Archive for the ‘Writing Tips’ Category

Here are ten ideas that will help you become a better business writer. These are some of the things I find myself saying over and over in my courses. They’re not in any special order.

1. Send sensitive emails to yourself first. If it matters to your career, your relationships or your reputation, send it to yourself first. Open it and read it—you’ll be surprised how much different it looks when you put yourself in the place of the intended reader.

2.  Respect the process. Much as you’d like to get that report off your to-do list, you need to take the time to think it through. That means planning, reviewing the data, analyzing it, checking your purpose, thinking, rethinking and revising your drafts until you get it right. Don’t have the time? Start earlier, remembering that much of writing happens in your subconscious.

3. Complete the To field last. Even though email readers prompt you to complete the To field first, resist. You’ll agree with the wisdom of this if you’ve ever sent an important email before it was completed.Next you’ll be tempted to complete the subject line. Again, resist doing this. You won’t be able to write a really good, informative subject line until you’ve had a chance to polish the body text. Instead, start by drafting the body text of your message. Revise it by putting the bottom line first, remembering that readers need to know the main point first. Once you’ve clarified your point, write your subject line. And then you’re ready to complete the To field.

4. Check your ego. Remember you will impress more readers if you put their needs before your own. Avoid writing to impress or intimidate. Instead, write to communicate and make it easy for your reader.

5. Learn how to use MS Word, or whichever word processor you use. For that matter, learn how to use Outlook or Excel, or whichever software you use. Take a course. Above all, learn about the things your software can do for you. Once you know what it can do, the doing itself is easy. Your computer is more than a typewriter—use it to improve your productivity and effectiveness.

6. Learn one grammar rule a month. It’s important to know the rules of grammar, punctuation and usage. But don’t try to learn it all in one gulp. Take on one rule a month. It’s not too much and you’ll find it more interesting than you expected.

7. Read as much as possible. Reading more is a surefire way to writing better. Most importantly, read critically. Ask yourself why you like—or dislike—what you read. Read any good books lately? I’m looking for suggestions.

8. Give thoughtful feedback whenever you can. One of the best ways to become a better writer is to give feedback to others. It’s easy to see mistakes in someone else’s work because you have objectivity. Give them three kinds of feedback—first tell them what you like about their writing. Then give them global comments to do with strategy and structure, and finally give them local level comments to do with style and technicalities such as grammar and punctuation. That means you’ll have to read their document twice, because the first things you’ll notice are local the last things are global.

9. Give yourself permission to write a terrible first draft. Remember you don’t ever have to show it to anyone. The best first drafts are a dump of what’s in your head. You’ll feel less pressure if you know your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect and you’ll have something to edit.

10. Imagine an ideal reader. This is especially helpful when you don’t know your reader personally OR if you are writing to a large number of readers. If you can imagine one person and “talk” directly to that person, your draft will flow better and the end product will be more clear, conversational and personal. You’ll connect with all your readers on a personal level.

What are some of your best writing tips?

Like many corporate cultures, The U.S. Army lives by PowerPoint. And if you don’t think that’s threatening, have a look at this slide, which communicates the complexities of the American military strategy. Good luck trying to understand it.

In this NY Times article Gen. James Mattis says “PowerPoint makes us stupid.” It forces us to simplify complexities into hierarchical bullet points and creates the illusion of control. Not everything can or should be simplified this way.

On the other hand, some things are simple and follow a logical, linear line. Still, most PowerPoint presentations are painful to read. They are mostly written as close caption speaking notes for the presenter with as much packed onto a screen as possible. I’ve seen PowerPoint slides so dense that even when they’re spread onto four slides they’re still too dense.

Presenters, like writers, need to consider the needs of their audience. No one wants to follow your speech word for word on a screen. Instead, write two presentations. One that is a handout with all the details, and one stripped down to just the key words.

This means presenters need to know their content well enough to speak off-the-cuff. It also means there’s a better chance the audience will stay awake.

A recent grad asked for a list of online writing resources, and here’s my preliminary list. I’ll keep adding to this list and maybe give it permanent page status on this site.

