Apple, Oranges, Grapes and Pears

            I used to be SO sensitive.  I wore my feelings on my shoulder.  It was very difficult to separate my sensitivity from the business world.  Often times, I got my feelings hurt at work and kept it to myself because it’s work. 

            According to an article, I was a ‘Be Nice to Me’ reader.   I preferred to receive business messages that are friendly, courteous and sincere.  I read in between the lines of work emails.  I wanted people issues to be addressed. 

            This article talks about adapting to your reader’s style differences.  Besides, everyone is unique with different personalities.  In saying that, you need to cater to each reader accordingly.  Readers are broken down into four categories: tell me everything, just give me the facts, be nice to me and be interesting. 

            The ‘Tell Me Everything’ reader requires an overabundance of details.  The more you drown them with details, the more secure in the subject they are.  This type of reader writes like they want to be written to.  They’re messages will tend to be lengthy as well.

            The ‘Just Give Me the Facts’ reader skims through something to get to the point.  They avoid the mumbo jumbo to get to the nitty gritty.  This type of reader won’t open your long emails quickly. 

            The ‘Be Interesting’ reader requires fancy wording and creativity to keep their attention.  In their own writing, this type of reader tends to not provide necessary details.

            If you’ve had previous professional contact with a person, it’s important to ask yourself, “Now, what type of reader are they?”

You are smart. You are kind. You are important.

         About 10 years ago, I decided to go on an introspective journey.  The focus of this journey was to improve my self-worth and, in doing so, I created some personal affirmations.  You’re smart.  You treat people like you want to be treated.  You think before you act.  You’re talented.  But, let me tell you what I noticed.  I ended up writing 15 affirmations and they took me 2 or 3 days to complete them.  It wasn’t that I didn’t have anything to improve or didn’t see my personal talent.  I had trouble complimenting myself.  It’s just awkward, I think. 

            Now, I’m not sure what brought about this overabundance of modesty.  But, I can tell you that it stints your process in the business arena.  Just think about it.  You’re selling yourself on a resume but you’re afraid to compliment yourself.  The employer might look at your resume and say, “Well, if he/she doesn’t believe it, then why should I?” 

            That’s why this article I just read came in handy.  It’s called ‘Writing About Ourselves: Bragging Without Blushing’.  The article suggests that the discomfort in writing about self might come from childhood.  You may have been taught that modesty is more attractive. 

            But, there is a time when personal complimenting in writing is appropriate.  Some of those areas are self-appraisals, resumes, cover letters, proposals and bios.  The article mentions that you need to be convincing about your strengths, use specific examples, use numbers, be forthright, use the word ‘I’, give relevant information, explain your value and enlist the help of a friend to prove it all. 

            The purpose of these forms of business writing is to persuade—and you persuade with your gifts.  They need to know what you are bringing to the table.

Once Upon A Time...

            While studying for my MFA, I took a flash fiction course.  On the first day of this class, the professor passed out three blank index cards to each student.  He assigned a project for us to write an entire fiction story on one index card.  We were only permitted to use one side of the index card to do so.  I thought, “Oh, this should be a breeze!” But, boy was I wrong! 

            I typed the story first before I wrote it on the card.  The story turned out to be an entire page.  When I transferred the story to the card, I ran out of room.  I didn’t want to cut anything out of the story but I had to.  So, I cut a few words and transferred the revised story on the next card.  It was still too much—extremely too much.  I’d cut all that I could cut so I started at the story’s beginning.  I cut the story off right to the action. 

            The next week in class, the professor asked us to read our stories aloud.  He revealed that the object of this assignment was to teach us how to write flash fiction.  With flash fiction, you have to forget about the once-upon-a-times.  You need to get straight through the point and end it. Business writing is no different.  Because of the nature of the writing, you need to get to your point immediately.

            I read an article recently that talks about this.  They compare the idea of beginning, middle and end to elementary school.  In elementary school, the teacher teaches you this.  In the business world, we have to un-teach ourselves the things that they taught.

            According to the article, elementary teachers assume that you have a captive audience.  They go through your writing with a fine tooth comb and correct mistakes.  In business, people aren’t that nitpicky. 

            Elementary teachers teach you to expand on your answers.  In business, too much expanding is discouraged.  It loses your reader.

            Elementary teachers encourage big words.  In business, you want to ensure that your audience understands you.  You need to be as simplistic as possible. 

            Elementary teachers don’t want you to use the words ‘you’ or ‘I’.  In business, it’s okay to do so.  In fact, using those words shows a connection to the reader. 

            Elementary teachers care about grammatical errors.  In business, starting a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but’ is perfectly okay. 

What NOT To Do When Writing A Business Plan

          About 10 years ago, I embarked on the social journey of “Speak on It” forums.  It was birthed through a telephone conversation with a close friend.  I just didn’t think men and women communicated enough. I didn’t think that people had many other options to be sociable other than clubs or bars.  I didn’t think that people networked enough. 

          So, I came up with this idea for a forum to do all of those things.  To my surprise, the forums were a success.  Word spread about it and new people came every month.  I became passionate about it.  I dedicated the time to perfect it—to make it more business-like.  Because of its success, I broadened my horizons.  I thought about conferences—keynote speakers—bigger prizes—better marketing.    But all of those things required money—something I didn’t have.   I had to write a business plan.  

          I wanted to find out what a great business plan entails.  Then, I ran across an article in the Wall Street Journal titled ‘Why Business Plans Don’t Deliver’.  This article mentions that many business plans go straight in the garbage once they present red flags.  You may ask, “But, what are those red flags?”  Well, I’ll tell you! 

·      Don’t boast about what you’re selling and not back it up.  This shows that you haven’t taken the time to research.

