How to Avoid the 10 Cardinal Sins of Bad Writing—and Prevent Your Copy From Ending up in the Trash

Scott Leff has spent his career helping executives and subject matter experts tell their story in a compelling way. In 2010, he formed Leff Communications, an editorial development, graphic design, and video production firm based in Chicago. Before that, he served as the director of publications for Chicago 2016, the city's Olympic-bid committee. He wrote and edited official submissions to the International Olympic Committee live presentations, marketing collateral, and other communications materials. Scott came to Chicago 2016 from McKinsey & Company, where he spent seven years with the McKinsey Quarterly, the world's leading journal of management and economics. For the last two years at the Quarterly, Scott was the managing editor, where he worked closely with talented editors and led the production team. @LeffComm

Brittany Petersen is editorial manager at Leff Communications, and she specializes in providing highly tailored business writing, editing, and communication strategy services. Her editorial experience spans traditional and literary journalism, creative nonfiction, and content marketing. She is Leff Communications' expert on grammar, style, and syntax; while in graduate school, she student-taught English 101 at Harold Washington Community College. Before Leff, she was on the external marketing and communications team for a travel agency, where she developed the organization's first style guide. @britpetersen