Business Writing With Buzz – Guest Post from Rosemary Gillespie

Feb 27, 2012

Business Writing With Buzz – Guest Post from Rosemary Gillespie

Perhaps you’ve tried one without realising it. You’ve certainly read a few. In fact, if you’re looking for a way to grab attention, create drama or give your readers a laugh, a paraprosdokian sentence is a useful writing and presenting technique.

Create Drama

A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase has an unexpected twist that makes the reader or listener reinterpret the first part. For the technically minded, ‘paraprosdokian’ comes from the Greek words for ‘beyond’ and ‘expectation’.

With thanks to a lawyer friend, here are some examples:

A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don’t need it.
I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
I used to be indecisive, now I’m not sure.
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
A bus is a vehicle that travels twice as fast when you run after it as it does when you are in it.
Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Experienced marketing copywriter Rosemary Gillespie established Proof Communications in 2000.

UK-born Rosemary began her love-affair with copywriting, editing and proofreading when working at the BBC in London. Yet it was a few years later, when she was working in the marketing department of a large European business, that Rosemary discovered her eye for detail that marks out her abilities as a marketing copywriter, editor and proofreader. Rosemary’s copywriting career flourished, and led her around Europe, back to the UK, and eventually, to Australia. Here, she wrote tenders and internal communications for various multi-national organisations, before deciding to launch her own business.

Today, Rosemary works with services and professional services businesses of all sizes – copywriting, editing and proofreading their B2B business, sales and marketing materials. She is an occasional contributor to Marketing magazine and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Contact Rosemary:

Phone:	02 9314 7506
Mobile:	0411 123 216

Email:	rosemary@proofcommunications.com.au

Posted by Faye Hollands - Busy Working Mumma on Feb 27, 2012 | 1 comment

One Response to “Business Writing With Buzz – Guest Post from Rosemary Gillespie”

Andressa says:

March 19, 2012 at 7:14 am

nice site. good job.http://www.sapatoonline.net

Reply