David Ogilvy’s famous “10 Tips on Writing” memo plus BONUS color, context, and next steps:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction:
One:
Two:
Three:
Four:
Five:
Six:
Seven:
Eight:
Nine:
Ten:
Introduction
In 1982, David Ogilvy, the creative force behind Ogilvy & Mather, one of the largest advertising agencies in the world, wrote a memo to his management team.
“The better you write, the higher you will go,” he explained. “People who think well, write well.”
The note later appeared in The Unpublished David Ogilvy, a collection of incisive letters and speeches by the renown “Father of Advertising.”
He went on to say: “Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well.”
(Of course, once you learn how to write, you have a potent, valuable skill at your disposal: you can command attention. What’s more, you can influence free will.)
Ogilvy closed the memo with “10 tips” anyone could apply to make their writing — and copywriting, for that matter — better:
One: “Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times.”
Two: “Write the way you talk. Naturally.”
Three: “Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.”
Four: “Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass.”
Five: “Never write more than two pages on any subject.”
Six: “Check your quotations.”
Seven: “Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.”
Eight: “If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.”
Nine: “Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.”
Ten: “If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want.”
Below, I’ve unpacked each of Ogilvy’s 10 short tips in a new VeryGoodCopy Micro-Series called “How to Write Well” 👇
For each hint, I’ll do my best to:
Add color and context
Provide a clear takeaway
Give actionable, easy-to-follow steps
Enjoy — and of course, please feel free to share with your people. 🙂
One:
"Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times."
The book he’s referring to is called Writing That Works.
Ogilvy suggested his people read it over and over and over because he admired the author’s voice and tone.
And reading good writers will, over time, help you internalize the nuances of their style (so you can apply it to your own writing).
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🟩 TAKEAWAY: Good writers are prolific readers.
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How to read more 👇
Marketer Ryan Holiday has some advice: change your mindset.
“Stop thinking of it as some activity that you do,” explains Holiday. “Reading must become as natural as eating and breathing to you. It’s not something you do because you feel like it, but because it’s a reflex, a default.”
He gives solutions to the 3 main barriers keeping people from reading:
No time: “Carry a book with you at all times. Every time you get a second, crack it open.”
No money: “Reading is not a luxury… It’s a necessity… Books are an investment.”
No purpose: “The purpose of reading is not just raw knowledge. It’s that it is part of the human experience.”
Want to read more? Change your mindset.
The rest will follow.
Two:
"Write the way you talk. Naturally."
Ogilvy was famously down to earth, cool.
In 1983, he was on David Letterman to promote his memoir.
“His latest book is called Ogilvy on Advertising,” announced Letterman. “Please welcome, David Ogilvy!”
The camera panned out.
The audience cheered.
The men shook hands.
“The book is very informative,” said Letterman.
Ogilvy just blinked at him.
“Anyone interested in a career in advertising should certainly do themselves a favor and take a look at that thing,” said the host.
“Damn right,” said Ogilvy, cool.
See, the ad man also wrote like he spoke — naturally. And it helped him create brilliant copywriting.
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🟩 TAKEAWAY: Good writing sounds like a casual conversation.
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How to write like you speak 👇
Relax your tone. Plenty of ways to do this. Here are a few:
Use active voice: “Kelsey walked Sydney, the Corgi…” not “Sydney, the Corgi, was walked by Kelsey…”
Use contractions: “you’ll” not “you will”
Use abbreviations: “t.v.” not “television”
Use colloquialisms: “kids” not “children”
Relaxed writing makes for easy reading.
And easy reading makes for happy, engaged readers.
Three:
"Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs."
Because…
To quote Kurt Vonnegut, another genius author: “Readers have to identify thousands of little marks on paper, and make sense of them immediately,” he said. “Pity the reader,” he said.
Reading is so taxing, mentally, physically. And dense writing — writing that uses several words where just 1 or 2 will do — only makes it harder.
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🟩 TAKEAWAY: Good writing conveys its point concisely, in as few words as possible.
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How to write concisely 👇
Concise writing boils down to:
Your awareness (i.e., your ability to recognize wordiness)
Your discipline (i.e., your willingness to cut unnecessary words)
Want to say more with less?
Years ago, I developed a concision exercise designed to train a writer’s awareness and discipline. And I practiced it, daily. And slowly, surely, it rewired my brain.
If you do it once a day, five days a week for a month, your writing will improve.
Do it once a day, five days a week for a year, and the quality of your writing will surpass that of most professional copywriters.
You can learn more about this simple-not-easy exercise here.
Four:
"Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass."
He’s right, of course.
Big words, overused, are often unnecessary and almost always annoying. What’s worse, they might confuse The Reader.
And confused people usually tune out.
As a writer, you have only a small window to capture attention. Don’t narrow it even more by using jargon, words your Reader might not know — and probably doesn’t care to know.
(Unless you’re certain your readers DO know the jargon. Then you can — and probably should — use it to make your point more efficiently.)
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🟩 TAKEAWAY: Good writing is immediately understood.
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How to write coherently 👇
Embrace simplicity. Use words even a child can understand.
To borrow from Ogilvy’s example, instead of using:
“Reconceptualize” use “rethink”
“Demassification” use “breakup”
“Attitudinally” use “with attitude”
“Judgmentally” use “with judgement”
Need help with word choice?
Copy/Paste your writing into Hemingway Editor. It will identify complicated words in your copy and suggest simpler alternatives.
Five:
"Never write more than two pages on any subject."
