“David delivers specific, clean, and well-argued content. He can embellish a writer’s voice while simultaneously editing text for redundancy or mistakes. Working with him was a seamless affair; he’s a pro.” –Hilary Howard, Room for Debate, The New York Times “David is an extremely talented writer and editor. Thanks to his expert editing, I landed my latest op/ed piece in a national paper within days. Having been lucky enough to work with him at several points in his career in Washington, I’m always impressed by his ability to jump into any sort of subject matter, make sense of it, and express it to ordinary people in an engaging and thought-provoking manner.” “David has a unique ability to communicate the salient points of complex material across multiple disciplines and media. Most importantly, he does it in a manner that’s accessible, focused and applicable to any sector. David’s talent lies not just in crafting campaigns, messages and language, but in intuiting the objectives and motivations of his client and transforming them into impactful writing. He is a communications guru in the truest sense: a great writer, detailed researcher, and solutions-oriented business mind.” “David was the first professional editor I’d ever worked with. He taught me much about the writing process and how to craft an effective op/ed, and helped me turn a rough first draft into a prize-winning essay.” “David Donadio has a deep wealth of knowledge about the media industry, and a keen insight into how it’s changing and evolving in these digital times. His writing on this topic, and others, is adept, lively, and engaging. He drills down to the essential truth of a matter, and makes his points with clarity, succinctness, and an irrefutable persuasiveness.” “David Donadio is an outstanding editor with a real ear for a good story. He is capable of working with high-profile scholars and experts to create content that is not only informative to an expert audience but also entertaining to a general audience. He is also a self-motivated and accomplished researcher and writer.” “Sharp, insightful and savvy, David Donadio has a talent for making the seemingly arcane accessible to a broad audience. Donadio’s long experience in communications and editing has given him the extra edge a good strategist needs, and his work on foreign policy, counterterrorism and other international topic shows it.” “David has a remarkable ability to identify the essential points of any subject and write about them both concisely and comprehensively. With a discerning mind and deft hand, he excels at analyzing problems, writing persuasively about them, and editing other people’s work to do the same.” “Over the past four years, David Donadio has helped me put together pieces on complicated topics and place them in top outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and Foreign Policy magazine. He has unparalleled skill at crafting stories relevant to today’s geopolitical environment. His breadth of knowledge in current events and prevailing publishing trends makes him my go-to source for writing and editing. David is an extraordinary wordsmith and I recommend him to all my colleagues in the industry.” “David gets the media: He understands the changes happening in the business and he knows how to get a message across.” “After working with him for a little over a week, I was not only relieved but THRILLED. His ability to take unformed ideas and turn them into concise and poignant pieces is uncanny, and his connections, relationships and reputation with members of the media are invaluable. He would be an excellent addition to any organization, as he has a keen understanding of his craft and the challenging media environment that exists today.” “David is a gifted writer and editor with the ability to write on a wide range of issues for a variety of audiences. His strong background in communications ensures that he not only knows how to deliver a message, but also what message ought to be delivered.” “David’s writing is crisp and direct, yet also thoughtful and provocative. In editing, he has a remarkable ability to bring out the key parts of your message and strengthen the weaker points in your logic, all while improving your style and flow. With his deep understanding of the world of journalism, he has a sixth sense about what will work, and what will not. He is fast on the turnaround, and extremely pleasant to work with.” |
“David has a remarkable capacity to capture the essence of complex issues, significant trends and fascinating personalities to make them comprehensible and real. He puts words to work to tell real stories and connect with real people.” –Frank Sesno, Director, School of Media and Public Affairs, The George Washington University “David’s thoughtful and collaborative approach enables him to produce copy that not only delights clients, but teaches them how to become more compelling writers as well.” “David is an excellent writer and editor, with a knack for relaying information with both brevity and style. He is adept at writing in various formats, and finds the appropriate voice to set the tone for each piece. He is a well-rounded professional, and I have no pause in recommending him highly!” “David Donadio is an extremely skilled writer. He can take topics as complex as the Arab Spring or stem cell research and make them understandable to the average reader, without dumbing them down for his audience. He is also extremely well versed in a wide range of topics, from foreign affairs to science to American politics.” “David Donadio writes and edits commentaries in a persuasive fashion that appeals to experts and lay readers alike. He highlights interesting perspectives through research and good reporting — a key example being his 2007 interview with the Embassy of Afghanistan about how U.S. efforts to eradicate opium fields in the country would drive poor farmers to support the Taliban and al-Qaida.” “I have known David for more than a decade and have been reading his work for as long. No one has a sharper eye for detail, nor a more original way of thinking about complex issues. An insightful thinker and incisive writer, David can find the overlooked angle in any debate, proposal or project and bring it to the fore. He is a major asset to anyone who wants to make his case to an audience.” “David is adept at translating opaque prose on obscure topics into easily digested copy. He is equally skilled at writing for general and specialized audiences. And he infuses all of his communication with an engaging wit.” “First rate!” “David is precisely what I sought in an editor — a guide to the media world who was elegantly obsessive about language, acquainted with the subtleties of international politics, and fiercely committed to making my arguments compelling.” “If you’re looking for concise, intelligent copy, David is your guy. He writes with style — and, where appropriate, wit — on a wide range of political topics, and he’s a pro at clarifying complicated issues. I always come away with new ideas, or a fresh take on existing ones, after reading his work.” “David Donadio is an editor’s dream, providing copy that is always very close to press ready — and thus likely to run quickly and more prominently than content from other sources. He knows how to craft a message that comes through clearly, while avoiding the distracting gimmicks often relied upon by the amateur. With the rapid expansion of the blogosphere, commentary is now a dime-a-dozen. Yet truly high quality writing is still rare, and David is one of the people who can be counted on to produce it.” “David is a thoughtful writer with a unique ability to appeal to any number of audiences. As a writing coach and public relations expert, he enables his clients to uncover their best narratives, make their most compelling arguments, and write for the exact audiences they’re trying to reach. David is thorough, responsive, and great fun to work with.” “David Donadio is a smart and witty writer with years of experience working under tight deadlines. He combines his intellect with satire, delivering work that is snappy, clear, and sure to make people laugh.” “David writes engaging prose with unabashed conviction. His research is solid, and he presents readers with informed and well-articulated perspectives on just about everything.” “I have never had more fun working with someone than I did working with David. David was always polite but to the point with his suggestions on how to improve my op-eds, and I was always pleased with the end result. David is hard working, meticulous, and conscientious — a writer and editor of the highest integrity.” “David is a highly skilled editor, able to boil down complex ideas into easily digested, intelligent and well-crafted copy. He understands media and how to work with editors to ensure scholars’ research reaches the broadest possible audience, and he knows how to target markets so that the pieces he’s pitching have a better chance of publication. I was pitched hundreds of pieces each month, and David’s got priority because I knew he’d deliver something that would get readers talking and was always compelling and clean — no factual errors, no misrepresenting the facts or taking things out of context.” “I oversee the Publications Department and often need help with reworking complicated, academic style texts. Since much of what we publish is for the policy community, David is integral in turning these manuscripts into concise, reader-friendly pieces. He recently worked with me on chapters for an upcoming book on Islamist parties in the Arab world and his editing was outstanding. He took the most convoluted sentences and made sense of them. In addition to his clearly superior writing and editing skills, he has an approachable, easy going personality and a great sense of humor.” |