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Writing Tip: Ducking 'Is' and 'There'

October 10, 2024January 30, 2008 by Meryl Evans

In reading articles and books — over time, I’ve learned to try to avoid beginning a sentence with “There” and using “is” or “are.” Doing this enriches your writing and encourages you to find more interesting verbs. Write and Drop or Substitute When I catch myself writing, “There are…” or “There is…” I complete the … Read more

I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Meryl K. Evans and I was truly impressed by her expertise and engaging delivery. The insights shared were both relevant and actionable, leaving a lasting impact on everyone in the audience. She gave simple steps that were actionable immediately to help create an organizational culture of… Read full testimonial “Lynda Carter, ABLE BRG Leadership Team, Portland General Electric”

Lynda Carter

Portland General Electric

I had the privilege of having Meryl present at our first Global Accessibility Awareness Day event on May 15th, and I couldn’t be more impressed. Her expertise on digital accessibility combined with powerful lived experience created a truly transformative session for our team. Meryl has a remarkable ability to translate complex accessibility concepts into actionable… Read full testimonial “Ann Bagala, Vice President, Sustainability and Business Operations, American Red Cross”

Ann Bagala

American Red Cross

I’ve had the privilege of working with Meryl on multiple projects. Every time we have collaborated, I have learned so much from her. She truly is an expert on thinking broadly about how we all play a role in increasing accessibility within the businesses and organizations where we work/volunteer. Meryl’s presence, simultaneously authoritative and supportive,… Read full testimonial “Sara Kobilka, Renaissance Woman Consulting LLC”

Sara Kobilka

Renaissance Woman Consulting LLC

It was a pleasure working with Meryl to create a meaningful event around disability inclusion and accessibility as part of Google’s 2024 Accessibility & Disability Inclusion Week celebration. Thank you, Meryl!

Rob Stein

Google

Meryl Evans is one of the most engaging and dynamic speakers that I’ve had the pleasure of working with. She helps educate without talking down, and brilliantly weaves in brilliant storytelling. My company (Guy Carpenter) hired Meryl to come speak to us about Disability Awareness and Inclusion. It was clear from the start that she… Read full testimonial “Matt Desfosses, Managing Director at Guy Carpenter”

Matt Desfosses

Guy Carpenter

Meryl Evans is an incredible human being who is passionately advocating for the Disability community and IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility). When I invited her to join me on the #LTDiversePerspectives Live show talk, as a guest speaker, she blown away my audience with great insights. I highly recommend her to any organization or client.

Flora Bazie

LinoraTech Inclusion

I highly recommend Meryl for any organization looking for a reliable and talented content writer. I have been working with her for over five years, and she has consistently delivered high-quality content that is on brand. Her dedication to clarity, precision, and accessibility has been instrumental in helping us make our content more available to… Read full testimonial “Amy Hite, Senior Content Manager, Stealth Monitoring”

Amy Hite

Stealth Monitoring

I’ve been to Meryl’s talks, and she is clear and engaging, she gets difficult topics across easily and breaks things down. I can completely see why you’d hire her, so if you can, do! For Meryl’s recent WebAIM talk, I have one page of bullet point notes, with main points and I can remember most… Read full testimonial “Caitlin Quinn, Creative Director”

Caitlin Quinn

I had participated in a webinar where Meryl spoke and found both her presentation and tips on LinkedIn incredibly insightful. I was planning a panel discussion for a group of communicators in my college on disability and inclusion on social media and immediately thought of Meryl as a potential speaker. Meryl responded right away and… Read full testimonial “Kirsten Conard, Digital Media Officer at Kansas State University”

Kirsten Painter Conard

Kansas State University

I first encountered Meryl’s captivating presentation on accessibility for marketers at a recent American Marketing Association (AMA) conference. I was so impressed to realize that accessibility can be transformed from a legal obligation to a strategic business advantage. Afterward, I googled her and discovered she even has a TED Talk on the topic. Meryl brings… Read full testimonial “Karyn Guerrero”

