Barbican pushes the boundaries of all major art forms including dance, film, music, theatre and visual arts.
=> Dance. Film. Music. Theatre. Visual arts. Whatever you’re into, you’ll find it here.
When you’re writing every day, it can be easy to rely on the same tricks and techniques.
If you feel like you’re stuck in a writing rut, try mixing it up: