Dice.com is a great career advice site for people in the information technology field.  I subscribes to their blog.  You can too at http://www.dice.com.

The other day I saw a post written by Scott Herrick of Cube Rules (http://www.cuberules.com) about the importance of writing regular status updates to keep your boss informed of that you’ve accomplished during the period you’re updating.

Scott listed four benefits of writing these regular updates…

1. Your updates prove your work delivered results.
2. Your updates can positively influence your annual performance review.
3. Your updates help you keep your resume up to date.
4. Your updates help you create a career communication system.

You can see the entire blog post here.  Scott is on to something in this post.  I agree with him when he says that your status report…

“Can be the lynchpin that holds your business results for whoever needs them, whenever they are needed.  When you change your lowly status report to a killer status report, you can prove your worth once a week — every week — to your manager or a potential hiring manager.”

This is very true, but only if do a good job in writing it….

Tweet 113 in my career advice book Success Tweets says, “Write clearly and simply: short words and sentences, first person, active voice.  Be precise in your choice of words.”  Good writing will set you apart and put you on the road to personal and professional success.  Unsuccessful people are poor writers.  They are unclear.  They ramble.  Their emails, letters and status reports are a series of long sentences filled with big words that don’t really say anything.  You can’t catch people’s attention by writing this way.  You need to write in a clear, crisp, concise manner.

I try to write like a journalist.  I use short sentences with a simple subject-verb-object structure.  My writing may read a little staccato-like, but it communicates.  People tell me that they can understand my points and the reasoning behind them.  And that’s what I want when I write.

Your objective in writing at work, especially when it comes to status updates, is to communicate – not to impress others with your vocabulary.  In a recent post I mentioned the time I was speaking with my niece about my book Straight Talk for Success at her college graduation party; I said that I’d tried for an “avuncular hip” writing style.  She said, “What does that mean?”  I replied, “Avuncular means uncle-like.  I wanted to sound like a hip uncle to people reading the book.”  She came back with a great question: “Why didn’t you just say so?”

She was right.  Everybody knows what “uncle-like” means.  A lot of people, including magna cum laude graduates like my niece, don’t know the word “avuncular.”  I was just showing off my vocabulary by using that word.  As a result, I didn’t communicate effectively.

Write with your reader in mind — especially when you’re writing status reports.  Sometimes it’s a good idea to read aloud what you’ve written to get a feel for how it will sound to your reader.  Write in short, simple sentences.  Use the simplest words you can to get across your point, while still being accurate.  Write fast.  Get your thoughts on paper or the computer screen as quickly as you can.  Then edit and rewrite until you’ve said exactly what you want to say.  One of my first bosses always told me that rewriting is the secret to good writing.

Spelling counts, too.  Correct spelling does two things for you.  First, it shows that you have a good command of the language.  Second and more important, correct spelling demonstrates that you respect both yourself and the reader.  Misspelled words stand out like sore thumbs to readers.

Don’t just spell check your documents.  Proof them.  Spellcheck often won’t pick up improper usage in words like “your” and “you’re,” “hear” and “here,” and “their” and “there.”

The same holds true for punctuation.  Make sure that you know how to properly use periods, question marks, commas, colons, semicolons, exclamation marks, quotation marks and apostrophes.  If you’re not sure about punctuation rules, spend a little time on the Internet learning proper usage.

I like the Poynter Institute for good information about writing.  While the information on their site www.poynter.org is aimed at journalists, there is a lot of very helpful information about writing and editing there – especially in the article in “Tip Sheets” which can be found by clicking on the “Reporting, Writing and Editing” button.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people keep their manager up to date by providing regular status update reports on their work.  High quality status reports that communicate well and reflect your accomplishments are dependent on your writing skills.  You can develop your writing skills by following the career advice in Tweet 113 in Success Tweets.  “Write clearly and simply: short words and sentences, first person, active voice.  Be precise in your choice of words.”  Writing is not difficult if you write in a manner that communicates well.  In general, this means, being clear, concise and easily readable.  Use short sentences and the smallest word that communicates exactly what you want to say.  Write with your reader in mind.  Read your writing aloud before sending it.  This will help you get a feel for what your reader will experience.

That’s my career advice on writing regular status reports that can help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us – and show off your writing skills – in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, please download a free copy of my popular career advice book Success Tweets and its companion piece Success Tweets Explained.  The first gives you 140 bits of career success advice tweet style — in 140 characters or less.  The second is a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site last September.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  You can find out about the membership site by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb/

Did you watch any of the Tour de France?  Cadel Evans of Australia won it all.  He was amazing to watch in the Alps on Thursday and Friday and in the time trial on Saturday.  I was glued to my TV set every night during the race.  I found it oddly compelling – don’t know what it is, but bicycle racing is very interesting to me.   We’re having a pro cycling race here in Colorado in August.  I’m looking forward to watching a few stages in person.