Jack Lynch’s Guide to Grammar and Style is a thorough glossary of all kinds of terms. He’s an English professor at Rutgers. I’ve got a copy of his latest book, The Lexicographer’s Dilemma: The Evolution of ‘Proper’ English, from Shakespeare to South Park, on my night stand and hope to crack it soon.

An annotated collection of grammar and writing resources from around the web from the University of Chicago Writing Program.

Richard Nordquist’s Grammar and Composition blog on About.com. I enjoyed a recent entry called Twenty Editing Tips from the Old Copy Desk, which lists early 20th century writing advice that is still solid today. Actually, there’s so much interesting stuff to read on this site you might find it addictive.

Check out the list of Grammar Myths at Grammarphobia, written by Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman. Yes, people, you can split an infinitive!

The Classic style guide by Strunk and White is available online. While the grammar advice is suspect, Chapter 3 has some timeless advice about style.

For word fun, you can also check out The Visual Thesaurus. Enter a word and see how it maps into its related words. Also, there are some interesting articles. Some of the content is free, but if you pay the nominal membership fee you have full access. I like the word of the day (Today’s Dirty Rat word of the day is perfidious.)

Is there anything you suggest adding?

Reading and writing are two sides of one coin. Improve your skill at one and you automatically improve your skill at the other. Here’s what we’ve been reading:

Andrea Davis

The stand-out book I’ve read most recently is not fiction. It’s Getting to Yes:  Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury and focuses on four principles for effective negotiation. It can be applied to professional or personal situations.

I loved this book because of its practical approaches to negotiating conflict that help readers focus more on shared interest and less on individual positions. I like it also because I can apply it to any kind of negotiation, whether these are at home, in the workplace, or at the mall.

Michael Dalmaridis

I recently finished reading The Bear and the Dragon by Tom Clancy. This book is part of a series of books that follow the main character, John (Jack) Patrick Ryan over many years. I highly recommend starting at the beginning of the series and reading each book in sequence. I find the series interesting for three main reasons.

First, I am drawn to this type of genre and the books are entertaining. Tom Clancy is a good story teller and knows how to work in the right details. A log falling into the water in the beginning of the book becomes significant by the end of the book. I find myself reading slowly just so I can absorb all the details.

Second, I enjoy how Clancy develops his characters over the course of several books. Clancy’s books span decades and his characters all grow and progress in their careers. Having read the series, I see that Clancy believes in the goodness of people and how they’ll get their eventual rewards. Jack Ryan has a strong commitment to honesty, integrity and doing what is right. He does what he believes is right no matter the consequences. Although it sometimes gets him in trouble, he ends up being right and characters with similar attitudes helps him in his career. Clancy certainly advocates the idea that the “good guy” finishes first; it just takes a while and a bit of difficulty.

Finally, I am amazed at the level of detail. When I started reading his books, I assumed Tom Clancy was in the navy and had served on a submarine because the level of detail. I later learned that Tom Clancy worked for an insurance company instead. I am amazed at the level of research and details he puts into his book especially for someone who never served in the military. It adds to the realism of his books.

If you like espionage genre, then you’ll enjoy Tom Clancy’s books.

Christine Fischer Guy

I’d happily recommend Michael Crummey’s Galore. It’s A Hundred Years of Solitude in rural Newfoundland. I loved this book for many reasons, but Crummey’s gift for rendering the local patois is the forerunner. He’s also a dab hand at magic realism, as this homage to Márquez demonstrates.

In nonfiction, I’d recommend Six Months in Sudan by James Maskalyk, a Médecins Sans Frontières doctor. Deeply atmospheric and affecting, the book chronicles his post in Abyei, Sudan with emotional honesty, startling poeticism, and humanity.

Paul Lima

Standing Naked in the Wings compiled and edited by Lynda Mason Green and Tedde Moore. It’s a funny, and sometimes moving, collection of stories by Canadian actors.

Beth Philp

I’m currently reading What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s a series of his essays that were published in the New Yorker. I like it because Gladwell finds amazing stories in everyday items and situations.

