showing not telling

At the last Writers’ Cafe, each person received a paper bag with a scented herbal surprise from the Writers’ Retreat Garden inside. Without looking at it, they were asked to touch and smell the contents and then capture in words those sensations. 

Using the senses in your writing is a fast track way to draw your reader in. This is what creative writers do but it is essential for business writing as well. For example, if you write: All will enjoy the colourful flowers. You are telling your reader the flowers are colourful. Dull. 

If you write; All will enjoy the spicy scents and sunshine yellows of the herbal borders, the brain of the person reading them immediately connects these words to neural pathways that deal with sensory experiences. This will recreate for them their memories of spice and sunshine and your writing will come alive. One of my clients used this technique in a Business Case she was presenting, to paint a picture of what her project would look like once realised, with astonishing results.

How might you use the senses in your writing to make an impact by showing not telling?