|
3 quick tips to strengthen your everyday writing
by Kelly Robbins
When it comes to confidence in our writing ability most of us range all over the place. You may view writing as one of your strengths or something you try to avoid doing at all costs. With that said, communicating via the written word is a facet of doing business for all of us. Ranging from a quick email to a colleague or a sales letter to a client, you are putting yourself "out there" for people to see. For people to read. To critique. To judge.
While you may spend most of your time and energy articulating exactly what you want to say, you should also spend time making sure you say it in as few words as possible. In today's fast-paced environment, busy professionals expect you to get your point across in a strong and concise manner.
With that said, here are three quick checks you can do to help your writing be as strong as it can be.
Tip #1 - Minimize using "to be" verbs. Now I have to admit, I’m not naturally grammatically correct. I am a copywriter and can sell and explain concepts very well, but I work hard on my grammar. But even I know that "is" can often be said in a better way. Others verbs that you can also check include: are, will be, were, and was. The easiest way to check a document for "is" is to use the find function on your toolbar or "control" and the "F" key at the same time. Simply type in "is" and see if you can use a stronger word in each instance it pops up. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't.
Tip #2 - Write actively, not passively. This can be a tough one for you corporate communicators because most of what you read is written passively. But truthfully, which one sounds better:
The project was finished by Kelly.
Kelly finished the project.
Do you see how saying I actually did the act of finishing the project is stronger - more active - than if I say the project "was finished" (notice the was in there).
Tip #3 - Use your "readability" menu. My kids thought this was the best thing on the planet when I showed them how to set it up because it tells you what grade level you wrote your piece at (for general marketing and advertising we want to write to a fourth grade level). The information in the readability menu lets you see how sentence length and word choice affect reading ease. I have my readability menu set up to automatically show me my statistics after I do a spell check.
To set this up for yourself go to "Tools" and click on the "Options" button at the bottom. Click on the spelling and grammar tab and then check the box for "show readability statistics".
This tool is especially useful for those of us that have complicated information to translate to the general public (like in healthcare) and can use this simple check as a good way to gauge our writing effectiveness. This great tool also tells you what percent of your document is written passively or actively (tip #2).
None of these tips are going to turn your next letter or article into a prize winner, but it will help you better communicate with others, get your point across quickly and help you be more professional in your communications overall.
(c) 2006, Kelly Robbins LLC
Want to use this article in your e-zine or web site? No problem! Just let me know at info@KellyRobbinsLLC.com. I'll send you a short bio to include at the end of the article. |