Jody Bruner

I read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières during a rainy week at a cottage this summer. I found the beginning annoying—too many big words that got in the way, too many big words I didn’t know. In fact, this month’s quiz is a list of some of those words. But by the time I got to the end, I couldn’t put it down. I cried uncontrollably for the last 30 or 40 pages. Deliciously romantic but not too sugary.

More recently, I just finished Scar Tissue, the memoir of Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis. It’s 460 pages of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Especially drugs. Not something I would normally choose, but it was recommended by my 18 year old son. He’s not a big reader, and I read it to encourage and validate him. I enjoyed the book because it’s a story of personal triumph over addiction and I love being able to discuss it with my son.

How about you? Anything interesting you’d like to recommend?

I spent a lot of years in school. I loved that period in my life and spent many happy hours immersed in ideas, books and libraries. I wrote a lot of essays too. In my first year in grad school especially, I remember being super charged with passion for what I was reading, thinking and writing, but I never felt my essays conveyed that passion. They always felt flat to me and I didn’t know why.

Looking for the key to expressing my enthusiasm, I went to the Centre for Academic Writing (where I later worked). There I learned how to tighten my structure and provide a roadmap for my reader. I learned how to clarify my thinking, but my tutor didn’t have a suggestion for how to add life to my essays.

It wasn’t until I did the research for my first business writing course that I learned the secret: be concise, use strong verbs, prefer the active voice, and use plain but vivid language.

Looking back at some of early writing in my old, academic style I found quite a few bloated sentences. Here’s how I’d write them today:

Revisions

The following brief sketch of the history of the NFB is largely drawn from C. Rodney James’s Film as a National Art and from D. B. Jones’s Movies and Memoranda. The medium of Film was first used by the Canadian government as a national instrument to promote trade.

McLean’s report urged that changes be made in the activities of the Bureau, and concluded with the recommendation recommended inviting that Grierson be invited to Canada to make a survey of the situation and to prepare a report including make more specific recommendations.

Grierson’s 1939 report, prepared in 1938, essentially criticized the MPB’s lack of centralized power and purpose.

I think they’re better–more muscular and vigorous. How about you. Do you have any sentences you can cut down to size?

I spent a day recently doing some coaching for one of my favourite clients. I had appointments with eight people. It was a diverse group–from finance to IT, and from junior to senior.  Some write reports to the executive team, and some write brief emails to each other. Some are technical writers, some write letters. Every person I met brought in a sample of their writing, and even though their writing was so different, I found myself saying the same things to each one of them: “Consider your reader—what information will they need? How will they want to see it presented? Why does your reader need this information? How can you present your message in a way that makes it easy for them to take their next step?”

Examples of what I saw at the follow-up session, and how these questions affected their revisions:

An email to a consultant asking a series of questions about a technical process. The first draft was a casual, rambling stream of consciousness, in which the writer asked a question, then adds a couple more that come to mind while he is writing. The fix: revise the opening of the message to explain you have 3 questions about the ABC process, number the questions clearly, and then update the subject line (maybe “Three questions about ABC”) to let the reader know what to expect. The reader then can easily embed the answers into the original message. It takes only a few minutes for the writer to revise, and saves the reader time and frustration.

An email to a supplier about coordinating an event. The email contains three small questions, and confirms another piece of information. Instead of one email to the reader containing everything, write four separate emails. Why? If you separate the different questions, requests and information into separate emails, the reader can respond quickly where possible. If you don’t have ready answers to every question in a multi-issue email, it’s easy to sit on it until you have everything you need. Better to answer what you can quickly. It’s also easier to file and retrieve information that is clearly labeled and not buried in an email with a useless subject line, like “Information” or “Follow up.”

A technical report recommending a change of software to manage a vital business process. The original document is well organized with all the key information a decision maker would need in the Executive Summary. The only problem is it’s very technical and studded with acronyms. The decision makers are the Board Members, who are unfamiliar with your jargon. The solution: assume your readers are ignorant, but not stupid. Avoid using technical language they might not understand, especially acronyms. Using acronyms might save you a few keystrokes and buy you credibility with your colleagues, but they frustrate readers who aren’t familiar with them. The solution: use the acronyms in your draft, then use the Find/Replace function in MS Word to spell them out. Even better, instead of an acronym, use a descriptive term, like the Agreement, or the Enterprise System.