Today’s career advice comes from a story related to the Tour de France.  Lance Armstrong won several Tours while riding for the now defunct US Postal Service team.  I was in my local bike shop around the time he was winning all those tours.  They were offering a US Postal Service bike team cap for sale.  I bought one and was quite proud to wear it.

I was wearing it in a local supermarket where I went to pick up a few things.  The checkout woman looked at my hat and said, “Do you work for the post office?”  I said “no,” and explained about the USPS pro cycling team.  I got a blank stare in return.

There is some common sense career advice in this story.  Here it is…

Never assume that you know what other people are thinking.  You’ll be wrong a lot of the time.

Assumptions are a great communication killer.   Here’s another story to illustrate that point…

Rob Likoff is a friend of mine.  He lives in New York and is a big basketball fan.  The license plate on one of his cars has a New York Knicks logo in the middle with the letters SLM DNK flanking it.  Most people quickly recognize this as “Slam Dunk.”

One day, Rob was taking a client to lunch.  As they approached his car, she asked him if he had met a lot of women as a result of his license plate.  He was somewhat puzzled and asked her what she thought the letters meant.  She said, “That’s easy – Single Ladies Man, Divorced No Kids.”  Rob was flabbergasted.  He was 100% sure that anyone who saw his vanity plate would realize that it meant Slam Dunk.   By the way, his other car has a vanity plate that says “FST BRK.”  I’ll give a free download of my latest career success book I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb to everyone who deciphers that license plate message correctly and leaves a comment.

Back to the story…

While it might seem strange that someone would interpret a message meant to be “Slam Dunk” as “Single Ladies Man, Divorced No Kids” it makes more sense if you understand the context.  This particular woman is single and in her mid 30’s.  She had mentioned to Rob on more than one occasion that she would like to get married and start a family.  Her biological clock was ticking.  When you look at the license plate from her position, it makes some sense that “Slam Dunk” means “Single Ladies Man, Divorced No Kids.”

My US Postal Service bicycling team hat and Rob’s vanity plate stories illustrate the importance of not making assumptions when it comes to human communication.  Assumptions are communication killers and, more important, potential relationship killers.  Test your assumptions.  Make sure you are actually communicating, instead of just thinking you are.  This is true for all three of the major forms of business communication – conversation, writing and presenting.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  If you want to create the life and career success you want and deserve, you need to become a dynamic communicator – in conversation, writing and presenting.  Assumptions are communication killers.  Dynamic communicators test their assumptions to make sure that the message they are intending to send is actually being received by other people.  Put yourself in the place of the people with whom you are communicating.  Are they likely to understand the nuances of what you are saying?  If not, take the time to explain things as you go along.

That’s my career advice on becoming a dynamic communicator.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

Did you watch any of the Tour de France?  Cadel Evans of Australia won it all.  He was amazing to watch in the Alps on Thursday and Friday and in the time trial on Saturday.  I was glued to my TV set every night during the race.  I found it oddly compelling – don’t know what it is, but bicycle racing is very interesting to me.   We’re having a pro cycling race here in Colorado in August.  I’m looking forward to watching a few stages in person.

Today’s career advice comes from a story related to the Tour de France.  Lance Armstrong won several Tours while riding for the now defunct US Postal Service team.  I was in my local bike shop around the time he was winning all those tours.  They were offering a US Postal Service bike team cap for sale.  I bought one and was quite proud to wear it.

I was wearing it in a local supermarket where I went to pick up a few things.  The checkout woman looked at my hat and said, “Do you work for the post office?”  I said “no,” and explained about the USPS pro cycling team.  I got a blank stare in return.

There is some common sense career advice in this story.  Here it is…

Never assume that you know what other people are thinking.  You’ll be wrong a lot of the time.

Assumptions are a great communication killer.   Here’s another story to illustrate that point…

Rob Likoff is a friend of mine.  He lives in New York and is a big basketball fan.  The license plate on one of his cars has a New York Knicks logo in the middle with the letters SLM DNK flanking it.  Most people quickly recognize this as “Slam Dunk.”

One day, Rob was taking a client to lunch.  As they approached his car, she asked him if he had met a lot of women as a result of his license plate.  He was somewhat puzzled and asked her what she thought the letters meant.  She said, “That’s easy – Single Ladies Man, Divorced No Kids.”  Rob was flabbergasted.  He was 100% sure that anyone who saw his vanity plate would realize that it meant Slam Dunk.   By the way, his other car has a vanity plate that says “FST BRK.”  I’ll give a free download of my latest career success book I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb to everyone who deciphers that license plate message correctly and leaves a comment.

