If there’s one important reason why you need to write effectively in the workplace, it is this: the quality of your writing imprints a lasting impression on the reader. This reader may be your boss, a client, or a person who is ready to make a billion dollar business deal with you.
Have you ever read a poorly-written document that made you lose interest right away? It was so poorly-written that you lost trust in the author and asked yourself why the author was wasting your time? How about those junk e-mails that sneak into your junk box like annoying cockroaches? You know the ones I’m referring to: the ones pitching vitamins, software, and sex aids. These e-mails are the biggest showcase of writing blunders, stricken to death with grammar mistakes, misspellings, and sloppy sentences. I doubt these e-mails pull a sale because their poor writing style immediately alienates the reader.
What impression does your writing leave on your boss, clients, or co-workers? Does your writing alienate readers, cause you to lose sales or clients, or cost you job promotions? Or does your writing build streams of loyal readers, increase sales for the company, and help you earn six figures a year at your job?
Whatever type of writing you do in the workplace, always know this reality: readers believe the quality of your writing reflects your skills, work ethics, and integrity as a person. If you write eloquently, clearly, and lively, the reader trusts you and you are able to build rapport quickly. If your writing is sloppy, disorganized, and riddled with errors, the reader assumes the rest of your work is flawed, your work ethics are flawed, and perhaps as a person you are flawed. Why should this reader waste his time reading the rest of your junk or even do business with you?
This article provides fail-safe strategies to help refine your writing and help you to communicate with clarity, simplicity, and impact so you will never write junk again. You will learn five masterful steps to guide you in planning, writing, and refining an article; and you will learn how to avoid common writing mistakes.
AIM! FIRE! FIRE!
To become a superb writer, your first task is to establish your aim.
Yiddish novelist, dramatist and essayist, Sholem Asch, once said, “Writing comes more easily if you have something to say.”
What message do you want to convey with your writing?
To establish your aim, ask yourself:
1) “Why am I writing this document?”
2) “What do I want to communicate?”
3) “Do I want to inform, educate, report, persuade, challenge, or entertain?”
Developing your aim will help you to adopt the best writing style for your reader. For example, an educational document will likely be more formal than one written for entertaining.
CONNECT WITH YOUR READERS
To write effectively, you need to connect strongly with your readers. Ask yourself:
1) “For whom am I writing this? Will I be writing for colleagues, my supervisor, my team of employees, or our clients?”
2) “How much information do my readers need?”
3) “How familiar are my readers with the topic?”
4) “How much time do my readers have? Would my readers prefer a short, succinct presentation of facts and statistics, or more narration and exposition?”
Knowing your audience will allow you to write content in a way that appeals to your readers.
SHAPE YOUR DOCUMENT
You know your aim. You know the people who will likely read your document. Now plan your document. What information will it contain? What information will most likely grab the reader and hold their interests? What points do you need to get across? Start with a rough outline of ideas. Then go through the outline and add more information and more detail. An outline will create the structure for your document. Soon enough your writing will come more easily, quickly, and with greater clarity.
WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW BEST
At this stage, read over your outline and write the first draft. Establish the main idea of the document and support your argument throughout. If a blank white page glares back at you like headlights, just start writing on whatever topic you know best. According to American novelist Jack London, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” Don’t worry about the sequence if the ideas come to you out of order. You can cut and paste later.
WORDY WEIGHT LOSS
If you have time, step away from the document. Come back to it later with a fresh mind. Now add material where needed. Trim away unnecessary sections. Refine the text to communicate what you want to say. Remember: less is more. Try not to repeat ideas. Repetition, unless necessary, is tiresome for the reader. Keep the piece moving along. Use a lively pace. Progress through your points efficiently.
The following sections address some of the most common writing problems. Use these tips to write more clearly, effectively, and lively.
I.) PUNCTUATION
a) Apostrophes
Do not use an apostrophe in the possessive form of “it.”
