Zazou Marketing

Most of us turn into wanna-be college professors when we start writing, especially when we write about our business. Our words get big; our thoughts get convoluted; and we try to sound like we know what we are talking about.

While you do likely know what you are talking about, if you’re like most of us, you may well let words get in the way of demonstrating your expertise. To remove yourself from the professorial role, think a moment about how you talk. Then write like that.

For example:

• change: “After consulting extensively with the board, staff, and leadership committees, a research-based program that has nationwide acceptance was implemented this year to address ongoing issues of productivity and staff output.”

• to: “The board, staff, and leadership committees offered input about staff efficiency. Then, to address those productivity issues, we implemented a research-based program that has national respect.”

The key to writing like you talk is being able to step back and look at your writing with an objective eye. This is a skill that takes practice, but with time you can certainly do it. In the meantime, have someone else take a look at your work—it could mean the difference between grabbing your audience (and selling your service or product) or flat out losing your audience.

I finally feel like I have my due. Someone who is not a writer is talking about the importance of writing…

Richard Anderson, chief executive of Delta Air Lines, says over and over in a New York Times article that when he’s hiring he looks for good communication skills. And he specifically mentions writing skills. I know that everyone says that they are looking for good communication skills, the ability to prioritize, and the ability to multi-task, blah, blah, blah. But he says he’s looking for good communication skills so many times that I actually believe he means it.

Here’s his point:

“People really have to be able to handle the written and spoken word. And when I say written word, I don’t mean PowerPoints. I don’t think PowerPoints help people think as clearly as they should because you don’t have to put a complete thought in place. You can just put a phrase with a bullet in front of it. And it doesn’t have a subject, a verb and an object, so you aren’t expressing complete thoughts.

“And a lot of what we do in communication, when you write e-mail, you need to express yourself very clearly so people understand whether we’re going to L.A. today or we’re going to Boston today.”

So, there it is. Writing really is important. Well, at least according to Richard Anderson and me. Two down, how many millions to go?