Skillset New Zealand Blog
- Written by Ralph Brown
No. Plain English is a low benchmark.
Focusing on plain English made sense when people in business thought absurdly formal language was the professional way to write. They had no problem with: 'We wish to advise...', 'regarding our correspondence of the 17th inst.' and 'We enclose our brochure for your perusal'. It was a strange, artificial language described by a government-appointed committee of gurus in Britain as an 'evil tradition'. (And that was more than 100 years ago.)
Business writing has moved on. Plain English is now common, especially in large organisations with communications teams.
So what else do we need?
- Clarity for a start. We can achieve more clarity with simple, direct sentences and the active voice.
- The skills to engage our readers. We want them to read and remember everything we write, not skim and forget.
How do we engage them?
Plain English is essential, but not enough.
We can engage them by thinking of them as we write. No, make that being obsessed with our readers as we write - in every word, sentence and paragraph.
Ask yourself questions as you prepare and write. 'Would they know what this email, letter or report is about? (Tell them early.) 'Would they care about my message? How can we help them care? How much do they know already? Would they understand this word, jargon or idea? Would they know what to do next?'
We can engage them by adding humans. 'You' should be top of your list, but any words about humans will help: 'Lucy, our team, engineers, senior managers, the staff, residents, ratepayers'. (You get the idea). Even things associated with people can help you engage your readers: 'your email, the engineers' report, the executive team's meeting'.
Our brains are hard-wired to find people interesting - especially us. But human interest is just one of the benefits. Adding humans encourages us to write in the active voice, We are more likely to write about people doing things, rather than just focusing on the event. 'Lucy wrote the report on Thursday', not 'The report was written on Thursday.'
When we add humans we are more likely to write in everyday language, because that's what we are used to in conversation.
Won't adding humans take more words?
Yes, but those words are worth it.
Interested in a workshop to improve your team's writing skills?
- Written by Ralph Brown
Written by Fingal Pollock
“I hear you” – in whichever vocabulary you choose to express it – is one of the most valuable phrases known to humankind.
The essence of that phrase acts as a balm on human relationships and it is certainly the first and most essential step in any communication involving complaints or disputes.
But first, a story:
I was in a fluster because I had been caught out making a mistake. I hadn’t checked my emails properly and I had got the time of an important meeting wrong. It’s very unusual for me to make such errors, however there were several major life-events happening simultaneously and even time-management superstars such as myself can slip up sometimes. Because I was embarrassed, I was getting defensive. “It’s the only time it’s ever happened” I was complaining down the phone.
It was an example of how a potentially disruptive dispute can plant its seed and the fission of an argument was threatening to take hold. Then I heard three magical words being spoken down the telephone to me – in an unmistakably sincere tone: “I hear you”.
The effect was immediate. I dropped my defensiveness and apologised for my mistake.
Exactly how someone is made to feel heard will depend entirely on the circumstances, the medium through which you communicate and the type of language that you communicate in. However, the ultimate message remains the same.
Examples
'Thank you for letting us know about the frustration you have had with...'
'We are sorry for the delay in responding and the inconvenience it has caused you.'
‘I was sorry to read about the disruption this issue has caused. I now realise how it important it is to resolve it.'
‘I’d like to take a moment to recognise your hardship and apologise for that.’
Once you've made your reader feel heard, it would be a mistake to follow up with a defensive statement – otherwise all the hard work of 'listening' will be undone.
For example:
‘My sincerest condolences for the time and energy that has no doubt already been spent on this issue. I can only imagine how taxing this must have been for you. But if you had looked at the invoice properly before paying it – all of this could have been avoided’.
You can imagine the response to that!
Allowing a client to feel sincerely heard, without judgement, doesn’t mean that you are accepting blame. It means that you are acknowledging that something has been hard for them. It is a simple step that can make all the difference in the long run - make sure you start with it.
Ka kite,
Fingal
Christchurch
E-mail: info@skillset.co.nz