Karyn Guerrero

Brand and Marketing Communications

I’ve known Meryl for a few years now, and she took time to speak with our Digital Accessibility class at the University of Texas. She’s excellent. We’ve both been speakers at the AccessU conference as well. In short, Meryl is much more than an advocate for Accessibility and the Deaf Community. She’s thoughtful and smart,… Read full testimonial “John Neumann, PhD, Assoc. Professor at University of Texas at Austin”

John Neumann, PhD

University of Texas at Austin

Meryl is an ideal speaker for companies and organizations seeking to enhance their understanding and implementation of accessibility initiatives to drive positive change. She is a passionate accessibility consultant and advocate. Her knowledge, experience, insights, and strategies will help guide you on your accessibility journey. Her recent session, “Taking the ‘Progress Over Perfection’ Approach to… Read full testimonial “Lorraine Sturgeon, Online Learning Accessibility Coordinator at KCTCS”

Lorraine Sturgeon

Kentucky Community & Technical College System

Meryl is a committed disability inclusion advocate, who connects with people through her warmth and positive attitude. I met her last year through the North Texas Disability Chamber and since then, have seen how she’s a trusted source of information who leads by example. Meryl is someone I can consistently count on whether I’m asking… Read full testimonial “Nicole Ward at Dallas Regional Chamber”

Nicole Ward

Dallas Regional Chamber

I had the pleasure of presenting at ATD Intensive with Meryl. I presented right before her, then she finished out the last session of the last day. Meryl really put the exclamation mark at the end of the day! I could not stop smiling listening during her portion- and neither could the rest of the… Read full testimonial “Haley Penrod, CPACC”

Haley Penrod, CPACC

Salesforce

I had the pleasure of hosting Meryl as a speaker for an all-company meeting where we had a fireside chat discussing DE&I with a focus on Disabilities in the workplace. Meryl was a pleasure to work with, communicating seamlessly to establish our questions and presentation beforehand and pulling off a very engaging presentation that received… Read full testimonial “Allison Lindfors, Assistant Brand Manager at Edrington”

Allison Lindfors

Edrington

Meryl spoke at Workday’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) in May 2023. Her talk was one of the highlights of the multi-day event and wove together honesty, humor, and empathy to share her unique perspective and experience. She punctuated her talk with real-life examples of digital accessibility – and the trouble it causes when missing.… Read full testimonial “Pam Mayer, Product Accessibility Specialist Manager at Workday”

Pam Mayer

Workday

I’ve followed Meryl for a number of years now and I love reading her posts and attending opportunities to hear her speak. Even though I’m well versed in web accessibility and discuss it daily in multiple aspects of my life, Meryl’s got a terrific way of presenting information that gives me new ways to think… Read full testimonial “Jeff Adams, CPACC, Accessibility Operations Director”

Jeff Adams, CPACC

I have worked with Meryl Evans for several years and enjoyed every minute. She taught a class at AccessU in 2018 that provided rational as well as practical techniques for the provision of captions in communications platforms. Since then, she has spoken at many of our events and served as an advisor to Knowbility’s award… Read full testimonial “Sharron Rush, Executive Director at Knowbility”

Sharron Rush

Knowbility

Meryl is an incredible speaker! I had the pleasure of moderating the Disability & Philanthropy Forum’s Demystifying Accessible Technology webinar. Meryl served as a panelist. It was an insightful conversation, and she did an incredible job of centering the human perspective.

Gail Fuller

Disability & Philanthropy Forum

Meryl is a wonderful speaker! I had her join my panel to speak about disability, accessibility and inclusion and she was a pleasure to work with. She was super responsive before the big event, had clear communication, and was a professional. She showed up ready and on time for the event, and her contributions to… Read full testimonial “Jayde Malam, CPACC”

Jayde Malam, CPACC

Meryl presented to our internal employees on the importance of Progress over Perfection when it comes to accessibility. Her wit and knowledge were a breath of fresh air in an area that can be difficult to navigate, and she left our participants with usable knowledge to take forward in their daily work.

