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Lauren Plüss

@digital_pluss

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Strategy | Comms | Digital
Freelance strategist and comms consultant, helping purpose-driven organisations grow and connect

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Did you know that using can't in your copy can make it harder to read?

Can't, don't and won't are called negative contractions and they're used frequently in copy. But when you read online you tend to skim read copy, especially when we're distracted and multi-tasking.

The GOV.UK style guide, from GDS, advises against negative contractions: many readers find them harder to read, or misread them as the opposite of what they mean. When "not" is contracted to "n't", the negative is easy to miss, especially for people with dyslexia or learning difficulties, or whose first language is not English. That misunderstanding can be the difference between safe and unsafe, seeking support or not, doing something lawful or unlawful.

The fix costs you nothing. Keep the friendly, positive contractions like you'll and we're, because they keep you sounding like a person. But the moment it turns negative, spell it out: cannot, do not, will not.

These are the kind of rules that are listed in style guides. They help content be consistent across your whole site and ensure best practice is implemented and readability of content is prioritised.

If you do not have a style guide yet, or have one that's been gathering dust, you might be interested in StyleScout - a new tool I'm building to help organisations create a style guide, keep it alive and check new content against it. Sign up at stylescout.io or DM to be part of the beta testing.

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I'm Lauren, founder of Plüss Digital, working with charities and social impact organisations on content design, comms and marketing. I'm currently building StyleScout, a tool that helps organisations build a style guide and check their content against it.

#Content #CopyWriting #WritingTips

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It is a wrap! 🌯

ERYICA's new project on mental health and emotional well-being, YIminds, kicked off this week in Brussels 🇧🇪

The project is focused on equipping youth information workers with the needed skills to identify mental health distress among young people, recognise their mental health literacy needs and reverse the mental health stigma among them 🧠

Meet the partner consortium!:
🇪🇪 @harno.ee
🇪🇸 @juventudcmadrid
🇦🇹 JugendInfo österreich
🇧🇪 @deambrassade
🇨🇾 @cyprus.youth.council
🇬🇷 @iasis_gr
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @youngscot

Want to know more about the project's evolution and outcomes? Stay tuned to our social media! 📲

#mentalhealth #youthinformation #youthinfo #YIminds #emotionalwellbeing #emotionalsupport #mentalhealthsupport

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Awkwardmoments.co.uk Healthy Respect co-commissioned a series of films about consent in an intimate situation. We are delighted that they are now live. Please help to share the website, which has all of the content available for download. If you are a professional and would like a campaign pack, please let us know.

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