Do you find yourself writing a lot but getting little results?
To write effective business communication, there are 2 things that should be an overriding theme: 1) grab the reader’s attention and 2) layout your document, so visually, your reader wants to continue reading.
Grabbing the Reader’s Attention
To connect with the reader, do not open with something that is stuffy, formal or includes, “Please find the blah, blah, blah.” Talk to the reader. Write to them the way that you would talk.
Ask a question. Open with a quote or a joke or a reminder of a recent time together – something that connects you to them. What you are aiming for is the reader Read More...
How often do you find yourself saying things you don’t mean just to be polite? How many meetings have you been in where you know the real issues were not being discussed? What difficult but essential conversation have you been avoiding?
As business becomes more complex, people have more distractions and less time to thoroughly read documents. Therefore, the ability to communicate effectively in writing, especially email and on the web, becomes more critical than ever.
Write with a clear purpose in mind, and state that purpose at the very beginning of your written communication. Readers should know at a glance what your email, report, or letter is about, why you are sending it, and what action you want them to take.
Here are 10 tips to help you write more effectively:
Keep it simple.
You may think complex sentences make you sound impressive, but they can prevent your Read More...
Whenever you write a document, it is always good to let sit for a little while before you push the send or print button.
For a rule of thumb is, the longer you can wait between finishing writing and the editing, the better. It gives your mind time to digest and rest so when you come back to edit, you are looking at the document with fresh eyes.
Here are five easy to follow steps to help you in the editing process:
Read the document through from top to bottom and just get an overall big picture. If it is fairly clear what the message you are trying to convey is? Does this concept pop out? A good check is to take another person read the document and as them to tell you in Read More...
We’ve all heard it before, “Seek first to understand, then be understood”. A powerful lesson from Stephen Covey in “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” that holds true. I recently got reminded of this idea on a river.
My wife Peggy and I were in Wisconsin for a family vacation recently and decided to go on a 3 hour canoe trip with her sister and brother-in-law. Each couple had a small, rickety, rented canoe and hopped into our canoes. The weather was perfect and we were having a great time.
About an hour into our trip Peggy asked a simple request, “Can you tell me when you switch sides with your paddle?” Now, this IS a simple request. I was in the back of the canoe, and she couldn’t see me, Read More...
Mind Mapping it is a great exercise for starting the writing process or getting past writer’s block. Mind mapping is also known as Clustering or Chunking information.
The reason this method works so well is that it ties into the way your memory works most effectively, by grouping information.
By following these steps, you will make the writing process more manageable and you will become more efficient.
How Mind Mapping Works
1. Take a blank piece of paper, and in the middle, write down a word that describes the general subject you planned to write about.
2. For 30-60 seconds max, write down everything that comes to mind or is connected to your keyword. Write it as Read More...
I would like to explore how your results can be improved by correctly using positive and negative words in your written communication.
People tend to remember the first and last words you say. Therefore, the two most impactful sentences of your writing should have positive connotations, and those sentences are the ones you use to open and close.
This may be harder than you think if you are not conscious of what you are writing. ABC News recently reported that negative words dominate our language. In fact, “Half of all the words that people produce from their working vocabulary to express emotion are negative. And 30 percent are positive and 20 percent are neutral.”
FBI agent, Bill Brown, explains how you can use a person’s body language to spot when they are telling you a lie.
They say your eyes are windows to the soul, but they can also indicate if a person is telling you the truth. For instance, if a person you are talking to looks:
Up and to their right – they are telling a lie (if they are right Read More...
When you are communicating in person, either one-on-one or in front of a group, the majority of your message will be delivered not by the words you speak, but by your body language. Here are the Top 10 Tips for communication with better body language.
1. Eye Contact
Eye contact is one of the most important aspects of dealing with others, especially people we’ve just met. Maintaining good eye contact shows respect and interest in what they have to say. Here in the UK we tend to keep eye contact around 60-70% of the time. (However, there are wide cultural differences, so be careful in other countries) By doing this you won’t make the other people feel self conscious, like they’ve got a bit of vegetable Read More...
As business becomes more complex, people have more distractions and less time to thoroughly read documents. Therefore, the ability to communicate effectively in writing, especially email and on the web, becomes more critical than ever.
When you are communicating in person, either one-on-one or in front of a group, the majority of your message will be delivered not by the words you speak, but by your body language. Here are the Top 10 Tips for communication with better body language.