Incorrect: Our department submitted it’s reports for 2005 last week.
Correct: Our department submitted its reports for 2005 last week.
Do not use apostrophes in the possessive forms “his,” “hers,” and “ours.”
Incorrect: The window office is her’s.
Correct: The window office is hers.
Do not use apostrophes in plural nouns.
Incorrect: How many new computer’s are we getting?
Correct: How many new computers are we getting?
b) Commas
Do not connect two complete sentences with a comma.
Incorrect: The meeting was cancelled, I finished my work early.
Correct: The meeting was cancelled, so I finished my work early.
Correct: Since the meeting was cancelled, I finished my work early.
II.) MECHANICS
a) Split Infinitives
Do not insert words between “to” and the infinitive form of a verb.
Incorrect:I was told we needed to slightly tighten the deadline.
Correct:I was told we needed to tighten the deadline slightly.
III.) SPELLING
a) “A lot” is always two words.
Incorrect: I have alot of work to do.
Correct: I have a lot of work to do.
b) “To” is a function word often used before the infinitive form of a verb (to go).
c) “Too” is an adverb that means “excessively” (too difficult).
d) “Two” denotes the number 2.
Incorrect: This file cabinet is to heavy for me to move.
Correct: This file cabinet is too heavy for me to move.
e) “There” is an adverb indicating a place (over there).
f) “Their” is a possessive word that shows ownership (their computers).
g) “They’re” is the contraction form of “they are.”
Incorrect: There results for this quarter were excellent.
Correct: Their results for this quarter were excellent.
Incorrect: Their working very hard today.
Correct: They’re working very hard today.
IV.) STYLE
a) Sentence Variety
To write more lively, vary sentence structure. Use alternate ways of beginning, and combine short sentences to create different sentence lengths.
Before:
I organized the files for all the new accounts this week. Then I created a more efficient labeling system. I color-coded everything. I made sure all paper files had been documented electronically. I put these files in the empty file cabinet.
After:
This week I organized the files for the new accounts and created a more efficient color-coded labeling system. After I documented all paper files electronically, I put these files in the empty file cabinet.
V.) ACTIVE VOICE vs. PASSIVE VOICE
The English language has two "voices": active voice (the subject performs an action); and passive voice (the subject is acted upon). In business communication, all good writers write in active voice. Lazy writers write in passive voice. Writing in active voice shortens your sentences and makes your writing sound more direct and formal.
Examples:
PASSIVE: The recipe book is read by her.
ACTIVE: She reads the recipe book.
PASSIVE: The radio announcement should be listened to by everyone.
ACTIVE: Everyone should listen to the radio announcement.
PASSIVE: The photo is being taken by the photographer.
ACTIVE: The photographer is taking the photo.
HELPFUL RESOURCES
To learn more about fixing common writing mistakes, check out The Electronic Writing Course ( http://www.ElectronicWritingCourse.com ). It’s a program that teaches the basics of good writing and editing. If you want to check your document against 36,000 style and usage mistakes, check out StyleWriter ( http://www.StyleWriter-USA.com ). It’s a style and usage Plain English checker. If you want to write more lively and creatively, check out WhiteSmoke Software ( http://www.WhiteSmokeSoftware.com ). It’s a program that fixes and enriches your text.
If you follow these guidelines, you’ll stop yourself from writing lousy in the workplace. Your writing will be lively, clear, and concise, and you will build rapport with readers. Perhaps it’s now time to e-mail your boss a perfectly-written e-mail requesting a salary raise?
Brian Konradt has been a professional freelance writer for over ten years. He is founder of http://FreelanceWriting.com ( http://www.FreelanceWriting.com ) and http://LiteracyNews.com ( http://www.LiteracyNews.com ).
Tuesday
Monday
Do You Have Management Issues?
