Post on 24-Mar-2016
description
Great writing leaves an impression
The 10 secret rules of business writing.
With love from a.
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Start in the middle
Australian children’s author
Paul Jennings says,
‘Don’t start your story,
“I woke up, brushed my teeth,
had a wash and ate my breakfast.”
Start, “I did not eat your jeans.
Well, not on purpose anyway.”’
It’s the same in business.
You’ve got to get people hooked
from the start.
Or why would they bother reading on?
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Don’t go on, please
Good writers don’t just ‘craft’ good words.
They ask, ‘What’s the story here?’ Find the story,
and ruthlessly cut everything else. Too often in
business we try to say everything. We put in all the
detail, so we look thorough or clever. But go on too long,
without really getting to the argument, talking without really
saying anything, on the one hand beating around the bush while at the
same time covering all the bases and you’ll find that pretty soon, your reader will just
U3 Stop writing up experiments
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U Remember how you had to write up
experiments in science at school?
‘The beaker was filled and was subjected
to heat.’ That’s how organisations talk, too.
‘The strategy was implemented and subjected
to widespread consultation.’
It’s cold, inhuman.
Most of us don’t talk like that, thank goodness.
So write more like you speak.
4There are only two types of writing
Great short writing gets your attention,
tells you something,
and leaves an impression. Great long writing is lots
of great short writing
seamlessly stitched together.
(5 Bring your personality to work)
We trust people more than we trust
faceless organisations.
Sound like a person, and not a corporate
robot, and you are more likely to engage,
inspire, persuade, amuse, lead.
That’s why Wall Street’s most successful
float in years – Google’s – started with
a personal letter to investors:
‘Sergey and I founded Google because we
believed we could provide an important
service to the world—instantly.’
It’s also why Warren Buffett, one of the
USA’s richest businessmen, says:
‘Write with a specific person in mind.
When writing Berkshire Hathaway’s
annual report, I pretend that I’m talking
to my sisters… No siblings to write to?
Borrow mine:
Just begin with “Dear Doris and Bertie”.’
(5 Bring your personality to work)
6 Have an opinion!
Obvious one, this.
But it’s more interesting listening to someone
who’s got something to say,
isn’t it?
Even if you don’t agree.
And it will make you stand out from the crowd.
‘I’m getting a bit miffed
with these nanny-ish proclamations
about punctuation.
It’s not that the use of jargon is good
(obviously it isn’t).
Nor that the apostrophe should not be
wielded accurately (it should).
It’s the nagging that rankles.
I blame the idea that ‘plain’ English is
something to be aspired to in business.
Who wants to be plain in life?
No professional writer I know.’
Martin Hennessey,
our managing director,
in the Financial Times.
7 Thwack!
We all need a surprise every now and again.
And so does business writing.
It’s not enough just to talk.
What you say has got to ‘invite itself memorably
into people’s minds’,
stick in their heads
and nag at them on their way home from work.
We’ll tell you the other three when you ring us.
8910
a
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that does three things.
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develop their tone of voice,
and come up with names.
Training.We train people to become
more effective and creative
writers at work.
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