A letter to a lawyer describing your analysis of a problem and the next steps you will take. This writer (a charming guy) had abandoned his earlier legalese style (yay!) but had rebounded to extremely spare prose, thinking the opposite of a legalese style is one that was condensed to the point where it felt dehydrated. The solution: relax, use a conversational style and tell the reader a story—what you did, what you found, and what you have done as a result. Unpack it, expand it, be conversational. The letter is a record, part of a file, and needs to tell its chapter of the story clearly.

Documentation of a change to proprietary software. The changes were listed on the page in separate paragraphs. What was missing was any context—the document needed a title and an introduction, so a reader who picks it up now or in the future knows why and when the changes were made. It also would help to number the changes themselves so they could be scanned quickly and referenced easily.

What impressed me about the day was how different each of the documents I reviewed was from each other. The revisions were different too. What was the same was the thinking process and questions that helped my learners see ways to improve their writing.

Take a look at something you wrote recently. Now put yourself in the place of your reader. Consider for a moment what their prior knowledge is, why they need to read your message, what they will do with it, and how you can best present it to make their job easier. What changes would you make?

I have a terrible sense of direction. GPS isn’t enough for me—I also need a map, printed directions, a lifeline and a navigator to find my way. When I emerge from the subway in downtown Toronto I am always completely turned around and have to ask strangers to orient me. My kids have learned: whenever I have to drive them some place they make me add a full half-hour to the journey because they know I’ll spend time driving around in circles. Most of the time, being lost is an awful feeling—I feeling panicked and stressed. But when I’m on vacation, I enjoy it.

Being a little lost on vacation is fun because I let myself slow down. I don’t have to be anywhere special, no one is depending on me, and I’m not on a schedule. Being lost means I discover cool shops, interesting restaurants and beautiful sights. Being lost means I learn my way around by trial and error. Maybe.

But when I’m working, I need to know where I’m going. And when I’m reading something for work, I need to know where you’re taking me. I’m  not alone in this—business readers don’t have the time or patience to explore the landscape of your thought at leisure. They read purposefully and want you to help them navigate through your writing. They need to see an overview of the entire document and as they read they want to know where they are, where they’ve been and where they’re going.

In general, readers need a preview of your main points, an explanation of your points with signposts along the way, and a summary of your points at the end. This pattern applies to the whole document and in a complex document, to each section.

Here are some of the ways to map your ideas for your readers:

Preview your main points

Readers need to know where you’re taking them. To help show this, start by providing a meaningful title for your document. If your document is long and complex, include a table of contents that summarizes the key ideas and shows the shape of your document. Include talking headers throughout the document, which allow readers to scan. Talking headers allow them to get a quick overview and decide which sections they wish to deep read and the order in which they want to read them. Preview your main points at the start of each section, and use the topic sentence of each paragraph to preview the main idea.

Provide rhetorical cues

Rhetorical cues are the little words and phrases that show readers the relationship between your ideas. Some rhetorical cues show the building up of ideas (also, and, as well, first, second). Some tell the reader to stop and compare (but, yet, nevertheless, on the other hand, meanwhile). Others summarize (therefore, as a result, to conclude, finally). Think of rhetorical cues as signposts that show readers the shape of your thought. They help add clarity by letting readers build a mental map of your message as they’re reading it.

Provide visual cues

Picture, illustrations, graphs, tables and screen shots all clarify and reinforce your message. Make sure the visual elements are reinforced with verbal explanations. Use the elements of layout consistently throughout a document so readers can quickly identify types of information by how they look. Use your layout (white space, typeface) to show readers the shape of your thought. I always tell my participants to think of themselves as sculptors—that every message has a shape and their job as a writer is to show that shape to the reader.

Summarize your main points

Provide summaries at the end of each section. Make sure you provide a detailed, concrete summary at the end of your document. Yes, the conclusion will repeat the preview at the beginning, but in more complete and concrete terms.

“A poet never takes notes. You never take notes in a love affair.”—Robert Frost

At work, though, take notes if you want to remember things. Without good notes, you will have a flimsy record of important events and conversations. Relying on memory is unreliable and there will be gaps. And forgetting key ideas and commitments you or others have made is unprofessional.

