Writing and Communication

As well as drafting many dozen official speeches, articles and interventions over his FCO career, Charles Crawford produced a large body of vivid telegrams and emails, many in an unconventional direct style. His work has been praised at the highest levels in London and in NATO and the European Union:   

·         “I keep your telegrams to the end of the queue – they are the only ones I want to read”

·         “fabulously readable and interesting analysis, with practical application … just about the best scenesetter [No10 staff] have ever seen” 

·         “one of the few truly original thinkers in my time [in the FCO] – at his best on pungent analysis and stylish, warm-hearted influencing"

·         “acrobatic and eye-catching in his use of language”

Much of this work dealt with significant foreign policy issues and will be available to the general public only in many years’ time under UK Public Records procedures. Now his energetic, witty drafting skills are available on the open market. 

Charles Crawford takes the line of Frank Luntz in Words that Work: “it’s not what you say – it’s what they hear”.

What people ‘hear’ from a written text is to a great extent shaped by what they see and feel, including via subliminal first impressions about layout, punctuation and style. Is the page cluttered, complicated, hard to read at a glance? Is its message clear?

Above all, the first thing a reader ‘hears’ on receiving a document written by someone is the writer’s reputation. Does a reader’s heart sink when confronted with this new text? Or is the reaction: “At last – something worth reading!”?

Charles Crawford can help writers turn average writing into excellent writing, by making a text and its messages simpler and direct - but also stylish and interesting. 

He is happy to discuss informally how this might best work in individual cases. Contact him here: mail@charlescrawford.biz