OVERVIEW
While working at the Gokhale Method, I wrote both internal, external, and academic copy for the company. My primary tasks included ghost writing twice-monthly blog posts, sometimes developing my own ideas for posts and sometimes reworking old content; and drafting outlines and first drafts for two new posture books. I also edited much of the content across the website, assisted with internal communications, wrote abstracts and public descriptions for talks and events, created instructions for over a dozen internal protocols, managed UX copy and content across the website and the mobile app, and put together guides for teacher and student use of the company's new wearable device.
I refined and harmonized the voice of company content and communications with the use of a style guide that specified tone, to better communicate the company's values and brand pillars. Ghostwriting the blog involved writing in the voice and style of CEO Esther Gokhale; much of the content I wrote required an in-depth knowledge of the method, and communicating subtle physical movements or slight differences in body position to readers. Overall, writing for the Gokhale Method was an exciting opportunity to push the boundaries of communicating both precise and often abstract physical ideas with the goal of improving people's health, as well as crafting on-brand messaging for the business side and specific, detailed operations copy.
EXAMPLES
From the Gokhale Method home page, this is the first description of the company that new users will read. While still being easy to absorb, it needs to explain what the company does, set it apart from various competitors, communicate the possibility to finding relief from pain, and engage readers to take the next step:
What is the Gokhale Method?
The Gokhale Method is a system of healthy posture and movement. Its purpose is to restore your structural integrity, so you can live an active and pain-free life. You will learn how to comfortably alter the way you stand, sit, and move, to heal from pain. Return to a posture that builds strength and resilience, and minimizes compression, tension, and degeneration. We are marvelously designed beings, with an inherent grace and strength like every other creature on the planet. If we respect our natural design, we can function well for close to a century.
The Gokhale Method uses gentle hands-on instruction, reinforced by theory, to return you to your primal posture. Effects are often immediate and last a lifetime.
Also on the home page, these primary class offerings are designed to guide new and returning users to the options that are right for them. It was important to clearly presenting the range of options available, since previously users were unsure of what the company was offering and how they could best learn the method.
This automated email reminder was created to send to students signed up for an upcoming course. The purpose of the email was to encourage students to fill out their intake form before their class. Teachers regularly had trouble getting students to fill out this required form at all, and many students who filled it out did so directly before class, which did not leave teachers enough time to read through them. This email needed to be both encouraging and firm, allaying any fears students might have about sharing personal information, as well as imparting the importance of the form. However, what we discovered was the best motivator for students was seeing the form as a personal benefit, and thinking of it not as a chore but as another active step they could take toward being pain-free:
Hi {student name},
It’s time to fill out your intake form! Before your GMF course begins, your teacher needs some basic health/lifestyle information so they can specifically tailor the lessons to you. This information is never shared with anyone except your teacher, nor made public.
Please confirm your email. We also need to make sure you’re receiving these communications, so we know you’re getting important information about your upcoming GMF course. The best way to let us know we’re reaching you is to fill out your intake form. Otherwise we will assume we have the wrong email address, and we will attempt to reach you by phone to confirm that you have all the details on your upcoming course.
Filling out the intake form makes your class experience as enriching as possible. Please take to time to complete it this evening, and think of it as the next step on your posture journey!
Warmest regards,
The Gokhale Method
A selection of original blog posts written during my time at the Gokhale Method:
Is Crowdsourcing the New Face of Medicine?
How to Sit on a Sofa with Good Posture
Don't Forget the Forgetting Curve
13 Simple Posture Lessons from Cats
More available here, from Aug 2016 to Dec 2017.