Back to the story…

While it might seem strange that someone would interpret a message meant to be “Slam Dunk” as “Single Ladies Man, Divorced No Kids” it makes more sense if you understand the context.  This particular woman is single and in her mid 30’s.  She had mentioned to Rob on more than one occasion that she would like to get married and start a family.  Her biological clock was ticking.  When you look at the license plate from her position, it makes some sense that “Slam Dunk” means “Single Ladies Man, Divorced No Kids.”

My US Postal Service bicycling team hat and Rob’s vanity plate stories illustrate the importance of not making assumptions when it comes to human communication.  Assumptions are communication killers and, more important, potential relationship killers.  Test your assumptions.  Make sure you are actually communicating, instead of just thinking you are.  This is true for all three of the major forms of business communication – conversation, writing and presenting.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  If you want to create the life and career success you want and deserve, you need to become a dynamic communicator – in conversation, writing and presenting.  Assumptions are communication killers.  Dynamic communicators test their assumptions to make sure that the message they are intending to send is actually being received by other people.  Put yourself in the place of the people with whom you are communicating.  Are they likely to understand the nuances of what you are saying?  If not, take the time to explain things as you go along.

That’s my career advice on becoming a dynamic communicator.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

Dynamic communication is one of the keys to career success that I discuss in my latest career advice book Success Tweets.  If you want to become a dynamic communicator, you need to master three basic communication skills: conversation, writing and presenting.

Stephen King is one of my favorite authors.  I once saw a quote from him that is some of the best career advice on communication you’ll ever come across.  “Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.”

Stephen’s words apply to each of the three basic communication skills.  Whether you’re in a conversation, writing an e mail or report, or making a presentation you will communicate better if you use simple, every day, commonly understood words.  I always suggest that my career success coach clients use the smallest possible word that communicates the exact point they want to make.

I take pride on my vocabulary and sometimes like to show it off.  For example, at my niece’s college graduation party I gave her a copy of one of my career success books, Straight Talk for Success.  I told her that I hoped it would help her as she began her career.  I also said that I tried for an “avuncular hip” tone as I was writing the book. 

My niece is a smart young woman.  She graduated cum laude and is doing a great job creating her life and career success.  But when I said the words, “avuncular hip,” she looked at me and said, “What does that mean?”  I responded, “Avuncular means uncle like.  I was trying to come across as a hip uncle in the book.”  She said, “Why didn’t you just say that?”

Good question.  The best answer is that I was just showing off.  Everybody knows what “uncle like” means.  Not everybody knows that “avuncular” means “uncle like.”  This is what Stephen King means when he suggests not using words that others will need a dictionary or thesaurus to understand.  Showing off your vocabulary is not a great way to become a dynamic communicator and career success.

As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of an IBM commercial that ran a couple of years ago… 

A guy walks into a large, dimly lighted conference room where he sees no tables and chairs and about twenty people lying on the floor.  He says, “What are you guys doing?”  Someone answers, “We’re ideating.”  He says, “What’s that?”  Someone responds, “Coming up with new ways of doing things.”  He says, “Why don’t you just call it that?”

Interestingly enough, the word ideating sounds a lot like a made up word to me.  I expected spell check to flag it.  It didn’t.  So I guess I am behind the times on some of my business jargon.  Even so, I think saying that you’re “Coming up with new ways of doing things,” is much more clear than saying that you’re “Ideating.”  But what do I know?

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people are dynamic communicators.  They are good conversationalists, clear writers and effective presenters.  If you want to master the basic skills associated with conversation, writing and presenting begin by choosing your words carefully.  Avoid those polysyllabic — I mean big – words that show off your vocabulary but get in the way of effective communication.  Successful people communicate in everyday, straightforward language.

That’s my career advice on precision in language and effective communication.  What do you think?  Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

Dynamic communication is one of the keys to career success that I discuss in my latest career advice book Success Tweets.  If you want to become a dynamic communicator, you need to master three basic communication skills: conversation, writing and presenting.

Stephen King is one of my favorite authors.  I once saw a quote from him that is some of the best career advice on communication you’ll ever come across.  “Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.”

Stephen’s words apply to each of the three basic communication skills.  Whether you’re in a conversation, writing an e mail or report, or making a presentation you will communicate better if you use simple, every day, commonly understood words.  I always suggest that my career success coach clients use the smallest possible word that communicates the exact point they want to make.

I take pride on my vocabulary and sometimes like to show it off.  For example, at my niece’s college graduation party I gave her a copy of one of my career success books, Straight Talk for Success.  I told her that I hoped it would help her as she began her career.  I also said that I tried for an “avuncular hip” tone as I was writing the book. 

My niece is a smart young woman.  She graduated cum laude and is doing a great job creating her life and career success.  But when I said the words, “avuncular hip,” she looked at me and said, “What does that mean?”  I responded, “Avuncular means uncle like.  I was trying to come across as a hip uncle in the book.”  She said, “Why didn’t you just say that?”

