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Newsletter Edition Vll
August 2010
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Dear Friends, Colleagues, Clients, and Future Clients:
The theme of this newsletter is: “What’s so important about good writing anyway?” The question strikes at the heart of what I do for a living, and I have some strong views on the topic. I have tamped down my emotional response to the inquiry and outlined below some fundamental reasons why effective writing should be a key ally in your business life. Read on and see if you agree.
And now the disclaimer. If you don’t want future issues, let me know. You have the email address, and I will promptly remove you from distribution at your request. Just give the word. As always, I solicit your comments and accept them with gratitude. They are helpful.
Jonathan Praet
Editor |
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The two principals of Sama Solutions, Jeanie Coomber and Christian Valeriani, spent years working in financial services for ‘prestigious’ Wall Street firms before striking out on their own. They walked the walk, and there was no limit to how high they could go. But over time they came to want more. They witnessed the unhappy evolution of the “IBG,YBG,” (I’ll be gone, you’ll be gone), philosophy that sought a quick buck at any cost; they watched company after company look to their quarterly income statement instead of their clients’ interests; and they saw the exodus of employees moving from one job to the next only to find things even worse in their new position. Revered companies like Lehman, Bear Sterns, and AIG turned away from the core values that once made them the bedrock of the financial community. They studied the landscape, saw a crisis looming, and took action. Their answer: Sama Solutions.
“Sama” means harmony in Hindu, and that’s what this company is all about. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Kumbaya. I’m ok, you’re ok. Yawn.” Well, think again. As co-founders of Sama Solutions, Jeanie and Christian have built a reputation based on helping companies restore their clients’ and employees’ faith in them, and in providing specific tools to help these same companies deal with stress and look to the longer term. How do they do this exactly? Glad you asked.
Sama Solutions is pro business and pro success. You don’t get there, however, by gaming the system, working without values, or placing your interests in conflict with your clients’. You do that through collaboration and by building relationships on a foundation of fair dealing – with your employees, with your clients, and with your community. Sama is engaged in the hard work of helping companies restore these sound foundations. More specifically, Sama’s team works with companies across the country engaging management and staff at all levels in such things as:
• Yoga and meditation; adding interesting, low cost, accessible tools that reduce stress, decrease sick days, and lower employee turnover
• Role playing that illustrates the destructive impact of clogged communications
• Coaching management and staff, and providing techniques that turn bad stress that cripples into good stress that brings world class results
This is not New Age, it is a return to proven values that work across all sectors and all organizations. And while they make this fun and intriguing, nothing in the fundamental message is new. We know it, but we forgot it.
Sama Solutions is remarkably successful not because of the expertise and enthusiasm they bring to the task but because of the enduring improvement they bring to a company’s bottom line, Improvements measured in greater long term profit, lower turnover of key employees, and enduring relationships with clients. Yes, they worked the trenches and are expert in business matters. More importantly, they took their lessons to heart and became experts at helping business become the best they can be at what they do. From this writer’s perspective, that’s just the kind of medicine we need right now.
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Writing Tip: What Does “Good Writing” Really Mean? |
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What Does “Good Writing” Really Mean?
I love to hold writing clinics for business people. I get to share tricks of the trade, tell a few anecdotes, and above all, give people confidence and confirm many things they already sense intuitively. So what are the elements of good writing? Some key points are:
Use Plain Language: Let your readers focus on the content, not on your writing style. The point is that weighty words weigh you down and add nothing to your message. If fact, they detract from it.
Less Is More: Make your writing count, and every time you can eliminate a word or phrase without sacrificing your message, do it. Your reader wins and you win. Easy stuff.
Be Active: Straight forward, active voice writing wins the day. Passive writing is wimpy writing. You can’t disguise the fact that you wrote it simply by hiding behind the passive voice, so seize the moment, and write it with authority.
We have addressed these things and more in earlier newsletters, but we have never defined what good writing is. So, here goes:
“Good writing is the skill of expressing compelling thoughts clearly.” (David Frey)
Read it again. Good writing is a skill that you can learn. It is not proper grammar, although that matters. It is not a way to impress readers with your intellect. Who cares? At its core, good writing is simply the skill of expressing your thoughts clearly. Period. Here are a couple more phrases to support this premise.
