Word of the day

We noticed with great interest the other day that the Oxford English Dictionary ‘Word of the Day’ was ‘Blatherskite’. You may think it was perhaps just a quiet day at The Awards People HQ but no, we are always interested by the subject of language and the wonderful things which can be achieved by it (writing award-winning award entries being the very best example we can think of!) and finding this new descriptive word simply prompted us to pass on some more helpful reminders about the importance of getting it right.

So, the official definition of Blatherskite is “a person who talks at great length without making much sense”. No, dear reader, we are not going to get ourselves embroiled in the current debacle which is Brexit (oh no, we’ve said the ‘B’ word…), we’re going to keep strictly to the topic of using good, clear language within award entries, regardless of whether the word count needs to be 200 or somewhere closer to 2,000.

A few quick pointers

Here’s just a few quick points why – in our humble opinion – what we write in our entry matters so much. We need to;

1. Show that we are credible (and therefore award-worthy) in everything we do
2. Show we care enough to consider spelling, grammar and punctuation
3. Grab the attention of the judge who will be reading many applications
4. Hold the interest of the judge and engage him / her in our story
5. Avoid boring (or losing) the reader with repetition or very specific jargon

At The Awards People we do understand that the written word may not be everyone’s ‘thing’ and there is by no means an expectation for all applicants to be budding wordsmiths; ultimately we understand that the award is all about the actions rather than the description of them. That said, there are some basic steps we can all take to ensure we demonstrate that we are both enthusiastic about our business and care about how we present ourselves to others. By doing this we illustrate that positive traits such as clarity, logic, pride and attention to detail are engrained in us – and therefore probably also in our business too!

Be more brilliant

In tackling your award entry, therefore – a task which we know can be daunting to many – have the word ‘Blatherskite’ in mind (it does roll off the tongue, doesn’t it???). Ask yourself if you have made complete sense, addressed the questions being asked of you and used language and terminology which can be easily understood outside of your industry. If you haven’t then go back through your text and amend it to help the reader make sense of the story you are telling. After all, the easier it is for the judge to understand, the easier it is to let the true brilliance of your achievements shine through. Be less Blatherskite, be more Brilliant!