Interruptions plague today’s business readers more than ever before. Between notifications, emails, text messages, voicemails, and physical interruptions, most people find it challenging to sit down and read through a written message. Research indicates that our brains carom off in another direction about every 44 to 50 seconds when we are engaged with a screen.

Yet as business writers, we want our readers to read through our messages and comprehend them. An important project may depend on everyone reading a report. A major sale may hinge on the prospect reading our proposal.

To defeat digital distraction, we need to understand it and work around it when we write.

How is Digitally Distracted Reading Different?

Dr. Anastasia Dedyukhina (www.consciously-digital.com) studies digital distraction and its effects on learning and productivity. She notes that leaping from stimulus to stimulus without pausing to process what we’ve learned is contrary to the brain’s evolutionary path for retaining information.

Dashing from email to email or text to text short-circuits the organic process of integrating information. Modern readers may lack the time or will to pause and incorporate the information you are sharing with them. Even worse, they may fail to absorb key parts of your message.

So what can a manager, salesperson, or team member do to increase their chances of breaking through the noise?

Adapting Our Writing to Deal With the Distracted Mind

When I asked Dr. Dedyukhina how the reality of distraction squares with the need to write at work, she replied, “People are spreading their attention very thinly, so accept that they are not reading closely. They are skimming.”

She notes that writers need to compose with these conditions in mind, making their language accessible and allowing places for the reader to look away from the text and easily return to it.

Here are five ways to increase your chances of being understood by the digitally distracted reader.

1. Put your main point first.

People are paying the most attention at the beginning of your message.

Deliver the main message within the first 40 words to ensure it is received. In a short text, this is easy. In an email, don’t start with the back story: Cut to the chase.

2. Use clear, simple, language.

• Aim for a reading level of around eighth grade. I promise you, if you write for a twelfth-grade level, your readers will either skip your message or save it for “later”, which may never happen. Use MSWord’s Check Readability Statistics function to determine your document’s grade level.

• Clean up your word choice. Write use instead of utilize, and before instead of prior to.

3. Be concise.

• No one has patience for roundabout language.

• Purge quaint phrases and buzzwords. Don’t write at the end of the day; instead, write, in the end, or ultimately. Shun low-hanging fruit: embrace opportunities

• Avoid unnecessary words in phrases like personal belief, plain fact, or advance reservation. Instead, write belief, fact, or reservation.

4. Simplify your sentences.

• Long sentences bore people. Maintain an average sentence length of around 20 words as measured by MSWord’s Check Readability Statistics function.

• Include a maximum of two clauses beginning with that, which, or who.

• Don’t glue together two word gobs with and or but and imagine that your readers will follow your train of thought. They won’t.

5. Break up the text.

Subheads, bulleted lists, and blank spaces all add to your readability. By varying the visual format of your message, you make it easier for readers to skim and look for keywords.

Digital distractions are here to stay. As writers, we must be mindful of our readers’ world. By being concise and clear and by formatting for readability, we help our readers break free of the hamster wheel of diversion and focus on our message.

Did you make it to the end of this column? Congratulations on overcoming the allure of digital distraction!

The post 5 Ways to Cut Through the Noise and Write to Distracted Readers appeared first on Worktalk.

Whenever you write, your credibility is on the line. Your readers assess your trustworthiness, intelligence, competence, and attention to detail with every word you compose. You might have a great product or service, but if your messaging seems untrustworthy, you jeopardize your success.

What can damage your credibility? The first things people see are problems such as grammar, punctuation, spelling, and formatting. These mistakes can trigger your reader to delete your message before reading it through. Someone recently sent me a marketing message listing the “benifits” of his service. Maybe his service did have many benefits, but I will never see them because the moment I saw that misspelled word, I assumed he did not value quality control.

Assuming you get past the most obvious issues, you may face even more hazardous thinking difficulties such as failing to address the real issue, not clarifying the goal of the document, or not focusing on the reader’s needs. Customer service and sales communications often fall short because they do not accurately pinpoint the topics that matter to their customers.

Add to that writing blunders of rambling, interminable sentences, and confusing the reader, and you have a trifecta of failures that can capsize credibility and kill communication.