Sharon Joles, MBA, CPACC

Progressive

Meryl was fantastic at Flatiron Health’s event in honor of the 32nd Anniversary of the ADA! She gave our attendees several best practices, CTAs, and personal insight that exceeded our expectations. Meryl delivers the material in a nurturing and insightful style – never making the audience feel guilty for not previously implementing the best practices… Read full testimonial “Avisha Sanassie, DEI Program Associate Flatiron Health”

Avisha Sanassie

Flatiron Health

We asked Meryl to conduct a full audit of our most important trainings with accessibility in mind. She was awesome to work with – her expertise was amazing, her recommendations on-point, and most of all, her way of working was highly aligned with ours. All this has been extremely helpful to us in setting our… Read full testimonial “Paulo O’Campo, Regional CS L&D Manager, Netflix”

Paulo O'Campo

Netflix

We brought in Meryl to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the passing of the ADA. She gave a wonderfully informative, engaging, and interesting seminar to our company on a wide range of topics from business practices, team operation accessibility, and technical web accessibility standards. By pairing both her lived experiences and statistic data, she was… Read full testimonial “John McCall, Sr. Database Reliability Engineer at Flatiron Health”

John McCall, Sr.

Flatiron Health

We hosted Meryl as the inaugural guest speaker at an internal Employee Resource Group event, and she was an absolutely phenomenal presenter! Her insight and expertise in how we can make video / video conferencing, events, and the hybrid work model in general more inclusive and equitable was so valuable. We’ve already received great feedback… Read full testimonial “Stephen Duke, DEI Specialist, WP Engine”

Stephen Duke, DEI Specialist, WP Engine

WP Engine

Meryl was OUTSTANDING at WP Engine’s internal accessibility event today as part of our week of celebrations around the anniversary of the ADA. Her tips for accessibility with captions and virtual events were SUPER actionable and the insights she shared on considerations for accessibility were insightful, inspiring, and funny. As one of the event organizers… Read full testimonial “David Vogelpohl, VP Growth, WP Engine”

David Vogelpohl, VP Growth

WP Engine

Meryl was a guest speaker at our virtual GAAD panel event in May (2022). Meryl was an absolute delight to work with and did an amazing job on the panel with the rest of our senior leaders from our product organization as well as Purpose and Inclusion. We had ~500 attendees and we received a… Read full testimonial “Arpitha Shetty, Director, Accessibility and Inclusive Design, PwC”

Arpitha Shetty

PwC

Wow, did Meryl just make me a better PM and a better human being? Why, yes. Yes, she did. So very impressed by her presentation(s) and so impacted by her expertise, knowledge share, and approach. I feel very grateful for the practical, immediate applications in my work and daily life that were offered as recommendations… Read full testimonial “Laura Ayres, PM Privacy and Compliance, Tubi”

Laura Ayres

Tubi

Such a great difference maker! The presentation was very impactful and powerful. It’s been a privilege to work with you and hope others get a chance to involve you in their effort to drive Accessibility.

Samrawit Biyazin

PwC

Meryl Evans was my invited guest speaker for Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) at ETS. Meryl was brilliant and authentic. She shared meaningful experiences that combined with her expertise, created actionable opportunities for our organization to enhance how we engage around accessibility. If you want to bring someone to your organization who is not only… Read full testimonial “Ida Jackson Woods, AVP, Chief Diversity Officer, ETS”

Ida Jackson Woods

ETS

I had an amazing experience at the TEDxPlano 2022 event, listening to all the speakers on their bright ideas and unique ways of helping our society. Meryl’s speech was truly amazing and brought tears to my eyes. Meryl’s inspiring talk was an eye-opener and motivated how to handle complex challenges in one’s life without giving… Read full testimonial “Vish Annampedu, Principal SERDES Systems Architect, NVIDIA”

Vish Annampedu

NVIDIA

I know Meryl not only as an influential advocate and speaker, but also as a personable and capable partner in business. She has provided my organization with valuable feedback from the perspective of a person with hearing loss that has helped us to improve our product and services. Additionally, Meryl has helped me to better… Read full testimonial “John Sweet, CPACC, Sr. Director Accessibility and Technology Compliance at Pluto TV”