I came across this interesting site just for managers, like you, who have real problems with your team and are seeking a bit of outside advice. Check out the following link: Site for managers
Wednesday
Can There Be A Psychopaths At Your Workplace?
Do Psychopaths exist in the workplace? Better yet can a psychopath appear in your life at your workplace?
Psychopaths are usually seen in roles of self centered individuals who care about no one but themselves who do great harm. Their motto may well be “I don’t do anything that is not in my interest and that I do not get my piece – right away”. Or it may be that this deviant behavior is below the surface and never noticed or apparent.
It is often said in retrospect that the “Axe Murderer” was a quiet person who kept to himself, may have been a good family man and bothered no one.
Psychopaths are usually seen in serial killers, rapists or sadists in Hollywood movies. They appear in the media and literature. Think of an early model as the Zodiac Killer in the Bay area of San Francisco. However these same people and personalities are never expected to cross our paths in real life. Yet it is estimated that approximately 1 percent of the general population fits the mold. It’s only a matter of time until you cross paths with a psychopath in real life at your workplace or place of employment.
What exactly is a psychopath? In clinical psychology a psychopath is defined as a condition characterized as a condition characterized by a lack of empathy or conscience, poor impulse control and / or manipulative behavior.
How can you determine whether a fellow worker is a workplace psychopath? A leopard does not lose their spots. Similarly psychopaths, either on the loose or under fire may well indicate or revert to certain personality traits and behaviors.
First of all does the person show no remorse no matter how much they exhibit mean behavior – whether it be victimization, talking behind the backs of fellow employees or worse and backstabbing. Is the person more than an excellent talker – a story teller of lies? Even if caught with lies and deceit do they show no remorse – just switch tack with another tale – as if everyone else is both foolish, a mark and that they are smarter than everyone else. It’s as if the world is there to be plundered – for their enjoyment and pleasure. Watch for the pleasure that such people take in their deeds of trouble. Everyone makes mistakes or may be forced into situations that they would prefer not to be in. The difference is that these people relish and are proud of these deeds and events – when it should be the other way around.
Sometimes these people are loners. Some of the times they will even function in groups. It can even be family groups to rip off and plunder everyone else outside of their close (or perhaps not close and self hating) group of vagabonds and carpetbaggers. Such individuals and groups can be seen to prey on people’s weaknesses and insecurities – especially low self esteem. It’s as if the undertone is “If you do not do what I want …. Give me possessions or money that I want … You cannot be part of the group ….. Or you will face abandonment.”
It’s not uncommon in the workplace but these people have an abnormal, almost pathological fear of failure. “I must be number one” is their constant internal motto. Along with that they may well rush to take credit for other people’s work and successes. Again these traits are not those of psychopaths – yet the pattern of such behavior and personality traits along with the rest of the ball of wax should raise alarm bells in your mind.
The problem is that these psychopaths do not only negatively affect a few people in the organization. Given a level of authority in modern large corporations the effects and damage that these psychopaths can be great. If a psychopath considers everyone else, especially people they have outdone or outsmarted as downright foolish or even stupid rather than helpful souls who were taken advantage of and in addition the psychopathological culprit shows no guilt for making decisions that negatively affect the company, shareholders or employees then this is a recipe for great disaster and heartaches . Think of Tyco, Adelphia Communications, Enron and WorldCom.
Bay Area WordManitoba Job ShopAce-Training.
Psychopaths are usually seen in roles of self centered individuals who care about no one but themselves who do great harm. Their motto may well be “I don’t do anything that is not in my interest and that I do not get my piece – right away”. Or it may be that this deviant behavior is below the surface and never noticed or apparent.
It is often said in retrospect that the “Axe Murderer” was a quiet person who kept to himself, may have been a good family man and bothered no one.
Psychopaths are usually seen in serial killers, rapists or sadists in Hollywood movies. They appear in the media and literature. Think of an early model as the Zodiac Killer in the Bay area of San Francisco. However these same people and personalities are never expected to cross our paths in real life. Yet it is estimated that approximately 1 percent of the general population fits the mold. It’s only a matter of time until you cross paths with a psychopath in real life at your workplace or place of employment.