Practical problems

Every message operates at multiple levels. Your literal meaning says one thing, but just as posture and clothing speak about a person’s role and capabilities, the non-content messages in your document speak volumes about who you are. Just as showing up for an important business appointment with ketchup on your shirt damages your image, proofreading and grammar errors detract from the message you’re trying to convey.

Do proofreading errors matter?

People sometimes tell me, “It doesn’t matter if I have grammar and punctuation errors–my readers know what I mean.” Yes, they can usually figure out your literal meaning. Still, when they see your “body language” errors, they are learning something more important: that you either do not care about details, do not check your work before sending it, or are ignorant of the English language. Can you afford to have people in your business life draw these conclusions?

Proofreading gaffes are damaging because people generalize: They figure, if you are careless about one thing, you are careless about others. I trained the audit department of a large hotel chain recently. I told them that if an email from the audit department has a typo, the guest receiving it may worry there will be hair on their pillow the next time they visit the hotel.

​Thinking errors undermine your authority

​As damaging as proofreading errors are, they pale in comparison to errors in thought, such as not considering why you are writing, failing to address the real issue, and not focusing on the reader. Someone once asked me to design a writing training for her team, lamenting, “They know how to write–they just don’t know what to write about!” Her team was studiously spewing out sentences that did not move the business forward because they did not know which points were salient to the matter at hand. Clients quickly tire of messages that don’t hone in on their true concerns.

If we reflect on our goals for writing and remember that, to reach our goal, we need to touch the mind of our reader, we are likely to gain that person’s trust in our message.

​Rambling leads to ruin

​Once you have the practical elements down and think through your message, you must compose it straightforwardly. This means getting to the point promptly, writing sentences whose average length is around 20 words, and avoiding acronyms and jargon that might confuse your reader. As I write in my book, Get to the Point!, straightforward writing makes for easy reading. In an era of goldfinch-size attention spans, brevity and focus matter more than ever.

Building your credibility with every message

Why do you smooth out your shirt before a meeting or a Zoom call? Probably because you want the other people in the meeting to take you seriously and give weight to your ideas. When you write, you lack the advantages of visual appeal and body language: All you have are your words, and you need to make them right. That means:

• Proofreading your work before you send it.
• Rereading to ensure that your purpose is clear and that you have addressed the issues that are both salient to you and relevant to your reader.
• Editing your document so that your language is crisp and clear.

Notice that all these suggestions require you to resist the urge to send every document the moment you finish composing it. Having the patience to reread and revise every message will pay off when your readers reward you with their trust.

The post Build Your Credibility by Avoiding These Writing Errors appeared first on Worktalk.

Many women are powerful communicators–clear, direct, and concise. Nevertheless, when training women business leaders to write, I see that they often sabotage themselves in business communication by apologizing, using indirect language, and over-informing. Men might do these things, too, but for the most part, men can retain their authority with these bad habits while they limit career advancement for women.

Gender bias remains a significant issue in business today. While society must do more to address this issue, women must ensure that they are not unconsciously falling into habits that make them seem less confident and competent. 

What leads a woman to undermine her message? Perhaps she lacks confidence in her ideas or wants to preempt criticism by disparaging herself first. A lifetime of socialization that tells women to be nice, not make waves, and please others can also impede a woman’s impulse to communicate clearly and directly. 

Whatever their reasons, these negative behaviors are habits–of word choice, phrasing, and sentence structure. Habits are learned and can be changed. 

Here are three unhelpful writing habits, along with suggestions for how women can change them.

1. Adopting an Apologetic Tone

PROBLEM: Hiding behind hedge words.

Words like just, actually, kind of, and you know make us seem small in our readers’ minds. Continually using apologetic language like “Sorry, I’m not an expert but” or “I may be wrong but” sucks the power from our language. Notice the difference between “I actually think we should just buy the new data-colocation system” and “I think we should buy the new data-colocation system.” Which sounds more confident? More credible? An overly conciliatory tone does us no good.

SOLUTION: Create an assertive, friendly, and respectful tone.

You can be assertive without seeming aggressive. State your ideas clearly and add a friendly phrase or word to maintain a warm tone. However, beware of hedge words that make you seem less confident than you are.