Good question.  The best answer is that I was just showing off.  Everybody knows what “uncle like” means.  Not everybody knows that “avuncular” means “uncle like.”  This is what Stephen King means when he suggests not using words that others will need a dictionary or thesaurus to understand.  Showing off your vocabulary is not a great way to become a dynamic communicator and career success.

As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of an IBM commercial that ran a couple of years ago… 

A guy walks into a large, dimly lighted conference room where he sees no tables and chairs and about twenty people lying on the floor.  He says, “What are you guys doing?”  Someone answers, “We’re ideating.”  He says, “What’s that?”  Someone responds, “Coming up with new ways of doing things.”  He says, “Why don’t you just call it that?”

Interestingly enough, the word ideating sounds a lot like a made up word to me.  I expected spell check to flag it.  It didn’t.  So I guess I am behind the times on some of my business jargon.  Even so, I think saying that you’re “Coming up with new ways of doing things,” is much more clear than saying that you’re “Ideating.”  But what do I know?

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people are dynamic communicators.  They are good conversationalists, clear writers and effective presenters.  If you want to master the basic skills associated with conversation, writing and presenting begin by choosing your words carefully.  Avoid those polysyllabic — I mean big – words that show off your vocabulary but get in the way of effective communication.  Successful people communicate in everyday, straightforward language.

That’s my career advice on precision in language and effective communication.  What do you think?  Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

I’m in the home stretch of a series of blog posts that further explain the career advice in Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less, my latest career success coach book.  I’m going to be sorry when this series is finished.  I hope you’re enjoying reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it. 
 
Success Tweets is about to go into its third printing.  That really pleases me.  It has become a greater success than I thought it would be.  You can pick up a copy at your local bookstore or at Amazon.com.  Better yet, you can download it for free at www.SuccessTweets.com. 

Today’s career advice comes from Success Tweet 114…

Use the active voice in your writing.  Say “I suggest we do this,” rather than “It is suggested that…”

When you use the active voice your writing and you come across as strong, forceful and self confident.  If you need a grammar refresher, in the active voice the subject of the sentence does something.  Go back to the tweet.  In the first example, “I” is the subject of sentence.  To continue with the example, I does something, he or she suggests doing this…

Think of the title of Marvin Gaye song, “I heard it through the Grapevine.”  It is in the active voice.  I (the subject) heard (the verb) it (the object).

The passive voice is just the opposite.  In the passive voice, the target of the action is the subject.  In some cases, this makes no sense.  No one would be likely to write, “It through the grapevine I heard.”  The passive voice tends to use more words, and can confuse the reader.  And, you can come across as a weasel when you use the passive voice.

I’m old enough to remember the Iran-Contra affair.  When speaking about it, President Regan said, “Mistakes were made.”  The problem with this sentence is that it begs the question of who made the mistakes.  This sentence would be stronger if it read, “I made a mistake.”  Or, “This administration made a mistake.”  Of course, in this case the active voice may not have been the best to use politically.

As I’m writing this, I think I may be over complicating things.  The English Department at Purdue University does a good job of providing examples of the active and passive voice…

Active Voice: The dog bit the boy.
Passive Voice: The boy was bitten by the dog.

Active Voice: Scientists conducted experiments to test the hypothesis.
Passive Voice: The hypothesis was tested in experiments conducted by scientists.

Active Voice: Over one third of the applicants failed the entrance exam.
Passive Voice: The entrance exam was failed by over one third of the applicants.

Active Voice: The committee is considering the bill.
Passive Voice: The bill is being considered by the committee.

When you write in the active voice – especially when you use the first person – “I” – you come across as strong, forceful and self confident.  You writing is clear.  It communicates better.

In conclusion, it is suggested that the active voice should be used in your writing. 

Just kidding.  I’ll give a copy of my the eBook version of my book I Want YOU…To Succeed to everybody who rewrites the sentence immediately preceding this one in the active voice.  Please share your rewrites as a comment.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  If you want to write well and clearly, follow the career advice in Tweet 114 in Success Tweets.  “Use the active voice in your writing.  Say ‘I suggest we do this,’ rather than ‘It is suggested that…’”  The active voice is almost always more clear.  It makes your writing easier to understand.  And, when you write in the active voice you come across as self confident and in command of your subject.

That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 114.  What’s yours?  Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  And don’t forget to rewrite this sentence – “In conclusion, it is suggested by this writer that the active voice be used in your writing.” – in the active voice to receive a free copy of my book, I Want YOU…To Succeed.

Bud

I’m in the home stretch of a series of blog posts that further explain the career advice in Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less, my latest career success coach book.  I’m going to be sorry when this series is finished.  I hope you’re enjoying reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it. 
 
Success Tweets is about to go into its third printing.  That really pleases me.  It has become a greater success than I thought it would be.  You can pick up a copy at your local bookstore or at Amazon.com.  Better yet, you can download it for free at www.SuccessTweets.com. 