What exactly is a psychopath? In clinical psychology a psychopath is defined as a condition characterized as a condition characterized by a lack of empathy or conscience, poor impulse control and / or manipulative behavior.
How can you determine whether a fellow worker is a workplace psychopath? A leopard does not lose their spots. Similarly psychopaths, either on the loose or under fire may well indicate or revert to certain personality traits and behaviors.
First of all does the person show no remorse no matter how much they exhibit mean behavior – whether it be victimization, talking behind the backs of fellow employees or worse and backstabbing. Is the person more than an excellent talker – a story teller of lies? Even if caught with lies and deceit do they show no remorse – just switch tack with another tale – as if everyone else is both foolish, a mark and that they are smarter than everyone else. It’s as if the world is there to be plundered – for their enjoyment and pleasure. Watch for the pleasure that such people take in their deeds of trouble. Everyone makes mistakes or may be forced into situations that they would prefer not to be in. The difference is that these people relish and are proud of these deeds and events – when it should be the other way around.
Sometimes these people are loners. Some of the times they will even function in groups. It can even be family groups to rip off and plunder everyone else outside of their close (or perhaps not close and self hating) group of vagabonds and carpetbaggers. Such individuals and groups can be seen to prey on people’s weaknesses and insecurities – especially low self esteem. It’s as if the undertone is “If you do not do what I want …. Give me possessions or money that I want … You cannot be part of the group ….. Or you will face abandonment.”
It’s not uncommon in the workplace but these people have an abnormal, almost pathological fear of failure. “I must be number one” is their constant internal motto. Along with that they may well rush to take credit for other people’s work and successes. Again these traits are not those of psychopaths – yet the pattern of such behavior and personality traits along with the rest of the ball of wax should raise alarm bells in your mind.
The problem is that these psychopaths do not only negatively affect a few people in the organization. Given a level of authority in modern large corporations the effects and damage that these psychopaths can be great. If a psychopath considers everyone else, especially people they have outdone or outsmarted as downright foolish or even stupid rather than helpful souls who were taken advantage of and in addition the psychopathological culprit shows no guilt for making decisions that negatively affect the company, shareholders or employees then this is a recipe for great disaster and heartaches . Think of Tyco, Adelphia Communications, Enron and WorldCom.
Bay Area WordManitoba Job ShopAce-Training.
Tuesday
In Business There is no Such Thing as Job Security!
There are very few people that make it to thirty years and even fewer that want to do that with the same business whether it be a small business or a large business. It seems to be more advantageous to change companies every few years to get that raise or promotion or better job.
Don’t get me wrong, workers used to be secure in the knowledge that their company would still be there and so would their pension. Then came mergers, companies buying each other and some of those Wall Street money grubbers buying companies and then selling off components, causing many people to lose their jobs, while the grubbers and the CEO’s where making millions.
So what is a person suppose to do? It appears more and more that YOU will have to be responsible for yourself! What does that mean? It means that you will have to depend on yourself to make the money you require for your freedom without depending on the “man”.
Now in previous articles I have written about small business failures and the insecurity of going into business for yourself. With a failure rate of 96% over 10 years it is hard to justify going into business for yourself unless you have a line of products that can guarantee you a residual income for a very long time.
Here is an example of residual income? That is income that is yours every week, month or year for a fairly lengthy time. Suppose you are an appliance sales person, you will get a one time commission on the sale price of that item. If you sell none or don’t go to work that day, then you get nothing. For residual, suppose you provide a service contract for that appliance and the buyer signed up for a two year contract, wouldn’t it be great if you received a percentage of the payment every month for the next two years? Well that is residual income!
We all know that is not true. The person that sells that appliance and the service contract only receives a small commission on the sale or no commission at all as they get an hourly wage for selling.