The secret is to allow our individualism to shine through without falling into self-limiting language. Using a few hedge words might be appropriate in one message yet ruin another. Awareness of the context and sensitivity to your reader should dictate your word choices.

2. TMI: Too Much Information

PROBLEM: In their efforts to be conscientious, women may end up with informational overkill, sharing the whole story when they need only to share a salient point. One woman in a writing workshop told the group, “I’m so afraid of leaving anything out that I end up writing too much.” Remember: Rambling writing leads to roaming readers.

SOLUTION: Know your main point before beginning to write, and make your point within the first 40 words of the document. Follow up with detail and backstory. Be like the CIA: Work on a “need to know” basis. If your reader does not require the information to do their job, omit it. Avoid the urge to prove your worth by telling the reader everything.

3. Indirect Sentence Structures

PROBLEM: Writing sentence structures that imply insecurity or self-doubt. 

Oblique phrasings like I wanted to, I would like to, I was wondering, and If you don’t mind deflect your message before you have delivered it. They squander your readers’ precious attention by distracting them from your main point.

SOLUTION: Craft powerful, concise sentences.

Rather than start with an indirect introduction, put your main idea forward. Notice the difference between “I just wanted to let you know that we submitted the proposal on time” and “We submitted the proposal on time.” Step up and say what you mean.

Also, eliminate perky punctuation. Use one exclamation point at a time and minimize emojis.

The Ultimate Solution: Be Yourself

The best way to eliminate all these habits is to be authentic. Rather than concealing your strength by nervously overinforming, cautiously phrasing, and over-conciliating, you can be yourself: intelligent, knowledgeable, and clear about your ideas. Slow down and skim what you write before you send it on; notice where the hedge words show up and edit them out. 

You might choose to temper your message with indirect language — but if you do so, make it a choice, not an unconscious habit. Remember: no one can be you in the way you can be yourself. 

The post How to Overcome 3 Self-Limiting Habits and Write Authentically appeared first on Worktalk.

Let’s face it — writing can be scary. Whether you are writing a report, performance review or proposal, or any business document, you worry about how your reader will respond. When your concerns about writing lead to an inability to start, work on or complete a writing task, you might suffer from writer’s block.

Writer’s block has many causes. When we write, we fear criticism and rejection — from bosses, customers or peers. Moreover, the prospect of writing may trigger traumatic memories of school when teachers shamed or belittled our efforts at self-expression. 

In addition to fear of negative appraisal, pressure about the document’s outcome, such as a promotion, demotion or loss of a major sale, may make a person freeze with anxiety. Blocked writers might also be suffering from stress in some other area of their lives, such as the illness of a loved one or relationship problems at home.

And let’s not overlook anger and resentment. Many years ago, I asked a group of CPAs to share what thoughts crossed their mind when tasked with writing. One man stood up and said, “I think, ‘I want to kill the person who told me to write this!'” While that reaction is extreme, it’s not uncommon for business writers to resent their writing assignments. Naturally, feelings like these impair a person’s ability to think creatively.

Whether you write for business or pleasure, writer’s block will likely strike you at some point. Business people who can get past the barriers and commit themselves to paper or screen are more likely to get promoted, garner support for their ideas and create a positive impression.

No matter why you are experiencing writer’s block, you can break through it. Here are a few tools that professionals use.
Schedule time for writing.  

Schedule time for writing.  

For most of us, what goes in the calendar is what gets done. Yet we imagine that writing will somehow fit into our schedule. Free hours don’t just open up. So put your writing task in your calendar and honor your commitment. And resist the urge to check email or answer your phone while working.

Start anywhere.

You don’t have to start writing your document at the beginning. If you allow yourself to free-associate, writing whatever comes to mind, you loosen the chains that prevent you from writing what you should. For example, you might start by writing, “I don’t want to write because…” and see what flows out. It is also helpful to jot down a few ideas before you start drafting. A simple list can start your juices flowing. 

Don’t strive for perfection. 

As the French philosopher Voltaire, wrote, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Striving for a faultless first draft is a surefire path to brain freeze. So instead, accept that your document will require revision. 

If you’re anxious about other people thinking you’re incompetent, remind yourself that you do not need to show your work to anyone until you are ready to share it. I’ve found that many people imagine that professional writers write perfect first drafts. If only they knew! Trust me — no one writes a perfect first draft.