Today’s career advice comes from Success Tweet 114…

Use the active voice in your writing.  Say “I suggest we do this,” rather than “It is suggested that…”

When you use the active voice your writing and you come across as strong, forceful and self confident.  If you need a grammar refresher, in the active voice the subject of the sentence does something.  Go back to the tweet.  In the first example, “I” is the subject of sentence.  To continue with the example, I does something, he or she suggests doing this…

Think of the title of Marvin Gaye song, “I heard it through the Grapevine.”  It is in the active voice.  I (the subject) heard (the verb) it (the object).

The passive voice is just the opposite.  In the passive voice, the target of the action is the subject.  In some cases, this makes no sense.  No one would be likely to write, “It through the grapevine I heard.”  The passive voice tends to use more words, and can confuse the reader.  And, you can come across as a weasel when you use the passive voice.

I’m old enough to remember the Iran-Contra affair.  When speaking about it, President Regan said, “Mistakes were made.”  The problem with this sentence is that it begs the question of who made the mistakes.  This sentence would be stronger if it read, “I made a mistake.”  Or, “This administration made a mistake.”  Of course, in this case the active voice may not have been the best to use politically.

As I’m writing this, I think I may be over complicating things.  The English Department at Purdue University does a good job of providing examples of the active and passive voice…

Active Voice: The dog bit the boy.
Passive Voice: The boy was bitten by the dog.

Active Voice: Scientists conducted experiments to test the hypothesis.
Passive Voice: The hypothesis was tested in experiments conducted by scientists.

Active Voice: Over one third of the applicants failed the entrance exam.
Passive Voice: The entrance exam was failed by over one third of the applicants.

Active Voice: The committee is considering the bill.
Passive Voice: The bill is being considered by the committee.

When you write in the active voice – especially when you use the first person – “I” – you come across as strong, forceful and self confident.  You writing is clear.  It communicates better.

In conclusion, it is suggested that the active voice should be used in your writing. 

Just kidding.  I’ll give a copy of my the eBook version of my book I Want YOU…To Succeed to everybody who rewrites the sentence immediately preceding this one in the active voice.  Please share your rewrites as a comment.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  If you want to write well and clearly, follow the career advice in Tweet 114 in Success Tweets.  “Use the active voice in your writing.  Say ‘I suggest we do this,’ rather than ‘It is suggested that…’”  The active voice is almost always more clear.  It makes your writing easier to understand.  And, when you write in the active voice you come across as self confident and in command of your subject.

That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 114.  What’s yours?  Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  And don’t forget to rewrite this sentence – “In conclusion, it is suggested by this writer that the active voice be used in your writing.” – in the active voice to receive a free copy of my book, I Want YOU…To Succeed.

Bud

I’m in the home stretch of a series of blog posts that further explain the career advice in Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less, my latest career success coach book.  I’m going to be sorry when this series is finished.  I hope you’re enjoying reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it. 
 
Success Tweets is about to go into its third printing.  That really pleases me.  It has become a greater success than I thought it would be.  You can pick up a copy at your local bookstore or at Amazon.com.  Better yet, you can download it for free at www.SuccessTweets.com. 

Today’s career advice comes from Success Tweet 113…

Write clearly and simply: short words and sentences, first person, active voice.  Be precise in your choice of words.

Good writing will set you apart and put you on the road to personal and professional success.  Unsuccessful people are poor writers.  They are unclear.  They ramble.  Their e mails, letters and reports are a series of long sentences filled with big words that don’t really say anything.  You can’t catch people’s attention by writing this way.  You need to write in a clear, crisp, concise manner.

I try to write like a journalist.  I use short sentences with a simple subject – verb – object structure.  My writing may read a little staccato like, but it communicates.  People tell me that they can understand my points and the reasoning behind them.  And that’s what I want when I write.

Your objective in writing at work is to communicate – not to impress others with your vocabulary.  In a recent post I mentioned the time I was speaking with my niece about my book Straight Talk for Success at her college graduation party, I said that I tried for an “avuncular hip” writing style.  She said, “What does that mean?”  I replied, “Avuncular means uncle-like.  I wanted to sound like a hip uncle to people reading the book.”  She came back with a great question, “Why didn’t you just say so?”

She was right.  Everybody knows what “uncle-like” means.  A lot of people, including magna cum laude graduates like my niece, don’t know the word “avuncular.”  I was just showing off my vocabulary by using that word.  As a result, I didn’t communicate effectively.

Write with your reader in mind.  Sometimes it’s a good idea to read aloud what you’ve written to get a feel for how it will sound to your reader.  Write in short, simple sentences.  Use the simplest words you can to get across your point, while still being accurate.  Write fast.  Get your thoughts on paper or the computer screen as quickly as you can.  Then edit and rewrite until you’ve said exactly what you want to say.  One of my first bosses always told me that rewriting is the secret to good writing. 

