three unconventional ways to improve your business writing skills

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  • 8/2/2019 Three Unconventional Ways to Improve Your Business Writing Skills

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    Three Unconventional Ways to Improve Your Business WritingSkills

    by Bill Lampton, Ph.D.

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    How well you write for business impacts your credibility, your effectiveness and your productivity as a business owner

    and manager. These three little known tips can help you improve your business writing skills.

    Your typical business week could include a variety of writing activities. Among them:

    your resume

    progress report on a key project

    job description

    assignments for your team

    proposal for a merger or acquisition

    news release article for a trade magazine

    pitching an angel investor

    Whatever the writing task, you remain on the lookout for ways to become more effective with your written messages.

    Why? Because better writing would improve your credibility, reduce confusion, prevent conflict, stimulate team work,

    boost productivity, and ultimately generate more profit.

    You are familiar with the standard recommendations for honing your writing skills: write several drafts, have a

    colleague or friend offer feedback on your draft, put your draft aside until the next day when you can read it more

    objectively, and hire an editor. Now look at three unconventional writing improvement methods you may not have

    considered.

    FIRST: Read articles and books by the most popular business writers

    They didnt become best-selling authors by luck or accident. Study their writing styles. Note how frequently they

    document their instruction by citing case histories and relevant data. Learn how they take financial material that could

    be dull in the hands of a less imaginative writer, and make the information interesting through profiles of well-known

    business moguls. Jot down samples of their creative and often humorous play on words passages. Reading a half

    dozen highly acclaimed business books per year will introduce you to writing strategies you werent familiar with in

    the business arena.

    SECOND: Watch spellbinding movies

    Next time you cue up a dramatic movie for your evening entertainment, keep pen and paper nearby so you can make

    notes about the films methods for holding your attention. Maybe after a few minutes you will jot down lively

    dialogue. Later on, think of how you could include that script strategy in your business writing.

    For instance, suppose your company had interviewed a candidate for a sales management position. Hours later, you

    send this memo to the CEO: Marilyn and I disagreed about the candidate we interviewed this morning for the sales

    management position. I thought he would be a good leader, but she felt his style was outdated. Your message is

    clear, but quite run of the mill.

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    Following the pattern you detected in last nights movie, you could put your summary in dialogue format:

    I said, Ed would take charge of our sales team quite easily the first day he came to work. Marilyn disagreed by

    saying, This guy istoo slick for me, quite artificial. More like the classical snake oil sales hustler than todays well-

    informed product rep.

    Movie watching will give you other ideas. Just as movies hold you breathless until they reveal the culprit in the last

    scene, build suspense in your writing and dont tip your hand until the final paragraph, such as: Having considered

    these four possible alternatives for solving our companys budget crisis, now Im going to give you a fifth remedythe

    one I endorse and recommend.

    So, while your family is accusing you of wasting time watching more movies than you once did, youre finding ways to

    attract and keep readers through your job related writing.

    THIRD: Learn a foreign language

    Words for business and professional people are like bricks for brick masons, brushes for artists, and golf clubs for the

    touring professional-tools to get the job done. When you write, your success is directly dependent on the tools you

    have acquired and mastered.

    Traditional ways of expanding your vocabulary, such as working crossword puzzles and keeping a list of new words

    you look up in the dictionary, remain helpful. However, learning at least one foreign language ushers you into a new

    dimension of word appreciation and interpretation. You discover the derivation of long-familiar words, giving you

    nuances you had missed. For example, politicscame originally from the Greek word polis, which meant city-where of

    course many political figures made their headquarters. Ethospertained to character, and led to our word ethics.

    Logosreferred to our reasoning power, which we call logic. So seek opportunities to study unfamiliar languages.

    Possibly you live within a few miles of a college that offers non-credit language courses available one or two evenings

    a week. Also, pull off your bookshelf those language books you used to prepare for an overseas vacation.

    In summary: To add vigor and clarity to your business writing, read a popular business book every couple of months,analyze the tactics movies use to keep viewers enthralled, and discipline yourself to study at least one foreign

    language.

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    Bill Lampton, Ph.D., Communication Consultant and Speech Coach, "Helping You Finish in First Place." Visit his Web

    site:http://www.championshipcommunication.com

    Call Dr. Lampton: 678-316-4300

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