Notes are crucial for recording important phone calls and meetings. If you’re taking a course or attending a conference, your notes help you recall what you learned and share your learning with your colleagues. If you’re a student, good notes are invaluable when it’s time to study for exams.

Start by jotting down the key ideas. If you’re having a telephone conversation, tell the other person you’re taking notes so they’ll understand if there’s silence.

Most important: as soon as your conversation, meeting or course is over, review your notes and fill in all the gaps. I like to use a contrasting colour pen to distinguish between the original notes and the details I add later.

Also important: identify any follow up action required. I always add a circle in the margins to flag any follow up I’ve committed to. Once the action is completed I put a check mark in the circle. If someone else has promised to do something, I put their initials in the margin.

Any other suggestions? Please share.

Question

Several years ago we did a PD session with you about positive environments and creating our ‘commitment to a winning team’…. You did an activity on replacing “but with and”  which I love and try to use as a rule. I am now with a new team and would like to work on some of the same things.   When introducing the concept, I didn’t get the same response you did in your session…. Anyway, could you share the activity with me or give me some suggestions??

Thanks so much, Bernice Landry

Answer

Thanks for your question. When teaching people how to be more positive in their writing, I show them a list of negative trigger words. Many are surprised to find the words but and however on the list. The problem with these words is they negate whatever comes before them. So, if I say, “Bernice, you’re doing an excellent job in your new role, but you are not proofreading your work well enough” you would deflate when I got to the word but, because I’ve canceled the positive.

Instead, you can often substitute the word and. Say “Bernice, you’re doing an excellent job in your new role, and to do an even better job take the time to proofread your written work carefully.” I’m saying the same thing, and instead of canceling the positive, I’m building on it.

Question: I’ve had a few staff attend your business writing course recently and am wondering if you have a ‘shopping list’ of positive phrases. As their manager, I’m having difficulty in having staff recognizing the sharpness in their writing. For example, instead of using ‘you must comply’…try ‘you need to  consider’…would you have a resource that you could share so that I can mentor them further?  A Manager, York Region

Answer: I can definitely give you pointers to share with your team. And you’ve even inspired me to create a new quiz and a writing contest.

Being positive is always better—it’s easier to understand, easier to remember and helps build better relationships.

Yes, there’s a time to be negative. For example, when you give bad news, come right out and say it: “You aren’t getting the job” or “We can’t give you a refund,” or “We can’t provide you with life insurance.” But that doesn’t mean you have to load up your document with all kinds of regret.

Also, sometimes people don’t comply with reasonable requests, they persistently break rules or laws, or they don’t meet their obligations or responsibilities. You don’t want to come out swinging—start out by asking for their cooperation politely and assume their noncompliance was due to oversight. If they still don’t comply, then you can start to use a more aggressive tone.

Here are some strategies we teach in our courses:

Avoid the word NOT

Look for the word ‘not.’ It’s usually part of a negative phrase that you can replace with positive alternatives.

Avoid negative trigger words

These are words and phrases that carry negative energy. They can trigger a strong negative response in your reader. Take a look at the list and notice which ones you find upsetting. Scan your own writing for negative triggers as part of the editing process and try to remove them.

Prefer positive trigger words

Express your ideas in positive terms

Instead of saying what something isn’t, say what it is. Instead of telling someone what they can’t do, say what they can do. Expressing your ideas is positive terms makes them easier to remember, and easier to understand. Remember that when you express something in negative terms, the reader needs to flip it over to positive in order to act on it. If you tell them what they can’t do, they have to figure out what they can do. Make it easy for them.

Before: Don’t forget to submit your expenses.
After: Please remember to submit your expenses.

Before: You can’t edit your file while the printer is printing it.
After: You can edit your file when the printer is finished printing.

Here’s an example from the SEC’s A Plain English Handbook.

Before: Persons other than the primary benefactor may not receive these dividends.
After: Only the primary benefactor may receive these dividends.

Want some more practice? Test your skills with the new Make it Positive quiz and enter our current writing contest, which challenges you to change a passage from negative to positive.