atkinson advisor

Next time you have a writing assignment, try writing at an 8th-grade reading level. Achieving this reading level almost guarantees your writing will be clear and concise. The reader will thank you immensely. FYI, this paragraph is about an 8th-grade level on Flesch-Kincaid reading scale.

In 1998, Harry Potter creator J. K. Rowling was a single mother on welfare. Today, her net worth is more than $1 billion – making her richer than the Queen of England.

Rowling’s secret to success is content – she owned an idea that other people wanted to be part of. Other mainstream content mavens include Oprah ($1.5 billion) and Martha Stewart ($6oo+ million).

Becoming a content provider is not only easier but also more important in today’s increasingly connected, wired world. Anyone with a laptop and a broadband connection can start a global conversation (and sometimes a revolution). Here’s how to become a content provider:

• Create a core idea. Writers talk about finding their “voice” – something about which they are both passionate and curious. Everybody has a core belief or idea. Finding your own voice means translating that core idea into words that you can share with others.
• Find and attract people who share your beliefs. You don’t have to change people’s minds. It’s easier (literally and technologically) to find people with common views and attract them into your conversation. You can attract similarly minded people by publishing frequently on your website; sending emails to friends and peers; participating in social networking sites; writing a blog; and reading and responding on other blogs.
• Be consistent and persistent. Every meaningful conversation has a tipping point. You have to be consistent in your content and patient enough for the audience to develop. Keep in mind that, at the start of her career, J. K. Rowling was rejected by almost every publishing house in London.

Next time you have to write a title for a PowerPoint slide, try writing a book title for the information on the slide. Good slide titles not only grab our attention but they also frame the content you are about to discuss. Book titles provide great examples, like the example in What We’re Reading below.

The best communications are clear, succinct, and relevant. Unfortunately, many business communications – memos, reports, e-mails, and even voicemails – drown in their own verbosity. Like quicksand, verbosity drags the reader down into murky depths leaving them overwhelmed and confused.

The biggest offenders are adjectives and adverbs. The other major offender is poor organization.

Conservatively, you can eliminate 30 percent or more of the words from most communications while also making those communications better. Here’s how.

• Use active voice. Eliminate all passive voice. Passive voice adds at least three extra words every time you use it.
• Eliminate adverbs. Find every adverb. If it is modifying an adjective, substitute a different adjective (e.g. very important becomes critical). If it is modifying a verb, substitute a better verb (e.g. walked slowly becomes ambled).
• Write a first draft and then reverse the order of your thoughts. Our educational system teaches us to make all key poinTs and then summarize our argument at the end. This order is the antithesis of business communications. Reversing the order of your key points will often move the summary (the most important point) to the beginning followed by all the supporting material for your argument.

Next time you are writing about your organization’s products and services, try this phrase — “What this means to me is…” — to help make the transition from feature to benefit.

Here’s an example: “An iPod can store 5,000 songs (feature). What this means to me is that I can listen to any song in my CD collection anywhere I am — whether in my car, at the office, or at the gym (benefit).”

Next time you have trouble deciding whether to use that or which, try this mnemonic.

“Go to the third house on the left, which is green” means go to the third house on the left. The house just happens to be green.

“Go to the third house on the left that is green” means go to the third green house on the left.

Use which when information is non-essential, meaning you can delete it without changing the context of the sentence.

Use that when the information is essential to the meaning of the sentence.