When my correspondents linked me to an Inc. Magazine article, “Study: Poor Writing Skills Are Costing Businesses Billions,” I thought I’d find good evidence for my thesis that business writing is a problem. Instead, I found bullshit, and a good case study in how today’s media environment is an echo chamber for garbage. Poor writing is an expensive business…
When someone in a position of authority — like your boss — wants to ruin your writing, you can’t ignore them. You’ve got to deal with it. Today, I tell you how. At a clear writing workshop I gave this week, a participant asked this question: “How do I deal with someone who is in a…
Storytelling is all the rage in business. Meanwhile, I’m telling you to front-load your writing — to explain just what you’re about to say in the title and first few sentences. If you take my advice, won’t that ruin your story? Not quite. In fact, following my advice is the only way you’ll get to tell your…
What should you do if you need to write something and you can’t seem to get started? The answer depends on what’s stopping you: lack of ideas, lack of material, or lack of the will to live . . . I mean, will to write. I thought about this when a participant asked it in…
In Massachusetts, companies can enforce noncompete agreements to stop their workers from working for (or starting) a competitor. There ought to be a cost for companies to do that — and if the Massachusetts legislature passes the law it’s considering, there will be. Noncompetes in Mass. make it hard to change jobs As it stands now,…
Frequent public speakers know that there are five stages of readiness for giving a speech. The trick is not to reach stage 3 and then imagine that you’re done. Stage 1: The idea What you have: A concept of what you what you want to say, and in what order. Some stories to tell. A theme….
Facebook increasingly defines our ideas about truth and news, so they really ought to work a little harder to block completely fake and misleading advertising. If you aspire to be the safe playground everybody plays at, you don’t leave broken glass lying around — let alone take money from the people who scatter it there. What are…
I’ve got a long history in the print business. I’ve got detailed knowledge of an obsolescing technology. I can’t help but wonder what that means. Ink is in my blood. My grandfather was a linotype operator for the long-gone Philadelphia Bulletin (an afternoon paper); he worked with hot lead and his hands were so tough he could pick…
As I’ve reviewed the data from the WOBS Writing Survey, one thing stood out: managers read a lot, and they think the quality of business writing is poor. By improving the writing culture in their departments, they could save themselves and their workers a lot of time. The data shown here comes from my survey early…