John Sweet, CPACC

Pluto TV

Meryl continues to be a guiding light for the PCMA team as we focus our efforts on being inclusive for the global business events community. Her insights, approach and case studies continue to inspire us as we move forward to deliver social and economic transformation for our communities. In January this year we held accessibility… Read full testimonial “Gina Meier, Director of Human Resources, PCMA”

Gina Meier

PCMA

Meryl came into my company and took control of our social media process recently. Immediately (within one month) we saw a 30% increase in traffic. Meryl has that communication factor that demonstrates she totally understands and connects with the social media world that we all work in. We are so happy to work with her… Read full testimonial “Thomas Logan, founder and CEO of Equal Entry”

Thomas Logan

Equal Entry

Meryl is just an incredible fountain of knowledge regarding accessibility, closed captioning, and social media platforms. Meryl was kind enough to spend time with a group of us at NBCUniversal to share her perspectives on the factors that go into the quality of closed captions in both broadcast and streaming video. It was an incredibly… Read full testimonial “Lori Samuels, NBCUniversal Media, LLC Accessibility Director”

Lori Samuels

NBCUniversal

I was fortunate to work with Meryl for several years on blogs and social media for my company. Meryl went above and beyond in every aspect of her work. Meryl’s writing is well researched, always targeted to the right audience and, importantly, interesting to read. Meryl has always been proactive to maintain an open communication… Read full testimonial “George Tatar, CEO at Akruto, Inc.”

George Tatar

Akruto

I’ve been through at least a dozen writers prior to finding Meryl. She’s the only one we use now and my entire team loves working with her. She writes for a variety of clients across multiple topics. In hundreds of pieces, I’ve had zero complaints from my clients. Her lightning fast turn around helps me… Read full testimonial “Kyle Thompson, owner, Big Fish Consulting”

Kyle Thompson

Big Fish Consulting

Working with Meryl Evans was always such a great experience. She has this innate ability to promote whatever it is you’re trying to do/sell/share. Her language is always professional and comes across very natural. She helped our company grow our social platforms and did it with such ease! She helped us connect with physicians and… Read full testimonial “Karla Quick, director of clinical marketing”

Karla Quick

Meryl has helped grow my organization, the Institute for Excellence in Sales, by effectively positioning it on multiple social media properties most notably LinkedIn and Twitter. She’s very attuned to getting attention on those properties and is also very proactive in helping her clients post frequently and optimally. She also has brought many fresh ideas… Read full testimonial “Fred Diamond, president and co-founder, IES”

Fred Diamond

Institute of Excellence in Sales

Meryl is whip-smart, highly energetic, and incredibly captivating speaker and advocate. We invited Meryl to speak at our annual accessibility conference in 2019, and our attendees loved her so much, we had to invite her back for 2020! Meryl really takes the time to really get to know her audience and assess what their needs… Read full testimonial “Jillian Fortin, communications director, Knowbility”

Jillian Fortin

Knowbility

I had the pleasure of hosting Meryl as a panelist and speaker for the Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2020. During preparation for this online event, Meryl proved herself to be an incredibly helpful and thoughtful professional. She was also very well prepared for the presentation and her eloquence and insights at the event contributed to… Read full testimonial “Stine Holmgaard, CEO, A.Miroe”

Stine Holmgaard

A.Miroe

Meryl Evans is a seasoned Internet professional and, dare I say it, unicorn, with a gift for social strategies and fluent, natural-sounding copy/editorial/SEO that advance her clients’s business interests and help them connect more deeply with their customers. I’ve known Meryl since the mid-1990s, when she was already an experienced web consultant and gifted writer.… Read full testimonial “Jeffrey Zeldman, author, founder, and publisher”

Jeffrey Zeldman

A List Apart

Meryl is a recommended and an endorsed resource for timely, relevant, and actionable content creation. We’ve worked together and I’ve recommended her to many colleagues over the past 15 years. Most recently she supported our digital marketing team at Park Place Dealerships with the creation of new model year overviews for over a dozen automotive… Read full testimonial “Frank R. Sobyak, founder, Dealership Partners”

Frank Sobyak, founder

Dealership Partners LLC

I have to say that working with Meryl has been one of the best experiences one can ask for! She is an excellent communicator (although we only use email), very clear on what is expected and she is always two steps ahead in the process, pointing out potential setbacks before they even occur. Meryl has… Read full testimonial “Sara Oblak Speicher, founder and president”

Sara Oblak Speicher, MBA

VBM Pro, Inc.