Spelling counts too.  Correct spelling does two things for you.  First, it shows that you have a good command of the language.  Second and more important, correct spelling demonstrates that you respect both yourself and the reader.  Misspelled words stand out like sore thumbs to readers. 

Don’t just spell check your documents.  Proof them.  Spell check often won’t pick up improper usage in words like “your” and “you’re,”, “hear” and “here,” and “their” and “there.”

The same holds true for punctuation.  Make sure that you know how to properly use periods, question marks, commas, colons, semicolons, exclamation marks, quotation marks and apostrophes.  If you’re not sure about punctuation rules, spend a little time on the internet learning proper usage. 

I like the Poynter Institute for good information about writing.  While the information on their site www.poynter.org is aimed at journalists, there is a lot of very helpful information about writing and editing there – especially in the article in “Tip Sheets” which can be found by clicking on the “Reporting, Writing and Editing” button.

This brings me to the Bafflegab Thesaurus.  I first saw the Bafflegab Thesaurus back in the 1970s. It’s made a comeback lately, only this time it’s called  Business Buzzword Generator.  Whatever you choose to call it, it’s very clever, and it points out just how much jargon has taken over business communication and how few people write clearly and simply.

Here’s how it works. When you’re stuck in your writing, the Business Buzzword Generator helps you create phrases that will make you sound as if you know what you’re talking about, even if – no especially when – you don’t.

It’s simple. Think of any three-digit number, then select the corresponding buzzword from each column below and you’re done.

0 Integrated          0 Management             0 Options

1 Heuristic               1 Organizational          1 Flexibility

2 Systematized       2 Monitored                 2 Capability 

3 Parallel                   3 Reciprocal                 3 Mobility

4 Functional             4 Digital                          4 Programming

5 Responsive            5 Logistical                   5 Scenarios

6 Optional                  6 Transitional              6 Time-phase

7 Synchronized       7 Incremental             7 Projection

8 Compatible            8 Third Generation    8 Hardware

9 Futuristic                9 Policy                           9 Contingency

The creator of the Business Buzzword Generator provides this example…

“The three-digit number 257 produces ‘systematized logistical projection.’ You can drop this phrase into almost any report. It has a ring of decisive, knowledgeable authority. Of course, no one will have the remotest idea of what you’re talking about. But that’s OK. The important thing is, they are not about to admit it.”

Realize that the creator of the Business Buzzword Generator and I are joking here. While “systematized logistical projection” may sound good, it really means nothing. The best writers use small words, simple sentences, and the active voice. Never use this buzzword generator in your business communication.  But you can have fun reading the writing of some people who appear to have used it.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people are dynamic communicators.  If you want to become a dynamic communicator, you need to develop your writing skills.  Follow the career advice in Tweet 113 in Success Tweets.  “Write clearly and simply: short words and sentences, first person, active voice.  Be precise in your choice of words.”  Writing is not difficult if you write in a manner that communicates well.  In general, this means, being clear, concise and easily readable.  Use short sentences and the smallest word that communicates exactly what you want to say.  Write with your reader in mind.  Read your writing aloud before sending it.  This will help you get a feel for what your reader will experience.

That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 113.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

I’m in the home stretch of a series of blog posts that further explain the career advice in Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less, my latest career success coach book.  I’m going to be sorry when this series is finished.  I hope you’re enjoying reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it. 

Success Tweets is about to go into its third printing.  That really pleases me.  It has become a greater success than I thought it would be.  You can pick up a copy at your local bookstore or at Amazon.com.  Better yet, you can download it for free at www.SuccessTweets.com. 

Today’s career advice comes from Success Tweet 112

Explain jargon as you go along; or provide a glossary at the end of the document.  Better yet, avoid jargon if at all possible.

A couple of years ago the Money section of USA Today had an interesting article called “Do Foreign Executives Balk at Sports Jargon?”
 
Author Del Jones began by saying, “English may be the international language of business, but foreign executives who are fluent in it find themselves at a loss unless they master conversational horsehide and the vocabulary of other US sports.”  “Conversational horsehide”, by the way, is jargon for the ability to use baseball terms in conversation.

She wrote about how baseball jargon has infiltrated business conversation in the USA.  As we are getting to close to the baseball playoffs and World Series, I thought I’d use her article to provide some career advice that illustrates how much we use sports jargon in the USA and how this can have a negative impact on both our ability to communicate in writing and conversation.

People who are not familiar with US sports – and that includes a lot of people born in the US – suffer from sports jargon overload.  Del Jones article was very entertaining – and it had an important message for anyone who wants to become a good communicator – use jargon, especially sports jargon — as little as possible in everyday conversation and business writing.

