Writing for Impact
8 Secrets from Science That Will Fire Up Your Readers’ Brains
by Bill Birchard
Pub Date Apr 04 2023
HarperCollins Leadership
Business, Leadership, Finance| Nonfiction \(Adult\)


HarperCollins Leadership and Netgalley sent me a copy of Writing for Impact to review:


Discover how to energize your writing, engage readers, and break out with influence.


A well-written argument won't help you if you lose your audience. To gain influence, simple emails, formal reports, blogs, presentations, and articles need punch. Structure and logic alone won't suffice. When you use language to engage readers, you need to select words that electrify their mental hotspots.


The secret to making that happen is revealed by veteran journalist Bill Birchard. Using findings from a global team of psychologists and neuroscientists, he draws on his long, successful career as a writer. Using eight powerful writing strategies, he demonstrates how to write faster, win over more people, and earn influence as a thought leader.


I give Writing for Impact four out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Bill Birchard offers practical insights into enhancing writing skills through scientific research, making it a valuable resource for students seeking to improve their communication abilities. I recommend this book for its straightforward approach and useful tips that can help develop more effective writing techniques.

This book packed a punch! I loved the tips and explanations it gave surrounding how to capture readers' attention. This is a great read for writers looking for advice on how to hone their craft.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A helpful writer's reference book that offers a brief yet insightful exploration of the emotional resonance that word choices can impart to readers.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Leadership, and author Bill Birchard for the advance read copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this book. I also learned a lot when it comes to writing with clarity and conciseness. I just wish there’s a checklist in the end that I could refer to whenever I’m writing, but it’s okay. Every tip in every chapter is gold.

Thank you NetGalley and Bill Birchard’s for the chance to read this book and share my honest thoughts,

"Writing for Impact" by Bill Birchard is a valuable resource for writers seeking to enhance their skills and captivate readers. Drawing on his extensive experience in writing and insights from neuroscience and psychology, Birchard presents an immediately applicable framework for crafting compelling communication, whether it's a brief note, an article, or a book.

The book revolves around eight key principles for creating a rewarding reader experience: simplicity, specificity, surprise, stirring emotions, seduction, smartness, social engagement, and storytelling. Birchard illustrates these principles with examples from notable writers like Vonnegut and Hemingway, offering valuable insights into the art of effective writing.

"Writing for Impact" promises to equip writers with the tools to energize their writing, engage readers, and influence effectively. With its blend of scientific research and practical advice, it holds the potential to help writers of all levels improve their craft. Birchard's expertise shines through in this book, making it a valuable addition to the writer's toolkit.

WRITING FOR IMPACT by Bill Birchard is about "8 Secrets from Science That Will Fire Up Your Readers' Brains." Birchard, an experienced journalist and writing coach, describes factors which all start with "S": simple, specific, surprising, stirring, seductive, smart, social, story driven. He gives examples and quotes writers like Vonnegut and Hemingway, but I was not able to see if he offers specific practice exercises or even a helpful (Keep it simple!) summary at the end of each chapter. Sadly, my preview copy was archived before I had an opportunity for more than a cursory look and I am therefore giving this text a neutral 3 star rating. Birchard does include a several page list of Essential References, extensive Notes, and an Index which together comprise roughly fifteen to twenty percent of the text.

Writing for Impact is a decent resource that goes over lots of creative writing tips. It is all quite basic though, so I'd only recommend to people beginning with the art.

Many thanks to Bill Birchard, NetGalley, and Harper Collins for this copy.

This is a good resource for anyone who wants to improve their writing skills and make a lasting impression. The author's blend of science-backed strategies and real-world examples hooks you right from the start, and you'll be amazed at how easily you can engage readers. This book can help you communicate like a pro.