I highly recommend Meryl Evans as a professional writer and content maven. I worked for several years with Meryl in the telecommunications field. She was an analyst in the Process department and she served on many key projects with much success. As an analyst, she was responsible for the creation of technical requirements documents, test… Read full testimonial “Ann Fields”

Ann Fields

SBC Communnications, Inc.

I worked with Meryl for a number of years at SBC. I appreciated her professionalism and valued her work products. As a peer, I utilized the documentation she created, and I always found it to be accurate and of high quality. Meryl is a valuable professional with excellent communication skills, creativity, and polish. I recommend… Read full testimonial “Tracy Haver, Sr. Tech Team Lead, SBC (AT&T)”

Tracy Haver

SBC / AT&T

Meryl provides an awesome menu of digital marketing to help firms. The thoroughness of Meryl’s work is what really impressed me – quick turnaround, corrections and in addition – she provides the Why behind the suggestions that really open up the conversation. Loved the process!

Sue Lemm PMP®

Meryl is a firecracker who knows how to get what she wants out of life and she KNOWS what she’s doing. If you’re looking for someone to help with your digital marketing and content writing, then you want Meryl helping you out. She’s professional, shows up, and gets the job done.

Heidi Medina

Talk to Heidi

Meryl is inspirational, she’s had such a positive influence on the world of LinkedIn. She’s transformed the way people think about videos, making them realise the importance of captions and how to use them effectively. Her approach and the way she articulates her message demonstrates how awesome she is at what she does.

Louisa van Vessem

Workflow Virtual

In addition to being an accomplished writer herself, Meryl is a researcher supreme if you need someone knowledgeable about all things. She is fast, responsive and always ‘gets it’ with a minimum of communication. I recommend her services highly. She is a pleasure to work with.

Debbie Weil, founder and author

Wordbiz LLC

Meryl Evans has been an outstanding freelancer for PC Today Magazine. Her understanding of mobile technology has made her one of our go-to writers. Not only that, she’s extremely prompt and professional. It has been a pleasure to work with her.

Nate Hoppe, editor

Sandhills Publishing

Meryl Evans is the hardest working Managing Editor I have met. She is very proficient at her job and always meets if not exceeds my expectations. If I needed to hire a freelance editor, I would hire Meryl before anyone else.

Nick Finck

UX pro

Meryl K. Evans is not only a great editor and writer, her love for the Web and its denizens is apparent in all her activities. Whether keeping up with design and development issues via her own blog or other venues, Meryl is a leading voice in the cry for sensible, contemporary, and standards-based design.

Molly Holzschlag, author

It is a delight to work with Meryl. She delivers high quality work with great turnaround. I recommend her highly!

Judy Schramm, CEO

ProResource, Inc.

Meryl’s thoroughness and attention to detail have been key ingredients to the success of the book projects that we have worked on.

Todd Marks, author

Meryl is a joy to work with, whip smart, delivers her work on time and exceeds expectations, and is a great all-around person too! She has written several articles for a new Web site and takes pride in her work. I highly recommend her for this type of work. She truly is a content maven.… Read full testimonial “David Strom, writer and speaker”

David Strom, writer and speaker

David Strom, Inc.

I have a good stable [of contributors] — but not as many true writers who also know marketing, which is where I’d put Meryl.

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer

MarketingProfs

Your work is super and you are responsive and dependable. I wish we could clone you. Meryl is also talented, fast, smart, reliable, a good communicator, and honest. A precious combination.

Bill Moore, CEO

Zello

When I think of “professional writer,” I think of Meryl. When I think of “personable” writer I think of Meryl. When I think of a “Git’er Done” writer, I think of Meryl. When I think of a truly caring and sharing person, in business and life, I think of Meryl. And … When I think… Read full testimonial “Steve Kayser, marketing and media relations pro”

Steve Kayser

Kayser Media