I agree.  I learned this lesson the hard way.  I was conducting a workshop in Europe that I had conducted very successfully in the US.  The workshop began with a baseball analogy – one has to go from first to second to third base before scoring a run.  While most of the people in the European audience understood the concept and the reference, many were upset that an American would use a uniquely American example when conducting a workshop in Europe. 

Paula Shannon, a Senior VP with Lionbridge, a Massachusetts based company with 4,000 employees in 25 countries knows what I’m talking about.  She says, “The Hail Mary (American football jargon) is my favorite example of bad jargon.  You can establish your American centricity, and risk a religious offense at the same time.”

The common sense career advice here is simple.  In order to become a great communicator, limit your use of jargon.  Converse, write and present in easily and universally understood terms.  Be precise in your use of language.

Having said that, I am going to post the baseball/business dictionary Ms. Jones included in a sidebar to her article – just because I think it’s fun…

Baseball – Business Dictionary

Manufacture a Run

Baseball: Scoring without power, or even a solid hit.  For example, a walk, followed by a stolen base, an error and a squeeze play.  Also called small ball.

Business: Succeeding via hard work; growing sales without a blockbuster product.

Late Innings

Baseball: The seventh, eighth and ninth innings of a baseball game.

Business: Late stages of a project; an old product seeing sales eroding due to a competitor’s new product.

Step Up to the Plate

Baseball:  Take your turn at bat, often in an important situation.

Business: Confront a problem, make a crucial decision, go the extra mile when it’s safer or more convenient not to.

Pickle

Baseball: A rundown, catching a runner stranded between bases.

Business: Getting into trouble with little chance of escape.

Can of Corn

Baseball: A fly ball that is easy to catch.

Business: A decision or action that is a no-brainer; a product that sells itself.

Ducks on the Pond

Baseball: Runners on base.

Business: A situation with a good chance of success.

Curve

Baseball:  A pitch that breaks before it gets to the plate.

Business: Anything unexpected

All Bases Covered

Baseball: Fielders doing their job and positioned on relevant bases so the team can get an out.

Business: Being prepared for every contingency.

Mop Up

Baseball: When a mediocre relief pitcher is used because the outcome of the game is certain.

Business: When employees have to remain on projects after star employees have moved on to bigger and better things.

Homer, Dinger, Tater

Baseball: Home runs of various types.

Business: Major accomplishment

O-fer

Baseball: When a batter goes hitless.

Business: Slump with poor results.
If you’re a baseball fan, you may disagree with some of the definitions in this dictionary.  And that is one of the reasons I’ve included it here – to include a graphic depiction of the problem with jargon. 

I remember reading a column in an airline in flight magazine on jargon.  Even though it’s been several years, I still remember this column.  The author began by saying that he has a folder of memos with obtuse language that he has collected over the years.  He shared one memo that a friend sent to him.  I was so struck by the language that I saved it on my hard drive.  The guy who wrote the memo said he was going to “map the handoffs and all processes in a combined swim lanes uber-process.”  I’m pretty hip to a lot of business jargon as I see it every day.  However, I must admit that “swim lanes uber-process” is a new one on me. 

As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of an IBM commercial I saw a while back.  A guy walks into a large, dimly lighted conference room where he sees no tables and chairs and about twenty people lying on the floor.  He says, “What are you guys doing?”  Someone answers, “We’re ideating.”  He says, “What’s that?”  Someone responds, “Coming up with new ways of doing things.”  He says, “Why don’t you just call it that?”

Interestingly enough, the word “ideating” sounds a lot like a made up word to me.  I expected spell check to flag it.  It didn’t.  So I guess I am behind the times on some of my business jargon.  Even so, I think saying that you’re “Coming up with new ways of doing things,” is much more clear than saying that you’re “Ideating.”  But what do I know?

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Jargon causes communication problems.  Successful people follow the career advice in Tweet 112 in Success Tweets.  “Explain jargon as you go along; or provide a glossary at the end of the document.  Better yet, avoid jargon if at all possible.”  Don’t assume that everybody who reads what you write will be as familiar with jargon as you.  Make your writing clear, concise and readable – that mean as little jargon as possible.

That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 112.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

I’m in the home stretch of a series of blog posts that further explain the career advice in Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less, my latest career success coach book.  I’m going to be sorry when this series is finished.  I hope you’re enjoying reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it. 

Success Tweets is about to go into its third printing.  That really pleases me.  It has become a greater success than I thought it would be.  You can pick up a copy at your local bookstore or at Amazon.com.  Better yet, you can download it for free at www.SuccessTweets.com. 

Today’s career advice comes from Success Tweet 112

Explain jargon as you go along; or provide a glossary at the end of the document.  Better yet, avoid jargon if at all possible.

A couple of years ago the Money section of USA Today had an interesting article called “Do Foreign Executives Balk at Sports Jargon?”
 
Author Del Jones began by saying, “English may be the international language of business, but foreign executives who are fluent in it find themselves at a loss unless they master conversational horsehide and the vocabulary of other US sports.”  “Conversational horsehide”, by the way, is jargon for the ability to use baseball terms in conversation.

