Monthly Archives: November 2011

Free Productivity Tool

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The rules are simple. Take the work, but never yourself, seriously. Pour in the love and whatever skill you have, and it will come out.
-Chuck Jones

Becoming a productive business writer is a difficult feat. Writing can be tedious, time-consuming and challenging, and writers often work on multiple projects at once. Many business writers struggle with finding the balance between productivity and quality. More often than not, one dominates to the detriment of the other.

I’m always looking for something to improve this balancing act with my many writing projects, organize my projects and day. In pursuing the “perfect” tool, I’ve tried dozens of productivity charts, calendars, apps and to-do lists. Along the way, I’ve developed my own worksheet that may prove useful for you in your business writing and other tasks.

Download free tool: Productivity Handout

You can customize this Word document to fit your specific business writing and productivity needs. I like to print out one handout every morning and fill out each section to plan my day. When I have an idea about a project at any time throughout the day, I jot it down in the bubble at the top left. I hope you find this handout as helpful as I do!

What are You Reading?

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Are you reading any great business books right now? How about reading for pleasure?

My reading pile has grown quite a bit over the last month – and I’m enjoying everything:

1. Talk Normal by Tim Phillips

With a hearty dose of humor and a biting wit, Phillips takes on business’ tendency to evade with jargon and code words. Phillips showcases the rise of “business speak” and “management lingo” in offices throughout the UK, despite it’s foolishness and – worse – ineffectiveness.

Phillips argues that businesses should focus on writing and speaking to be understood rather than to be admired for their cleverness, intelligence and complexity. Jargon is a way to exclude and confuse, not include, collaborate or inform. Talk Normal insists that business writers focus on understanding and honing their message with real, useful information.

Talk Normal does not offer enough practical or concrete strategies for business writers to communicate this way, or what to do when faced with “business speak” as an easy out. Phillips does, however, offer lots of humorous and outrageous examples (that we’ve all experienced), making it a great read for anyone looking to commiserate and chuckle.

2. Gold Mine by Freddy Balle & Michael Balle

I’m currently working on a project dealing with lean manufacturing and the client recommended that I read this book. I’m very glad for the suggestion; Gold Mine is a great example of vibrant, effective storytelling for business. The authors paint a highly human and personal picture of implementing lean, while simultaneously detailing the technical and business principles.

Mike Wood’s childhood friend’s business is in trouble and confides in him. As a psychologist, Wood knows how to listen and motivate his friend to regain control over his life. He can’t, however, help him improve his plant’s production. Mike urges his retired father – a lean manufacturing expert who’s career was filled with personal battles – to help his friend. As they begin implementing specific lean practices and tools, people and opinions struggle to change and clash. Ultimately, the everyone embraces the challenges and benefits of lean manufacturing

Gold Mine is an engaging, quick read that all business writers would enjoy as an example of well-organized and powerful storytelling.

3. Ghosts by Daylight: Love, War, and Redemption by Janine di Giovanni

I had a hard time putting this book down. Janine di Giovanni recounts her experiences working as a war correspondent in Sarajevo, Afghanistan, Iraq and other war-torn areas. Her passion for witnessing human rights violations and being a voice for the voiceless drives her to return over and over to the brutality and sadness of war zones to write eloquently about all she sees.

Along the way, she meets Bruno, a French war photographer, and they fall in love in the midst of guns and adrenaline. When Janine becomes pregnant, they pursue their dream of a building a safe and warm family life in Paris. They buy a beautiful home and are surrounded by friends and family, but cannot escape the sadness that haunts them.

Janine di Giovanni confronts the difficulties of bringing a child into an uncertain world, Bruno’s PTSD and alcoholism with disarming honesty. She carefully weaves stories of her past and present, and openly shares how her pure love and devotion are challenged by the complicated world where we live.

Have you read any great books recently? If so, please pass them along.

Warm wishes for a happy Thanksgiving! 

How to make PowerPoint Better

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Microsoft PowerPoint

Image via Wikipedia

PowerPoint is a much-hated and much-used tool. Business writers rely heavily on PowerPoint for presentations, training materials, recruiting, reports and more.

You can blame the program; it’s all too easy to produce cluttered and dated- looking slides, it’s cumbersome and time-consuming. But blaming the program and it’s limitations will only get you so far. Right now, business writers need to make the best of this tool to produce clear, powerful and persuasive slides.

