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A simple approach to improving your business writing. Writing is a great way to improve your overall communication skills, and these four tips will help you improve your writing.
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The Write Stuff – Improve your image with better writing.
Michael MeridethSr. Director of IT, VictorOps@vo_mike
A Bit About Mike
Awesome career choices in the late
90’s:
– Newspaper Journalist
– Photographer
• 2012 US median pay: $28,490
– IT Guy
• It’s the .com boom!
-12.0
-10.0
-8.0
-6.0
-4.0
-2.0
0.0
Newspaper Growth 2003-2010
Good Writing Matters
“Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it
simple.”
--Woody Guthrie
“Clear writing is the result of clear thinking.”--John Gruber ( daringfireball.net )
A Simple Approach To Writing
Four Tips:
–Tip #1: Write like a journalist
The Inverted Pyramid
*Reasons
The most important details:Who, what, when, why, and where.
Additional details that add meaningand context.
Deep background informationfor the very interested.
Body
Back-ground
Lead (Lede*)
Inverted Pyramid, Inc.
Body
BG
Lead Executives
Management
Engineering Marketing Operations
tl;dr= lead!
Jargon
Tell the Story, Don’t Be the Story
The other day, I was talking to Jimmy and he mentioned reports that the new version of the application was slow. That didn’t sound right to me, so I asked Anne in support and he said that those customers just had a firewall problem.
What’s the Story Here?
Three customers have reported performance problems with version 2.0. According to Support, those customers had firewall configuration issues, and saw better performance after fixing their configuration.
Fewer Words, More Information
Tip Number 1: Write Like a Journalist
• Inverted Pyramid: Lead, Body,
Background
• Avoid jargon
• Take yourself out of the story
A Simple Approach To Writing
Four Tips:
–Tip #1: Write like a journalist–Tip #2: Learn your grammar
Learn your grammar
Good Quick References:
• Grammar Girl (quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl)
• Grammarbook.com
• Thepunctuationguide.com
• Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss
• The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
Avoid Obvious Mistakes
there / they’re / their
its / it’s
lose / loose
effect / affect
then / than
you’re / your
Punctuation
• Punctuation only exists in written language
• It helps the written word “sound” right
• Focus on the basics (comma, apostrophe)
• Free your mind, man
The Oxford Comma
Yes, of course! The Oxford Comma! Always!• I took a selfie with my parents, the President and Betty Ford.
- vs -
• I took a selfie with my parents, the President, and Betty Ford.
Okay, but:• Dedicated to my beloved Mother, Betty Ford, and God
- vs -
• Dedicated to my beloved Mother, Betty Ford and God
Grammar and Punctuation
• Use reference materials
• Use punctuation to clarify
• Don’t get fancy
• Make exceptions when it makes sense
A Simple Approach To Writing
Four Tips:
–Tip #1: Write like a journalist–Tip #2: Learn your grammar–Tip #3: Edit, edit, edit!
Edit
• Be the first to read what you have
written
• Take a breath!
• Spell check can deceive you
• It won’t catch your vs. you’re
( don’t run this at home! )
#!/bin/bash# Clean out /tmp/foo
dir=“/tmp/foo”
if [ -d ${dir} ]; then cd ${dur} && rm –rf *fi
Read Aloud
• Read challenging passages aloud
• Try not to scare people
• Revise until it sounds clear when spoken
Less is More
“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs,
is making a chore for the reader who reads.”
--Dr. Seuss (quoted on goodreads.com)
A Simple Approach To Writing
Four Tips:
–Tip #1: Write like a journalist–Tip #2: Learn your grammar–Tip #3: Edit, edit, edit!–Tip #4: Apply to everything
you write
Don’t Save Your A-Game
The Writing That Most People See:• Email• Documentation• Short Messages• IM• Tweets• SMS
Email: Easy On That Trigger
• Email is not synchronous
• Email is permanent
• An email thread is not a “first post” contest
• Favor “thoughtful” over “fast”
A Simple Approach To Writing
Four Tips:
–Tip #1: Write like a journalist–Tip #2: Learn your grammar–Tip #3: Edit, edit, edit!–Tip #4: Apply to everything
you write
“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
--Jack Kerouac