With WRITING FOR IMPACT, Bill Birchard shares his hard-won wisdom for writers. His long expertise in writing combined with his deep dive into neuroscience and psychology yield a useful and immediately applicable framework for anyone attempting to write anything from quick notes to articles to books. His eight keys for a rewarding reader experience offer a framework for thinking, drafting, and evaluating a communication: Is it SIMPLE, SPECIFIC, SURPRISING, STIRRING, and then SEDUCTIVE, SMART, SOCIAL, AND STORY DRIVEN. I found the material to be familiar and also very useful as another perspective on how to craft our most powerful, moving messages. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

Not sure to whom this book is marketed. The title would suggest authors, but the subtitle would suggest readers. And while reading it, I was still questioning myself. Sure, there is info for writers, but most of the book is for quotes and neuroscience studies while I was looking for writing advice. The result : I got incredibly bored and felt that reading the summary was enough for me.
Still, if you are a curious reader in want of neuroscience knowledge, it's for you!

This is a great book filled with insight and advice from many years of writing experience. This book would make a perfect gift for anyone who needs to write for a social media, for their profession, or for the classroom. With short succinct chapters that clearly define the goal of each chapter, anyone will find themselves thinking back to what they read. With memorable examples, and a clear direct writing style I could easily see this being a great small book to give as a graduation present for someone heading off to college! The advice that is given here will help supplement what is taught in the composition classroom and it remind everyone what it takes to be a successful writer -- ie one who is able to share a thought in words.

Solid book of advice, full of examples and practical tips. It doesn't introduce a huge amount, but it formats a lot of what is out there in a helpful and manageable way. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity with the title.

One of the key things many writers struggle with is engaging readers from start to finish. Whether writing an article, short story, or fiction novel, these eight steps could be relevant for anyone interested in learning about the science behind engagement and how to use it to your advantage. I found this a quick read with some interesting ideas. While there were many things I'd already heard about through my prior studies, this would be a great reference for someone looking to up-skill their writing.

This was a NetGalley review.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of Writing for Impact, 8 Secrets from Science That Will Fire Up Your Readers’ Brains by Bill Birchard from Net Galley and Harper Collins Leadership, in order to read and give an honest review.

... A well-written, informative, and down to earth guide for writers of all kinds, I highly recommend it...

If you are a writer and enjoy learning what happens in the brains of your readers, this book is for you. Being a writer and having a strong love of learning about neuroscience I personally found this book fascinating.  

In Writing for Impact, Author, Bill Birchard offers his eight tips to help writers engage and evoke an emotional response in their readers. Each chapter goes into detail on how to keep It Simple, Specific, Surprising, Stirring, Seductive, Smart, Social and Story-driven offering advice, examples and neurological research that will help writers understand how our writing can impact readers. 

Although very research forward, I found Writing for Impact to be a practical guide to writing that I will refer to again. A well-written, informative, and down to earth guide for writers of all kinds, I highly recommend it.

There are many different ideas about how to write well, but most seem to focus on the grammar and structure of the writing. While important, that is not going to get readers to stay engaged. Writing for Impact is meant to bridge the gap that other books about writing leave. It talks about sentence structure only as far as it connects with getting and keeping a reader's attention.

The book is well though out and researched. There is plenty of information in it and I saw several things that I want to try for projects that I want to do. Overall, it is a good book. The only issue I had with it is that it seemed to go on and on after the point had been made. I'm all for having proof for what you say, but it had too much for my taste. Other than that, I think it will be helpful for me.

I received a free copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is best for someone just beginning to learn the craft of writing.
Birchard writes clearly and gives a basic overview of clear, concise, impactful writing, but there isn't any new information in here and I found myself skimming most of the book. As someone who is a writer but is always on the lookout for new craft books to improve my writing, I wouldn't recommend this to those trying to refine their skills rather than learn the fundamentals.

I don't know about the science bit, but one thing I really liked about this book is the many, many examples from real writings of a wide range of authors, at times showing the comparison between bad and good writing. I feel that is really helpful.

The eight techniques for successful writing is arranged in such a way that they are easy to remember too.

Definitely a 5 star book for me. Bravo to the author. He knows his craft and is a worthy teacher.

This was very informative! Very interesting for those interested in writing and those not alike. The formatting was odd, but the content was very valuable.

I got ARC of the book and find it very much practical for different types of writing. It could be applied to books and articles, advertising writing as well as personal. There are several writing principles covered by the author that can potentially be applied to different areas writing way of sending the information. The principles go as following: keep It Simple, specific, surprising, stirring, seductive, smart, social and story-driven. The good thing is that there is a discussion on why writing should be that way and how to practice the principles.