Josh Bernoff
President
WOBS LLC
Josh Bernoff is the author of Writing Without Bullshit: Boost Your Career by Saying What You Mean (HarperBusiness, 2016). The Globe and Mail called it “a Strunk and White for the modern knowledge worker.”
He blogs every weekday at withoutbullshit.com, publishing commentary on writing, politics, health care, technology, and business strategy. His blog has attracted more than two million views in its first two years.
His three previous business books include the BusinessWeek bestseller Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press, 2008). He will publish two other books on technology and strategy in 2018. His book Truth and Influence is due out in 2019.
In his spare time, Josh is the volunteer CEO of wellnesscampaign.org, a non-profit organization transforming the health habits of hundreds of people. He was previously senior vice president, idea development at Forrester Research.
He blogs every weekday at withoutbullshit.com, publishing commentary on writing, politics, health care, technology, and business strategy. His blog has attracted more than two million views in its first two years.
His three previous business books include the BusinessWeek bestseller Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press, 2008). He will publish two other books on technology and strategy in 2018. His book Truth and Influence is due out in 2019.
In his spare time, Josh is the volunteer CEO of wellnesscampaign.org, a non-profit organization transforming the health habits of hundreds of people. He was previously senior vice president, idea development at Forrester Research.
SESSIONS
April 16, 2019, 9:00 am (
3.0 Hours)
People spend only 36 seconds on the average online news article. None of us were trained to write for this cluttered read-on-screen world. It's time to learn a new way to do business writing -- one that's bold, direct, effective, and will get you noticed -- and get your work done. From emails to blog posts to reports, learn how to write without bullshit. After a brief description of the psychology and values that have made bullshit so pervasive, this workshop quickly gets down to analyzing examples and developing skills. It’s divided into three parts: learning to get to the point quickly, purging toxic prose elements like passive voice and jargon, and restructuring your writing process for maximum efficiency and best results. Master these techniques and you'll stop wasting your reader's time -- and start getting your way at work:
•Embrace the Iron Imperative: treat the reader's time as more valuable than your own
•Results of a survey of more than 500 business writing professionals on their strengths, weaknesses and pet peeves
•Learn the trick of putting more meaning into fewer words
•Front-load your writing: bottom line up front
•Identify and correct pernicious elements including passive voice, jargon, and weasel words
•The four things to check before writing anything
•How to protect your best writing from committees, clueless reviewers, and misguided corporate policies
•Embrace the Iron Imperative: treat the reader's time as more valuable than your own
•Results of a survey of more than 500 business writing professionals on their strengths, weaknesses and pet peeves
•Learn the trick of putting more meaning into fewer words
•Front-load your writing: bottom line up front
•Identify and correct pernicious elements including passive voice, jargon, and weasel words
•The four things to check before writing anything
•How to protect your best writing from committees, clueless reviewers, and misguided corporate policies
April 17, 2019, 10:30 am (
40 Min)
Among professionals who write, 81% say that poorly written material wastes a lot of their time. This inefficiency is choking your productivity and ruining your day. Embrace the Iron Imperative: treat the reader’s time as more valuable than your own. Embrace the culture of clean writing and stand out from the crowd -- and get more done, more quickly. In this session, you'll learn to:
•Get quickly to the point -- so people will read and act on your emails and blog posts.
•Say more with fewer words.
•Purge the toxic prose elements -- passive voice, jargon, and weasel words -- that make you sound like a wimp.
•Maintain a bold voice in collaborative writing environments.
•Get quickly to the point -- so people will read and act on your emails and blog posts.
•Say more with fewer words.
•Purge the toxic prose elements -- passive voice, jargon, and weasel words -- that make you sound like a wimp.
•Maintain a bold voice in collaborative writing environments.
April 18, 2019, 1:00 pm (
50 Min)
A business book is the most powerful form of content marketing. Publishing a book could catapult your career and confirm your status as a leading expert and authority. But without a recipe for success, the process will suck up your time and energy, and then fizzle rather than skyrocket on launch. Attend this session to learn the systematic way to improve your chances of success and start acting like an author. From the author of 6 books -- and midwife to countless others.
•Learn the fundamental book publishing roadmap that's required for success.
•The one question that determines if it makes sense for you to write a book.
•How to research, structure, and write a book your audience can't resist.
•The tradeoffs in traditional publishing, self-publishing, and hybrid models.
•Book promotion secrets from successful authors.
•Learn the fundamental book publishing roadmap that's required for success.
•The one question that determines if it makes sense for you to write a book.
•How to research, structure, and write a book your audience can't resist.
•The tradeoffs in traditional publishing, self-publishing, and hybrid models.
•Book promotion secrets from successful authors.
April 18, 2019, 4:00 pm (
1.5 Hours)
With RAVE reviews after our Debut last year, our Comedy Marketing Keynotes Series arrives on the main keynote stage to explore the intersection of comedy, marketing, and business growth. Learn from the marketing turned comedy pros on how to engage customers and build loyalty with your brand. Most importantly, get the clear guidance you need to rid the world of all this bad, boring content from comedy keynotes that are sure to inspire and entertain.
April 19, 2019, 9:00 am (
55 Min)
Among professionals who write, 81% say that poorly written material wastes a lot of their time. This inefficiency is choking your productivity and ruining your day. Embrace the Iron Imperative: treat the reader’s time as more valuable than your own. Embrace the culture of clean writing and stand out from the crowd -- and get more done, more quickly. In this session, you'll learn to:
•Get quickly to the point -- so people will read and act on your emails and blog posts.
•Say more with fewer words.
•Purge the toxic prose elements -- passive voice, jargon, and weasel words -- that make you sound like a wimp.
•Maintain a bold voice in collaborative writing environments.
•Get quickly to the point -- so people will read and act on your emails and blog posts.
•Say more with fewer words.
•Purge the toxic prose elements -- passive voice, jargon, and weasel words -- that make you sound like a wimp.
•Maintain a bold voice in collaborative writing environments.