1. Grammar and
Blogging 101

3. Visual approximation of the English language

4. Most Common Errors
They’re vs. Their vs. There
Your vs. You’re
Its vs. It’s
Who’s vs. Whose
Affect vs. Effect
Me vs. I
Peek vs. peak (and pique, but
whatever)
Who vs. That vs. Which

5. Most Common Errors

7. Most Common Errors
Me vs. I
“I” is a subject pronoun, “me” is an object pronoun.
“Can you save a piece of corn for Nacho and I?”

8. Most Common Errors
Affect vs. Effect
Affect is (typically) a verb, Effect is (typically) a noun.

9. Most Common
Errors
Affect vs. Effect
Affect is (typically) a verb, Effect is (typically) a noun.

10. Active Voice vs Passive Voice

11. “Dutch aimed his grenade launcher as Mac fired
wildly into the jungle, hitting nothing.”

12. “Dutch‟s grenade launcher was held steady as Mac‟s
gun was being fired wildly into the jungle.”

13. Active Voice
• I love those chicken wings.
• Subject – verb – object
Passive Voice
• Those chicken wings are loved by me.
• Object – passive verb – subject
HemingwayApp
Identifying Passive Voice

14. “To be” is the most basic verb in the English language. It can also be
the most overused.
Forms of “Be”
• I am;
• You are; We are; They are;
• He/she/it is;
• I was;
• You were; We were; They were;
• He/she/it was;
• I have been; I am being;
Easily form passive sentences by relying on “be”
To Be or Not to Be

15. Easily form passive sentences by relying on
“be”
“The skull was made by Hamlet in arts and crafts.”
“Hamlet made that skull in arts and crafts.”
No matter what something is or might be, there
will almost certainly be a better action verb to
tell your story.
Easy ways to avoid:
• Stay away from “due to” or “because of”
• Get active
• Our groups are often split by our teacher.
• Our teacher often splits our groups.
• Get rid of padding in your sentences
To Be or Not to Be

16. Literary Devices
Metaphors – (Two things are the same)
He is just as sharp as a tack.
Analogies – (Like/as comparison) Mike’s
jokes land like a bag of rotting garbage.
Alliteration – Frank frantically followed.
Colloquial Language – Does a wild bear
crap in the woods?

17. Master Metaphors
“This weekend was so much fun.”

18. Master Metaphors
“This weekend was so much fun.”

19. Master Metaphors
“This weekend was more fun than
a barrel full of monkeys.”

20. Analogies in Action

21. Do Less

22. Do Less
I am your Kunu.
Writing is not a mystical art. It’s just words.
You are the boss of words.

23. Don‟t try too hard.

24. Do Less
7th – 8th grade reading level
Short paragraphs
Use bullets
Don’t use a $10 word when a $5 word will suffice. Better
yet, but that for a dollar.
Avoid jargon unless it’s required.
Get rid of adjectives
• Adjectives are messy and mean different things to different people

26. Keep It Simple
“Airtight privacy controls on your accounts can be
an effective way to keep potential employees from
finding personal information, but it’s not always
the best protection for everyone.
“Making your accounts private builds an extra
barrier between you and employers, but it is not a
perfect protection.”

27. Great content should be…
• „Customer‟ focused
• Authentic
• Compelling
• Entertaining
• Surprising
• Valuable
• Interesting
On Writing

28. Truth – Even if it’s not truth, it has to have truth within it.
Even if you have no specific experience, you have
experience that can relate to your content.
Relevance – Content has to matter.
Passion – Need to care about what you’re writing.
Human Element –Even if the post is more of a business
article, you can relate content to what makes a manager
tick. Find their hurt.
Originality – Not new, but bring a fresh perspective.
Surprise – Don’t stick to just the common place, bring an
unexpected twist – and surprise can take many forms.
On Writing

29. Finding Your Voice
Voice
• How you write
• Research the field
• Fit your audience
• Empathy is crucial
• Don‟t write to limits

31. Finding Your Voice
Write What You Know
Personal filter is the most important
thing
Write Basic Points or Subheadings
- Dont Outline
Consumption experts

32. On Writing

33. ANYTHING can be a story
• Start with a headline, then research
• Content Food Chain
• Not repurposing or cannibalizing
• Dig deep for new ideas
Thinking of Content

34. Research like crazy
Attribute
Experiment
Use cold hard stats and then write about them
Read it out loud
On Writing

35. On Writing
Relax
• Be natural
• Tell a story
• Lose the buzzwords (not the keywords)
• Be informal, figurative
• Grammar can be flexible
Be Original
• To a point
• Originality is elusive, perspective is
inherent
• Oakley Hall – “Steal wisely.”

36. On Writing
Be Confident and Back It Up
• Readers can sense BS
• Have proof
• Believe what you‟re writing
Two types of content:
• Help someone learn
• Personal accounts
Get people to ask Questions
Write to Your Strengths