No matter where you are on the writing skill scale, there is always room for improvement. While working toward better writing does take practice and time, there are things you can do that are quick and easy. Here are some simple suggestions for improving your writing right now. None of them should take more than…
Tag Archive: Audience Awareness
How to Ask the Right Questions
In a recent Final Draft Communications Blog post about working with subject matter experts, a reader who is a marketing professional commented that her clients are usually her subject matter experts, and that it takes considerable skill to extract from them the information needed to create marketing documents on their behalf. I couldn’t agree more…
Why You Need to Ditch Your Elevator Speech – Part III: Let Them See Your P.O.V.
This post is Part III in a three-part series in which Marcia Hoeck, a dynamic business coach, presents a fresh, effective way to verbally engage with customers and contacts. In Part I , Marcia shares her opinion of elevator speeches (they don’t sound natural, and don’t help people to talk), and introduces us to the…
How to Write for Your Hidden Audience
We all know how important audience awareness is in writing. In business writing, your audience is typically clients, customers, and colleagues. Right? Yes and no. Yes, you must consider one or more of those audiences. But, no, it’s not that simple. Often there is a hidden audience to think about, and leaving them out of…
How to Elevate Your Elevator Speech
An elevator speech is a “commercial” about your company brief enough to deliver during an elevator ride. If you own or represent a business, it is smart to develop such a speech so that you are not at a loss when people ask, “What do you do?” You can also break out your elevator speech…
Get in Tune With Your Readers
The whole reason you write is to communicate your ideas. So, your writing must be accessible to your readers. Whether you are writing a website, a blog, or a white paper, taking your readership into consideration is the single most important factor in ensuring your message is understood. Here are a few tips to get…
Writing an E-book to Showcase Your Expertise
E-books can add value to your business in several ways: By establishing your expertise, by drawing viewers to your website, by attracting links to and buzz about your site, and by generating revenue. For best results, your e-book should provide useful, actionable content, and establish trust between you and the reader. Here are some tips…
Writing Titles That Work
So, you’ve gone to all the trouble to think of something to write about. You’ve done the research. You’ve crafted a logical outline. And, you’ve found just the right words to express your ideas. Now it’s time for the final touches, including writing your title…which may appear to be the easy part. “There are so…
Business Writing and Style
Sometimes the way you say something is just as important as what you say. The way you write–your writing style–can affect the way your message is read and understood. Business writing and style need to be coordinated, because using an appropriate style contributes to clear communication. Not sure how to find the right style? Here…
Ruthless Editing
Just as the white space in design makes visual elements stand out, and the space between notes makes music more powerful, what you leave out of your writing can make it more robust. Ruthless editing of your writing requires making hard choices about what stays and what goes once you have developed an initial draft….