Breathe deeply.

The fastest way to short-circuit anxiety and resistance to writing is to use our breathing to calm ourselves. Other relaxation techniques such as yoga are helpful, but the one method you can do anywhere is to breathe deeply.

If you are staring frozen at your computer screen, put your feet flat on the floor. Sit up straight. Inhale deeply through your nose. Imagine that the base of your belly is filling first. Slowly fill up to the top of your chest. Then exhale completely, hold the empty breath for a moment and repeat the process. You may only have to do this a few times before your head clears.

Writer’s block hits everyone. So if your writing responsibilities are hovering like a thundercloud over your head, follow the simple steps: Make a date with your writing assignment. Start anywhere. Allow for imperfections. Then breathe your way to completion.

The post 4 Secrets to Overcoming Writer’s Block appeared first on Worktalk.

The holiday season is underway, and along with the eggnog, we face countless possibilities for miscommunication. As business communicators, we want our clients and colleagues to feel warmly greeted–yet we do not want to offend or overstep. Here are a few ideas for navigating holiday salutations. 

1. When sending holiday greetings, be specific.

“Wishing you a great 2023” is fine if you do not know the person well. If you lack information about your reader’s life or business, you might have to use this anodyne phrase.

However, if you want your message to stand out, do your homework and discover something that matters to the other person. Find out about a product launch, a round of funding or, on a personal note, an upcoming marriage or another milestone, and congratulate your reader. Imagine how you would feel if someone cared enough to find out what mattered to you and mentioned it. 

So instead of “Hope you have a great new year,” you would write, “Hope the launch of your new software is all you hope for in 2023.” 

2. Value cultural differences.

In the age of political correctness, it’s become de rigeur to write “Happy Holidays” to avoid alienating adherents to any faith. In general, I agree with this practice. However, if you know that your reader is Christian, don’t be afraid to wish them a Merry Christmas. If you know they’re Jewish and are likely to celebrate the holiday, wish them a Happy Chanukah. Kwanzaa is still inconsistently observed, so I’d avoid wishing someone a good Kwanzaa unless you have a close personal relationship. When in doubt, a Happy New Year card is a neutral option.

Just as it is important to be inclusive in our holiday greetings, we should value the differences that make life interesting. And let’s face it, “Happy Holidays” is about as plain-vanilla as you can get. You’re better off wishing someone a meaningful winter solstice! 

3. Beware excessive jollity.

While some people love to ho-ho-ho their way through December in Christmas hats and sweaters, others are decidedly curmudgeon like. Just as holiday music in stores begins to make many people’s skin crawl by mid-December, treacly holiday greetings may do you more harm than good. 

Use sparingly such words as “very” as in “We wish you a very Merry Christmas,” and “thrilled” as in “We are thrilled to invite you to our holiday party.” Remember, if you are writing to someone you know through your business, you may want to retain your professional persona.

Gaffes to Avoid

• Be sure to spell names correctly and get titles right. You might pen a lovely, heartfelt message and then mess it up by not spelling the person’s name correctly or disregarding their recent promotion to vice president. 

• Avoid a sales pitch. A simple greeting to show your client how much they mean to your business is good. But don’t try to sell something in the holiday card for business clients. If you are too sales-y, you may turn your customers off. 

• Punctuate your greetings properly. Writing “Seasons Greetings” is incorrect. After all, you are greeting them for only one season: winter. Use “Season’s Greetings” since the greetings belong to the season. 

Similarly, you would write “Happy New Year” if you are referring to the whole year. Write “Happy New Year’s” to denote December 31 or January 1. In these cases, you shorten the phrase “New Year’s Eve” or “New Year’s Day.” Do not write “Happy New Years” unless you are referring to an upcoming series of years (which I presume you are not).

The winter holidays bring great joy to many people–along with potential risks to a businessperson’s credibility. At this time, clients and colleagues expect some mention of the end of the year and all the festivities associated with it. When you communicate your good wishes authentically, with consideration for the life and culture of your readers, you will make others feel respected and valued. And that’s what keeps your relationships strong for another year.

The post Business Owners: Get Your Holiday Greetings Right appeared first on Worktalk.