“Two pages” is subjective, of course. But to me, Ogilvy’s point is clear: don’t write more than necessary.
If you can synthesize your point, do it.
If you can say the same thing in fewer words, do it.
In copywriting, in marketing, simplicity wins.
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🟩 TAKEAWAY: Good writing simplifies complex information.
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How to simplify a complex concept 👇
The Big Short is an Oscar-winning film about the 2008 housing collapse that almost didn’t get made.
Because the subject matter — mortgage bonds; credit default swaps; collateralized debt obligations — was too technical for a lay audience.
Here’s how they made it work:
Anytime a complex concept was introduced, a celebrity would appear, armed with a story.
What made these stories so effective?
Shawn Callahan, founder of Anecdote, cites 3 key elements:
Familiarity: the stories were told by famous people (e.g., Selena Gomez; Richard Thaler).
Plausibility: the stories were credible (i.e., Thaler is a renowned economist).
Relatability: the stories took place in recognizable settings (e.g., a casino).
And the stories were metaphorical (i.e., drawing parallels between the housing crisis and losing a blackjack hand).
“If you need to explain something that is complex or highly technical to an audience that might not understand it,” explains Callahan, “then tell them a hypothetical story based on something they do understand, something that’s relatable. And pick someone to deliver the message who is familiar to the audience, someone who is like them and also has credibility.”
Six:
"Check your quotations."
Because writing (especially in public) is a responsibility.
Because your words have consequences.
Because the things you say can ripple, will ripple.
So yes…
Check your quotes.
Check your facts.
Check yourself — your ego — at the door.
Unless you’re writing in your diary, the things you write are almost always in service of others.
To help others understand.
To help others improve.
To help others care.
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🟩 TAKEAWAY: Good writing has integrity.
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How to maintain your integrity 👇
Let your conscience be your guide.
Seven:
"Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it."
It’s easy to get “too close” to your writing.
Distance yourself from your work to regain objectivity, and ensure your message makes sense.
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🟩 TAKEAWAY: Good writing is clear.
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How to write clearly 👇
You can use the Paramedic Method.
It was designed by Richard Lanham, an English professor at UC Berkeley. It’ll help you clarify any sentence in 2 steps:
STEP 1: Identify the potential problems in a sentence. For example:
Underline prepositions (e.g., about, to, in, across)
Circle forms of the word “be” (e.g., is, am, are, were, was)
Box verbs (e.g., run, hide, jump; running, hiding, jumping)
Highlight the person or thing performing the action
Cross out redundancies
STEP 2: Fix the problems you found. For example:
Rewrite or delete unnecessary prepositional phrases
Replace forms of “be” with action verbs
Put the action in the verb
Put the person or thing performing the action into the subject
Omit redundancies
Basically, Lanham’s method streamlines the editing process.
You can learn more about The Paramedic Method here.
Eight:
"If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it."
“Important” is subjective. So let's just say this “something” is going on the internet, where lots of folks will see it, judge it, and share it.
And of course, everything you publish on the internet will live on — maybe forever — counting towards your reputation, and legacy.
So with so much on the line, why not get a second opinion?
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🟩 TAKEAWAY: Good writing needs an editor.
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How to find an editor 👇
You could ask for a coworker’s feedback, like Ogilvy suggests. But to be fair, your colleagues probably don’t have the time (or desire) to edit your writing.
Good thing you have other options:
Try Reddit: Ask for feedback in a relevant subreddit (anonymously)
Try Twitter: Ask for feedback from your network (publically)
Try hiring a professional editor: Plenty of folks on LinkedIn who can help (just create a post and ask)
Also, good feedback is good.
But bad feedback is better. Bad feedback, critical feedback, is what you want. Because if you can stand it, it’ll make you better.
Nine:
"Before you send your letter or memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do."
Having a clear goal in mind will focus your writing.
It can be a soft goal (e.g., influencing a general belief). Or a hard goal (e.g., compelling a specific, immediate action).
Either way, starting with a goal in mind will make your message clearer, better (not to mention easier to write).
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🟩 TAKEAWAY: Good (business) writing has a goal.
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How to write with a goal 👇
Start with the end, first.
You can do this by writing your call-to-action (i.e., the ask, the thing you want The Reader to do) before you write your headline, your subject line, your first sentence, etc.
Easy.
Ten:
"If you want action, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want."
“Back then” at G2 headquarters in Chicago, this scenario played out often:
“Yo,” I said.
Jesse looked up. I was hovering over his desk.
“Dude,” he laughed.
“You screening my Slacks?” I smiled.
“What?” he laughed. “Come on.”
“Come on,” I said.
“Come ooon,” he said.
He’s my friend. It was our schtick. But Ogilvy’s advice made me remember it…
— — —
🟩 TAKEAWAY: Good writing, sometimes, doesn’t work.
— — —
How to avoid writing 👇
Ogilvy said it best: don’t write.
Get in front of the person, face-to-face.
Not so simple anymore. But you can still get on:
Loom — and record an explanatory video…
Zoom — and have a real-time conversation...
Your phone — and just talk it out...
Writing is profound because it scales. You can write one thing and a million people will get the message. But when it comes to 1-on-1 communication, specifically, it’s hard to beat eye contact and a smile.
A real-time conversation beats a personal letter, email, or Slack message, every time.
I think that’s what Ogilvy meant.
Done!
Thanks so much for being here.
I hope you enjoyed this Micro-Series — and learned something along the way.
Yours for VeryGoodCopy,