Writing for PowerPoint is much different than any other type of writing. Instead of complete sentences, you write in bullet points and brief statements. Instead of using writing to educate and persuade, you rely on a balance of written words, images and your speaking.

How can you make your next PowerPoint presentation better?

1. Don’t underestimate the amount of time required to research, outline, write and prepare your presentation. It takes time to create a successful presentation, sometimes up to thirty hours to create a thirty minute presentation. Make sure you give yourself enough time.

2. Watch verb agreement. When writing in bullet points or short fragments, it’s easy to forget about verb tenses. Use active verbs as often as possible and make sure all the tenses agree. For example:

XYZ Division needs to:

  • Keeping costs down
  • Eliminate overproduction  (These verbs don’t agree.)

3. Edit extensively. Delete any text that isn’t absolutely necessary. Keep slides clean and streamlined by including only one or two central points. Many people prefer including extensive details in the “speaker’s notes” section with explanations, sources and prompts for discussion.

4. Create a word limit for each slide – and stick to it. Your word limit will depend on the topic, number of slides and amount of detail.

5. Keep the entire presentation consistent. Streamline the presentation by using the same font and color scheme throughout. Use a consistent tone to unite all slides into one cohesive presentation or narrative.

Do you struggle with PowerPoint? Do you have any tricks for writing PowerPoint presentations? How do you make yours appealing and engaging?

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Engaged Writers = Engaged Employees (Part 2)

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To promote and sustain employee engagement, businesses must invest in high-quality writing and communications that captivate, motivate and inspire. Developing engaged writers is a challenging process.

All businesses, no matter their size, should start by making clear writing a top priority. When supervisors demonstrate that they value high-quality writing as vital for success, employees will engage more fully in the writing they complete every day – emails, reports, notes and presentations. Another way to improve writing engagement is to offer classes, seminars and webinars on effective communication for all employees.

The fastest technique for improving engaged writing at your office, business or corporation is to practice what you preach. Use a dynamic and engaging writing style with every single writing task that you complete. You’ll promote engaging writing as your readers learn from your example and emulate your .

Develop a more engaging writing style by:

1. Using conversational style to address the reader directly. Conversational writing is easier to understand,  comprehend and more enjoyable to read. 

2. Keeping it cogent and avoiding business buzzwords, jargon and acronyms. Write only when necessary and always stick to the message’s central purpose. Use sraightforward language that’s fast and easy to comprehend.

3. Using a positive and honest tone. Your readers appreciate your understanding of their problems and concerns; don’t avoid this issues even if they can be touchy or difficult. Instead, address these topics with openness and optimism. Upbeat language goes a long way in increasing morale.

4. Converting problems or complaints into goals. When addressing these problems or concerns, convert them into goals and explain methods for reaching these goals.

5. Anchoring all writing with your high-level communications strategy. Every writing task that you complete is an opportunity to share your business’ or corporation’s communication philosophies. Leverage these opportunities to emphasize and sustain engagement.

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Engaged Writers = Engaged Employees (Part 1)

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KPMG’s What Makes A Top Employer Video Contest...Employee engagement is vital for growing your business’ bottom line. Improving engagement increases productivity rates, retention, morale, creativity and overall financial performance. How to actually go about measuring – and then improving – employee engagement is heavily debated.

Practically every business book, magazine or blog weighs in on how to develop an employee engagement strategy that gets results. Some suggest collaborative decision making, coaching programs or greater professional development opportunities.

Whatever strategy your business develops, make sure it includes engaged writing.

Engaged writers captivate readers. They understand the importance of their writing in strengthening the organization’s goals, brand and messaging. They develop new ideas and creative concepts to showcase their message – through dynamic social media, power point presentations or simply via email. Their energy and dedication shines in their writing. Engaged writers are foundational to any employee engagement program because clear, vibrant communications support and sustain larger (and more costly) employee engagement initiatives.

Engaged writers are not only dedicated copywriters or communications specialists – anyone who writes at work can (and should) be an engaged writer. In part 2, I’ll share simple techniques to become a more engaged writer at work.

How do you define “engaged writing”? Have you seen examples of this type of writing at your work? How did it help employee engagement?

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