She wrote about how baseball jargon has infiltrated business conversation in the USA.  As we are getting to close to the baseball playoffs and World Series, I thought I’d use her article to provide some career advice that illustrates how much we use sports jargon in the USA and how this can have a negative impact on both our ability to communicate in writing and conversation.

People who are not familiar with US sports – and that includes a lot of people born in the US – suffer from sports jargon overload.  Del Jones article was very entertaining – and it had an important message for anyone who wants to become a good communicator – use jargon, especially sports jargon — as little as possible in everyday conversation and business writing.

I agree.  I learned this lesson the hard way.  I was conducting a workshop in Europe that I had conducted very successfully in the US.  The workshop began with a baseball analogy – one has to go from first to second to third base before scoring a run.  While most of the people in the European audience understood the concept and the reference, many were upset that an American would use a uniquely American example when conducting a workshop in Europe. 

Paula Shannon, a Senior VP with Lionbridge, a Massachusetts based company with 4,000 employees in 25 countries knows what I’m talking about.  She says, “The Hail Mary (American football jargon) is my favorite example of bad jargon.  You can establish your American centricity, and risk a religious offense at the same time.”

The common sense career advice here is simple.  In order to become a great communicator, limit your use of jargon.  Converse, write and present in easily and universally understood terms.  Be precise in your use of language.

Having said that, I am going to post the baseball/business dictionary Ms. Jones included in a sidebar to her article – just because I think it’s fun…

Baseball – Business Dictionary

Manufacture a Run

Baseball: Scoring without power, or even a solid hit.  For example, a walk, followed by a stolen base, an error and a squeeze play.  Also called small ball.

Business: Succeeding via hard work; growing sales without a blockbuster product.

Late Innings

Baseball: The seventh, eighth and ninth innings of a baseball game.

Business: Late stages of a project; an old product seeing sales eroding due to a competitor’s new product.

Step Up to the Plate

Baseball:  Take your turn at bat, often in an important situation.

Business: Confront a problem, make a crucial decision, go the extra mile when it’s safer or more convenient not to.

Pickle

Baseball: A rundown, catching a runner stranded between bases.

Business: Getting into trouble with little chance of escape.

Can of Corn

Baseball: A fly ball that is easy to catch.

Business: A decision or action that is a no-brainer; a product that sells itself.

Ducks on the Pond

Baseball: Runners on base.

Business: A situation with a good chance of success.

Curve

Baseball:  A pitch that breaks before it gets to the plate.

Business: Anything unexpected

All Bases Covered

Baseball: Fielders doing their job and positioned on relevant bases so the team can get an out.

Business: Being prepared for every contingency.

Mop Up

Baseball: When a mediocre relief pitcher is used because the outcome of the game is certain.

Business: When employees have to remain on projects after star employees have moved on to bigger and better things.

Homer, Dinger, Tater

Baseball: Home runs of various types.

Business: Major accomplishment

O-fer

Baseball: When a batter goes hitless.

Business: Slump with poor results.
If you’re a baseball fan, you may disagree with some of the definitions in this dictionary.  And that is one of the reasons I’ve included it here – to include a graphic depiction of the problem with jargon. 

I remember reading a column in an airline in flight magazine on jargon.  Even though it’s been several years, I still remember this column.  The author began by saying that he has a folder of memos with obtuse language that he has collected over the years.  He shared one memo that a friend sent to him.  I was so struck by the language that I saved it on my hard drive.  The guy who wrote the memo said he was going to “map the handoffs and all processes in a combined swim lanes uber-process.”  I’m pretty hip to a lot of business jargon as I see it every day.  However, I must admit that “swim lanes uber-process” is a new one on me. 

As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of an IBM commercial I saw a while back.  A guy walks into a large, dimly lighted conference room where he sees no tables and chairs and about twenty people lying on the floor.  He says, “What are you guys doing?”  Someone answers, “We’re ideating.”  He says, “What’s that?”  Someone responds, “Coming up with new ways of doing things.”  He says, “Why don’t you just call it that?”

Interestingly enough, the word “ideating” sounds a lot like a made up word to me.  I expected spell check to flag it.  It didn’t.  So I guess I am behind the times on some of my business jargon.  Even so, I think saying that you’re “Coming up with new ways of doing things,” is much more clear than saying that you’re “Ideating.”  But what do I know?

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Jargon causes communication problems.  Successful people follow the career advice in Tweet 112 in Success Tweets.  “Explain jargon as you go along; or provide a glossary at the end of the document.  Better yet, avoid jargon if at all possible.”  Don’t assume that everybody who reads what you write will be as familiar with jargon as you.  Make your writing clear, concise and readable – that mean as little jargon as possible.

That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 112.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud