The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think. — Edwin Schlossberg, author and educator
“E-mails – that are received from Jim and I are not either getting open or not being responded to. I wanted to let everyone know that when Jim and I are sending out e-mails (example- who is to be picking up parcels)
I am wanting for who ever the e-mail goes to to respond back to the e-mail. Its important that Jim and I knows that the person, intended, had read the e-mail. This gives an acknowledgment that the task is being completed. I am asking for a simple little 2 sec. Note that says ‘OK’, ‘I got it’, or Alright.’
Is there an easier way to say that? Of course there is¨Please let me know that you’ve received our emails.”
Sad to say, that sort of writing is all too common — slapdash, hurry-up writing that takes absolutely no account of the reader. Worse, the “writer” didn’t even bother to edit before hitting the “send” button. You can only imagine the snickering and grumbling that that email elicits among the recipients.
As the novelist Somerset Maugham put it, “The best style is the style you don’t notice.” The world of business communications is no different. Effective writers get their point across concisely without calling attention to the way they write. The reader understands what the writer is conveying — questions, answers to questions, a call to action, a persuasive point — in one reading.
Getting there starts with three foundations of successful writing, whether a project report, a technical evaluation, a sales pitch or a brief email:
o Writing is thinking. It should be viewed as an opportunity, a gift of time to show how smart you are.
o Know your readers. Successful writers use inclusive language, not pompous, jargon-laden language that excludes. They write to edify, not to impress.
o Edit/revise. The first two foundations are meaningless if you don’t check your work carefully. Sloppy or nonexistent writing can make you look foolish.
Please visit my website at http://www.davegriffithscommunications.com, where you’ll find that I’ve worked with a variety of government, nonprofit and private-sector clients on business communication skills — from effective writing to presentation skills to media relations.
I travel widely to do writing and media and presentation skills training for clients ranging from the U.S. Coast Guard to the Red Cross to the Department of Homeland Security to the Veterans Administration to the National Nuclear Security Administration to Navy SEALs to senior executives at a variety of federal agencies to businesses that need help with technical writing and written sales proposals.
My professional background is journalism, having reported for the Kansas City Star and covered national security for several publications, including Business Week magazine. After leaving Washington, I was a member of the Penn State journalism faculty for six years. I have a degree in English from the University of Virginia and a masters in journalism from the University of Missouri, and served as a U.S. Army field artillery officer in Germany and Vietnam.
I live with my wife and two sons in a small town in Maine, where I publish a municipal newsletter and chair a school board.