“Write it square then add the flair.” (Unknown) The point again is clarity above all things. Be direct, then you make it fun or add the “it” factor if you want to.
“Write the way talk, if you could edit what you say.” (Unknown) The point is that your writing should look and feel the way you speak with the benefit of forethought. You get to delete the uhmms and errrrs and awkward phraseology through editing.
These concepts are valid 99% of the time. Legal briefs and PhD theses may be different animals, but that’s not what this is all about. Write it square. Make it simple and direct, and you will triumph. |
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Musings on English: So, Why Does Writing Really Matter? |
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The very question is a dagger in my heart. At WritingHelp.com we do two things: we write, and we talk about writing. That’s it. In this blurb, we will do both.
I often hold business writing clinics for companies and conduct writing webinars over the internet. We have done this at Rowan University, the National Association of Women Business Owners, Sam’s Club, and more. And the goals are always the same: raise the general level of business writing, take away fears that people have about writing, and address what I call the ‘Constitutional Principles of Good Writing.’ What works, what doesn’t, and why. That’s a lot to cover.
When I give the presentation, I start out by asking: “Why is writing important anyway?” The question seems too simple to even postulate, but I am not deterred. I am usually addressing an eager audience, and they are willing to play along. Here are some of the reasons I give.
Poor Writing Trumps Strong Content: You lose impact when people focus on the writing instead of the message. Easy concept. If you make your document straight forward and accessible to your readers, everybody wins.
The “Can’t Even” Concept: This is presented in the negative, but the premise is: “If she can’t even write a damn letter, how can she manage anything more complex?” I know that’s harsh, and people don’t articulate things that way, but they sure think that way. This is an indispensable tool for business success.
It’s a Big Part of Your Job: The more senior you get in any organization, the more important your communications become. Your writing reaches more people inside and outside the organization, and you need it to be your ally, not your enemy.
It Gives You Confidence: Two time-honored ways to show that you are knowledgeable about something are to speak about it in a public setting or write about it to a broad audience. This gives you credibility, and it helps you earn the trust of your colleagues.
It Tightens Your Thinking: When you write about something, you are forced to think about it with more discipline than you would otherwise apply to the topic. After all, who wants to look foolish? You end up thinking about questions that might have eluded you at first, and you gain a broader understanding of your topic. Good things all.
It’s Fun: Say what? People always buy into the earlier points, less so here. And I can hear your thoughts. “Is he nuts?” “But I insist on the premise. In the press of daily affairs when you have answered 60 phone calls, rearranged your day because two key employees didn’t show up, and received some unwelcome correspondence from the IRS, how can a writing task be fun?
The truth is that most of our work life is tempestuous. We put out fires; we answer the call; we react. When we write, however, we are usually proactive. Instead of dealing with a phone call that fades into the mist, when we write, we have a document we can hold and use for future reference. If not exactly fun, writing is at least a visible and satisfying accomplishment. It adds substance to our days, and it is a welcome check mark against our ‘to do’ list.
The simple truth is that writing is a big part of our responsibilities. Anything you can do to improve your skills will have an enduring impact. Step by step, memo by memo, you can improve your skills without enduring much pain. And that’s what this newsletter is about. End of sermon. Amen.
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I’ll close by admitting one small downside to being a good writer. If you get good at it, and people know you’re good, you’ll become a magnet. “Let Linda write it. She’s good at this stuff.” That, of course, makes you an invaluable resource, but it may not be where you want to direct your attention. Everything has tradeoffs. My solution has always been to pressure the person making the request to get me a meaningful draft, which I might end up tossing at the end of the day. The point is, as you improve, you can help others improve at the same time. A rising tide lifts all boats, so to speak, and your improved skills can help others in their work.
So, enjoy the dog days of summer, and we’ll meet again in November.
Happy writing,
Jonathan Praet
President
WritingHelp.com
1311 Allaire Avenue
Ocean Township, NJ 07712
(o) 732-531-1162
(f) 732-531-5828
j.n@writinghelpinc.com
www.writinghelpinc.com |
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