When people have declared bankruptcy, it could have been prevented if they had only $458 per month in additional revenue or income. The bankruptcy could have been prevented with that small income increase. That is less than $5,500 per year. And when you go to a lawyer to declare bankruptcy it will cost you another $800 to $1,200 for their assistance. And then your credit is shot!
Well, for less than the price of a lawyer, YOU can be making a residual income with your own small business. This residual income will provide you with that extra money you need to stay solvent or after a very short period of time the income needed that will allow you to quit your job and not be dependent on anyone but yourself.
The only thing better than that would be to win the lottery? The quicker you get involved the quicker you can start making money. For more info, go to my web site listed in the author’s box below.
By the way, this is a turn-key small business that will provide everything you need to start your business in minutes. You can get your first customers within 24 hours and begin to earn a rewarding income. I will be with you every step of the way helping you make the money you want.
The amount of money you make is dependent on how much work you put into it. I will explain everything to you in detail and I will continue to be with you after you have purchase your own business. You will be in business for yourself but not by yourself with a Billion dollar company backing us both. I look forward to working with you.
About the Author
Lou Martiniano, the author of this article is a Profit Improvement Specialist for business and consumers. He helps people like you generate savings by providing ways to save money or by providing additional income sources. Goto ==>http://www.makingmoneybyTCOB.com
Don’t get me wrong, workers used to be secure in the knowledge that their company would still be there and so would their pension. Then came mergers, companies buying each other and some of those Wall Street money grubbers buying companies and then selling off components, causing many people to lose their jobs, while the grubbers and the CEO’s where making millions.
So what is a person suppose to do? It appears more and more that YOU will have to be responsible for yourself! What does that mean? It means that you will have to depend on yourself to make the money you require for your freedom without depending on the “man”.
Now in previous articles I have written about small business failures and the insecurity of going into business for yourself. With a failure rate of 96% over 10 years it is hard to justify going into business for yourself unless you have a line of products that can guarantee you a residual income for a very long time.
Here is an example of residual income? That is income that is yours every week, month or year for a fairly lengthy time. Suppose you are an appliance sales person, you will get a one time commission on the sale price of that item. If you sell none or don’t go to work that day, then you get nothing. For residual, suppose you provide a service contract for that appliance and the buyer signed up for a two year contract, wouldn’t it be great if you received a percentage of the payment every month for the next two years? Well that is residual income!
We all know that is not true. The person that sells that appliance and the service contract only receives a small commission on the sale or no commission at all as they get an hourly wage for selling.
When people have declared bankruptcy, it could have been prevented if they had only $458 per month in additional revenue or income. The bankruptcy could have been prevented with that small income increase. That is less than $5,500 per year. And when you go to a lawyer to declare bankruptcy it will cost you another $800 to $1,200 for their assistance. And then your credit is shot!
Well, for less than the price of a lawyer, YOU can be making a residual income with your own small business. This residual income will provide you with that extra money you need to stay solvent or after a very short period of time the income needed that will allow you to quit your job and not be dependent on anyone but yourself.
The only thing better than that would be to win the lottery? The quicker you get involved the quicker you can start making money. For more info, go to my web site listed in the author’s box below.
By the way, this is a turn-key small business that will provide everything you need to start your business in minutes. You can get your first customers within 24 hours and begin to earn a rewarding income. I will be with you every step of the way helping you make the money you want.
The amount of money you make is dependent on how much work you put into it. I will explain everything to you in detail and I will continue to be with you after you have purchase your own business. You will be in business for yourself but not by yourself with a Billion dollar company backing us both. I look forward to working with you.
About the Author
Lou Martiniano, the author of this article is a Profit Improvement Specialist for business and consumers. He helps people like you generate savings by providing ways to save money or by providing additional income sources. Goto ==>http://www.makingmoneybyTCOB.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)