The art of business writing - the Write the Talk blog

Fiona Woolf and the Seven Drafts - political letter writing laid bare

 

It's not often that the drafts of a letter are the lead news of the day, so today's coverage of the evolution of a communication to the Home Secretary has been remarkable if only for that reason. The child abuse inquiry and the choice of Chair are immensely important and sensitive and should not be trivialised, but there's a valuable insight here into the workings of political communication.

There'll be time for analysis later — in the meantime, here are the full Fiona Woolf drafts in all their subtly shifting glory.

While you're there, look out for how this early paragraph in the first draft of the letter ...

morphs into this ...

Presentation affects perception at least as much as fact. How an idea or a message is introduced heavily influences how it is received. A skilled writer can shape an idea in as many different ways as a skilled tennis player can shape a shot. It's a skill that should be used for good.

I hope the survivors of abuse, and the rest of us, get clear, unspun answers — however long that takes.

 

 

Why we need more creative people, everywhere.

Yesterday I came across a very important opinion piece on the critical importance of creativity in all areas of the economy as well as in our cultural lives. You should read it.

It struck a chord with me for two reasons. I've long encouraged businesses to get an imaginative writer on their payroll or partner list. Writing is so much more than decent grammar; it's about capturing and communicating ideas, painting pictures, and persuading prospects with personality and vibrancy. It's a core business skill whatever industry you're in.

We've also been working with a charity whose raison d'etre is to help children and young people develop and sustain their creativity. They're called The Mighty Creatives and they are an inspiring bunch pf people. For them, firing creativity in young people isn't just a way to occupy them for a day; it's about equipping them to take on the challenges that they, and all of us, will face as the world gets more complex and the challenges get more profound. We need people with ideas, independent thinkers with the courage to go with their own answers to the issues they come up against.

Creativity isn't a nice-to-have. It's fundamental, and we should value and encourage it.

Are you the awesome type?

There was a great little piece in The Guardian this week on the early findings of a new study of spoken English.

There are two reasons to read it: it's short, informative and playful (business communicators, please note); and the findings are really interesting. Who knew that fortnight was on the way out?

The results of the full study will make fascinating reading, I think. They're asking people to send in recordings of their normal conversations, and I'm tempted to do my bit. What words might make it in to those snippets of daily life? Well, as the father of a 17 year old I expect there'll be a lot of 'cash' references, repeated use of the phrase 'taxi service', and many varriations on the tonal delivery of 'again'.

In the office, 'client' has long replaced 'customer' although brothel references have not increased to the same extent. And as the client is always right, I expect 'final' will increasingly be displaced by the more realistic 'draft'.

So, what are the new words in your vocabulary?

Website redesign: where not to start

A website redesign is a big undertaking. If it's part of a wholesale rebranding exercise, there's even more at stake. So where to start?

Well, not with the design.

How many film locations are chosen before the script is drafted? How many book covers are designed before the novel is written? There's a reason for that. The visuals support the story, not the other way round.

The place to start with website redesign, or any marketing refresh, is your business story. What are you trying to say, who are you saying it to, how are you saying it? These are the obvious questions. There are many more to go through before you even start thinking about layout, logos and colours.

Your business story should be a consistent thread through everything you say and do. It's how you attract attention and build relationships and it will put you out in front of the competition. While they're designing their covers first and filling the blank pages afterwards, you'll be wrapping your compelling story in the perfect design.

And the great thing about investing in your business story is that you can use it over and over again. Online, in print, in person.

So, get your story straight today and make the most of your marketing investment. But only if you want to be a bestseller.

 

We run story workshops for clients who want to make the most of their marketing investment and get people talking. Email us for details, or sign up here for our helpful little newsletter.

 

What leaders are really saying when they talk gobbledegook

 

The latest Dogberry awards - for misuse of the English language in positions of responsibility - are out, and they're a hoot. The great and the good (including Burberry's Angela Ahrendts, above) have been caught mangling the language as they talk about their respective businesses, and no-one was any the wiser when they'd finished. Cue the usual online derision and resigned shakes of the head.

There's a problem, though. These are intelligent people in powerful jobs. They're talking rubbish and getting away with it. So if you think you can ignore it, you're wrong. They're doing it for a reason, and if you're an investor, employee or customer you should know what the gobbledegookers are telling you. It's not an exhaustive list, but you should decide which are the ones to worry about.

We don't know what we're talking about

When people start to use words that don't mean anything, one explanation is that they're filling gaps in their understanding with words they've heard others use in a similar context. It makes them feel good, just like it made the people they learnt them from feel good. Except those guys were consultants who were feeling good about the large fee they'd just pocketed for spouting this tosh. Next time you hear a leader gobbledegooking, ask a few clarifiying questions. You'll learn a lot.

We're trying to make things sound better than they really are

A subtle extension of my first point. Gobbledegook is sometimes a deliberate smokescreen: at best it's making the most of a dull idea; at worst it's concealing big issues with a Cloak of Incomprehensibility. Either way, leader as misleader? Not ideal.

We don't know who we're talking to

To be fair, some jargon has its place. It's a way of conveying an idea in shorthand, and it can work well between people who know that shorthand. When leaders start using their shorthand with the uninitiated, that's when it becomes jargon. So if someone's using jargon on an audence, it's because they're not thinking about the audience. They're thinking about themsleves. In my book that's not leadership behaviour.

We think we're better than you

I might have been harsh with the suggestion that leaders don't know who they're talking to. Clearly many do. There's another explanation: they think it makes them sound brighter, more informed and more expert than you. It's a dominance strategy, daring those in earshot to expose their own inadequacies by asking for an explanation. It's no way to lead people or run a business.

Next time a business leader starts gobbledegooking, have a good listen. They're telling you more than they think.

For tips on how to avoid the unintended consequences of business jargon and make language work for you, sign up to the Write the Talk newsletter. It's short, occasional and does the job.

Why people have the wrong idea about your business

I was in Bucharest again recently. If you don't know the city, what springs to mind when someone talks about the capital of Romania? Communism, Ceausescu, and fobidding concrete apartment blocks might be on the list. Cold weather, perhaps, and an impenetrable language.

I had plenty of preconceptions before I went for the first time. And how wrong I was.

More on that in a minute. The point of this post is that we all have our preconceptions, and that includes everyone who has reason to think about your business.

What are they thinking exactly?

Well, you don't know (unless you ask, but that's for another post). The only way to counter those preconceptions is to tell people a clear story: about why you do what you do, and what's in it for them. If you want people to remember your business, make that story a personal one about you, your employees and your customers.

A micro-case study

The client we're working with in Bucharest is one of the country's biggest companies, but when they approached us I knew nothing about them. I had my opinions, but it's only since I've worked on their story that I really understand what they're about. They have a great story, great people and results to be proud of. I like them. A lot.

What you need to do

Don't let preconceptions get in the way of your message. Get your story clear, make it heartfelt and then use it everywhere. A business without a story is like a drama without a plot. You can't afford to be without one.

And Bucharest? It has Parisian architecture, a beautiful Old Town, a language and people as much Southern European as Eastern European, and it's roasting in summertime.

I love it.

 

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Three reasons why your business voice matters

If you've ever lost your voice, or developed one of those awkward high-pitched squeaks, you'll have experienced first-hand how much we all rely on being able to talk. It’s part of who we are. It’s how people recognise us. It’s how we get things done. Why, then, do so many companies seem content with their ropey old business voice?

Voice is the combination of the words you use and how you use them. It’s one of the most powerful business tools around, and here are three reasons why:

1.    Being unique and distinctive
A voice that properly captures the personality of your business and its culture is unique. You don’t sound like anyone else at a networking event, so why should your business? Your history, motivation and way of working are at the heart of what you do and they can make you stand out. Get your business voice right and people will notice and remember you.

2.    Building relationships
It’s very hard to build a relationship with facts and bullet points – I bet you’ve never fallen for someone based on a PowerPoint presentation of their attributes. Communicating with personality changes the way that people react to what you are saying. Building rapport with readers and browsers encourages them to linger and subtly influences their decision making processes. Get the relationship right and you won’t have to work so hard on the cold logic of what you are selling.

3.    Singing from the same hymn sheet (and other clichés)
When you have several teams or offices, getting everyone to feel and act like they work for the same organisation can be a really tough job. More importantly, customers do not like inconsistency and your brand is dead without it. While you work on building the culture and processes that bind growing businesses together, use a single compelling voice with the outside world. Your customers will hear the unity and so will your people.

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Find the real voices in your organisation

The way your business uses language is too important to be left up to the people in the top jobs.

Climbing the human pyramid of power doesn't depend on being able to excite and astonish in words; in fact the opposite is often true. Many conform to perform and encourage their people to do the same.

A business that writes like it thinks is a business that understands relationships. Without relationships a business is dead.

So if you don't have the bottle or the skills to write it like it is, find the people in your organisation who can. Track down the individuals with the authentic voices, who can talk the dialect of your business rather than the management Esperanto that no-one would dare use in public.

Get them to help convey news and ideas in ways that people will understand, appreciate and remember. You just might find that it catches on and everyone feels able to write like a human being. Pretending to be something you're not is an energy-sapping way to live a life after all.

All you need to do is support the pioneers, then sit back and take the credit.

How big is your audience?

Almost everything you write is for many people to read (if only in your dreams). You may have an email distribution list of 10,000 addresses or be hoping for 50,000 website hits; either way you will be imagining a healthy audience. Let's assume I'm reading an article you've written that contains the following statement:

 “Many of you recognise the need for quality writing in your business.”

This may well be true of the group you are communicating with, but that's not the point. What you have done is put me, the reader, in a crowd which is being addressed by the literary equivalent of a megaphone. You've made me feel like a punter at Hyde Park Corner, listening to you warble on about your favourite topic. So if it's OK with you, I'm going to walk on; you've obviously got a big enough audience already.

If I hang around, I may consider the point you are trying to make: that some of the readers of your piece don't recognise the need for quality writing. Are you trying to make me feel uncomfortable, an outsider in a self-satisfied group of know-it-alls? Well, it's working, and I'm really going this time.

The alternative is simple: talk to one imaginary reader and do it directly and personally. Let your voice be inside her head, speaking to her privately. Not only will it be more effective but you will find your writing becomes more focused. You're showing that you are more interested in your reader than you are in listening to your own voice:

 “You recognise the need for quality writing in your business.”

That's got my attention now. Whether or not you're right, you are talking to me and me alone. In return I'm going to give you the opportunity to finish what you want to tell me.

One thing to remember: if you have trouble getting a clear mental picture of your reader for a particular piece of writing, then face up to the possibility that you have too many segments of your market in mind. Pick one – your writing will benefit, and the message will resonate much more with your reader.

That is exactly the effect you want to have: better the relevant words that make some people listen, than the general words that make everybody walk away.

Is fear stalking your organisation?

Fear is not a helpful emotion in organisations: it constrains ideas and wears people down. Quite rightly then, good organisations will try hard to minimise fear in the workplace, but how to tell if it's there?

Take a look at the language people use. Fear of standing out; fear of taking responsibility; fear of sounding stupid: all of these concerns drive people towards impersonal, jargon-laden writing.

The more confident people are, the more independent they feel, the likelier they are to write what and how they think and not follow the herd.

If great people are dull writers, it's worth asking why.