·       Don’t make speculations about its success if you don’t know.  This shows that you don’t know who your target market is.

·       Don’t overload the investors with all numbers.  This shows that you’re trying to convince too much without providing meaningful research.

·       Don’t sell the team, sell the product.  This shows that you haven’t explored the challenges that may arise.

·       Don’t fake perfection.  This shows that you think your plan has no room for improvement—and all new businesses do.

          After reading this, I started to think about my business plan for ‘Speak on It’.  I needed to prove why men and women don’t communicate.  I needed to show the lack of social activities and networking opportunities in this city.  I needed to show provide examples of ventures similar to ‘Speak in It’ that were successful.  I needed to express my aspirations and maintain my humility.  I needed to expose my competition.  I had a lot of work to do—but knowing how go about it was a great start.

Thinking Is Writing

                Let’s talk about communication and how it relates to writing. 

            They say men are from Mars and women are from Venus.  They say that the young folks think differently than the older folks.  The fact is that different people have different thought processes –and when you have different thought processes, conversations are received in different ways.

            Here’s one scenario.

A few years ago, I watched Oprah Winfrey: LifeClass.  In this show, Oprah discussed how men and women communicate differently.  According to her and her guest, Iyanla Vanzant, men speak in headlines and women speak in fine print.  Oprah provided an example about her boyfriend.  One day, he returned home after golfing with his buddies.  Nonchalantly, he informed Oprah that his friend’s wife left him for another woman.  That’s all he said—and then he moved on.  Baffled by the ‘headline’, Oprah started to ask questions.  Who did she leave him for?  When did this happen?  Is he okay?  Stedman didn’t supply the answers and she couldn’t understand it.  How could someone hear something so devastating and not follow it up with questions?  They say that’s just the way men converse.  I’m not sure about the truth of this.  However, I can say that I’ve observed this when communicating with the opposite sex. 

            Here’s another scenario—a more business-related one.

A member of upper management is a stickler for numbers.  Just saying that business is better isn’t enough.  You need examples.  Providing numbers show the ‘how much’ rather than the statement of ‘it was done.’  It’s more believable—more precise.

Another previous manager was a stickler for proof statements.  Just saying that business is better isn’t enough.  You need examples.  Providing statements of success show specifically what happened to show that business is better.  It’s more believable in another way—it shows accomplishment.

            I thought about both of these scenarios after reading an article the other day titled ‘Does Your Business Audience Have a Split Personality’.  In this article, it talks about how business writing should consist of business and personal benefits.  The business side will do the convincing and emphasize how this change can improve things.  The personal side will impact a person’s individual feelings.  The personal side is where you consider your audience and how they will receive you.  Are they male or female?  What’s their age group?  How will this change impact them on a personal level?

This might be the best ever, most innovative stuff you read

   
     Upon surfing the internet recently, I ran across an article titled '10 Terms to avoid in business writing'.  In this article, it touched on a few words to beware of using in business-to-business writing. 

     Words like really, very, learn, free, stuff, innovative, cheap, sell, maybe, might, best ever, most, absolute and other fancy words are looked down upon by businesses.  Those words immediately made me think about my personal email.  Every day, I'm either deleting messages or clearing out my spam folder.  I watch for emails that mention the word, free. I clear out the emails that advertise their product as the best thing out there.  

     The article stated the obvious.  The words, really or very, aren't necessary words.  The word, free, is a word used to entice and hurts your business.  The word, stuff, isn't specific enough and lacks an effort.  The word, innovative, is overused and a generalized marketing pitch word.  The connotation of the word cheap sounds cheap.  You can receive more positive responses by using words like cost-effective or affordable.  The words, maybe or might, insinuate a sense of being unsure.  Lastly, the words, best ever/most/absolute, are exaggerations and they don't give specifics on the product. 
    
     The article calls these words unforgivable. In business, I believe that the content of your writing is the key to getting what you want.

2 Wom It May Consern

            It’s nothing worse than submitting a business proposal or sending a business email, then reading over it later to find grammatical errors, typos, fragments and run-on sentences. If it makes you cringe, just imagine what the other person reading it is doing! For example, just the other day, I received an email from an attorney with two typos. Now, everyone’s human. However, it’s only natural that a person might hold attorneys to a higher standard.

            In the business world, a lack of writing skills can make or break you. I read over an article recently titled ’12 Tips for Better Business Writing’ and it was very informative. The author of this article confessed that most business people don’t have much experience writing. Writing isn’t stressed when you’re getting a business degree in the same way it would be with a law degree.

            They say that less is more. Get your point across quickly. Be concise. Besides, we are in a time of busy, busy, busy! People are on a move and don’t have time for business written soliloquys! Remember to include the who, what, when, where and why’s and be done with it.

            They discourage jargon. Avoid the fancy schmancy. People tend to lose sight of what you’re trying to convey when you use jargons.

            Watch the names, titles and genders to insure that you aren’t offending anyone. Be professional but not too formal. People want to know that there’s a comfort level so that there’s a connection. Just know your boundaries. For example, in high school, I had a friend that my parents told, “Make yourself at home.” They stated it to be polite and to make her feel comfortable. But, when she kicked off her shoes and went into the refrigerator, they raised an eyebrow.

            Get it right once and keep it right. In my position, I have to send out the same email on a daily basis. So, I created templates/form letters so that I can just cut/paste what I need. Not only does it save time but it gives you the confidence that you have an error-free letter/email.

             Proofread, proofread and, when you’re done, proofread some more. It’s nothing more embarrassing than noticing your own mistakes once it’s out of your hands. If you’re still unsure about your writing content, you should contact a freelancer to be your second set of eyes.