About

Hello. I’m Barb Sawyers, leader of Sticky Communication, dedicated to helping people become, or come across as, more effective writers.

I do this by transforming what they’ve said, usually in a telephone conversation, into written words that are clear, compelling and conversational.

Through my blog, articles and my upcoming book and training program, I help people become better writers by writing like they talk–only better.

This means (1) thinking about who you’re talking to, what you want to say and how you want to say it before you hit the keyboard (2) writing freely in a conversational style (3) revising to fix mistakes that could make you look stupid or difficult to understand and to shorten and focus.

I developed this approach as a result of two ah-ha moments: when I first learned how to analyze a sentence and when I started writing for the spoken word.

Back in Mrs. Clark’s class, as I drew those squiggly underlines and brackets with arrows, I knew I had found my calling. I got it, as if I embodied some mystic knowledge passed on from the ancestors. As I studied French and later German, while devouring thousands of novels, my understanding grew of how language works.

I was working as a speech writer when I realized that writing like you talk is far more inspiring, memorable and engaging than the dead writing most organizations expected. This insight was confirmed when bloggers came along, talking about writing as a conversation.

That’s why I love blogging. I also enjoy passing on what I have learned during my 30 years of professional writing and my MA in journalism.

In addition to encouraging people to write like they talk, only better, on this blog I sometimes try to stretch as a writer by trying out humor, sharing insight, sounding off or just having fun.

I apply my write-like-you-talk approach to my work for clients. Although I continue to write for intranets and other employee communication, my new love is email newsletters.

I make it easy for small businesses to showcase their expertise and build relationships by talking to them on the phone and turning the conversation into content for their newsletter, blog or other media. I write in their voice. What’s more, I help clients achieve much higher than average open rates through my grasp of subject lines, preview panes, layouts, lengths and other essentials of email newsletters.

Because I work with a network of accomplished writers, designers and other communication experts, I can match you with a writer who has a background in your area of expertise.

To demonstrate how easy and effective this approach is, join me for a free, no-obligation test drive. Email me and start the conversation about how an email newsletter could work for you.

Most exciting right now is my work transforming many of my posts into a book and training program, called Write Like You Talk–Only Better. Expect to hear more in 2010. If you can’t wait, simply browse this site to read the first draft and comment on some of the topics and issues you’d like to see.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing.