19: 10 Hacks That Take the Suck Out of Writing

Hey there. Welcome to the Confident Communications Podcast. I am your host, Molly McPherson. This week, it's all about the writing. I'm offering 10 hacks that will improve your writing, especially in the digital age. These 10 hacks are from my personal collection that help me become a better writer and even more important, someone who loves to write. I want to help you take the suck out of writing. Now, when someone asks you to write an article for the company blog or for the newsletter, or if you have to update your resume, do your neck muscles tighten? Do you get a pit in your stomach? Many people do, because people just don't like to write. The only people who I know that genuinely like to write are children or adults who are paid to write. I think most people feel that they're alone in those thoughts. But the truth is, most people, I believe, feel this way. They think they're the only ones that hate to write. For those of you who do not like to write, you hate it. Think back about how you felt about writing as a kid. Did you like to write? I know I did. And I love going to the library, too. I wanted to write my own take on Nancy Drew and Harry Potter. But patience was not my strongest virtue at the time. As a kid and back in the day as a Gen Xer, I had to write longhand. We didn't even have a typewriter, and it required the patience that I simply did not possess. But I did love writing, all throughout school and high school and working well into college. But it was when I started working that I recognized that I wasn't loving it so much. And one example that I remember, like it was yesterday when I was working at FEMA headquarters, one of the first jobs they gave me was to write a strategic plan. And for the life of me, I could not finish it. I remember every day just staring at the computer screen sometime for hours because I didn't really care what I was writing about, because I really didn't know what I was writing about because I just started my job. I remember one day my coworker Debbie walked by and asked me if I wanted to go shopping at the Pentagon Mall. And I jumped out of my seat so fast, I'm like, yep, let's go. And I think that that strategic plan is probably still unwritten to this day. But if you think back to your own writing journey. When did you start to hate it? Or I'll soften it a little. When did you start to dread writing? It's likely when you started to draw a paycheck because that's when the scrutiny comes in. That's when the editors and the opinions from others start to happen. My belief in many aspects of communications is this. The communication skill that people hate or dread are the ones not that they don't want to do, but the ones that they fear most. That's why I get so much pushback from baby boomers about social media and using digital media. I don't think they dislike it because they don't understand it or they're above it. I think they don't like it because they're afraid of it. They just don't get it and they think that something bad is going to happen if they use it, and it can happen. The same is true for writing. At a more recent job that I had, I remember my task was to get as many people as I could to write in the company blog. And the people that worked at this organization, they were really, really smart people, like at the top of their communication game. I'm talking about former reporters and producers, like people that really could nail down great content. But I couldn't get any people to write for this. And it wasn't because they couldn't. They're all very, very good writers. And I know time came into it and people just have the time to do it because a lot of people that are asked to write don't get compensated for that. However, a big part of it that I felt at the time, and I still do now, is the scrutiny. When people feel that other people are going to judge them, they don't want to write. And so this is a writing conundrum. You have all these people who are scared to write. But we're living in a world right now. We're in digital media. We need content and we need people to write. And if you do it, I get it. It expose you as being that, well, someone that sucks at writing. And sometimes it's just easier to say, you know what? I don't have time to write the blog now. I will do it next month. Or you could be someone in a senior position and you don't want to write. Maybe you have no confidence in your writing, so what do you do? You delegate it to a junior staffer. You always give it to someone beneath you. But I'll tell you what, those junior staffers, they know that you don't like to write. They know that the emperor does not have clothes and does not know how to write. So back in the day when you were in school, the only scrutiny you had was a teacher and maybe it was just a grade. But in the professional space, especially the online space, your writing is a window straight into your talent. If you suck at it, people can tell. And not just people at your work or someone reading a newsletter. It's anyone that can get online. So I get it. I see you. The truth is, writing is hard. It's difficult even for authors that who do it all the time. People get stuck with writing just like I did back in the day. They get stuck right in the beginning. They start, they stare at the screen, and then they get overwhelmed. But it is one of the most critical skills that people should acquire and develop throughout their lives. A report from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Know that according to employers, over 26% of college students had deficient writing skills. What's more, employers said that more than a quarter of college graduates were not only poor writers, but they also lacked proper communication skills across the board. And I find this in my work. People tell me this all the time. And that younger employees simply do not know how to write well. And at the core, it's the digital age that presents this paradox. Most millennials spend a considerable amount of their time just composing texts. But a lot of the material they create isn't real writing. At least it's not professional writing. They're exchanging emails and text messages and social network posts and communications that carry the same weight as if they're walking down a hallway in school. So unless you work full time in social media or content development, writing is a critical, hard skill that you must possess. And it's not just the one. The young workers as well. Everyone needs to be a good writer, especially in the digital age. I speak to a lot of people in this field and I ask them, I ask them, what is one of the most prized skills that you are looking for in an employee or candidate for a job? And one answer stands well above the rest. And no surprise, it is writing. So let's jump into the list. Here are my 10 hacks that help me become a better writer, and more importantly, someone who loves to write. Hack number one, cut the fat. Put away the five paragraph essay. There is a new writing style in town. So back in school, you remember you were taught to write the five paragraph essay. You remember that drill. First you tell your reader what you're going to tell them. The main idea and the supporting points. Then you give them three things to support that main idea. Then the conclusion, where you basically restate what you've already told them. That strategy might work for research papers or for teaching young kids how to write a maid idea with supporting details, but it doesn't do anything for the business professional who's writing information online. We have to condense it. It is an out dated mode of writing that just doesn't work anymore. Number two Omit needless words in episode two of the podcast I talked about the overuse of filler words. The ums and ahs and so's that clutter your speech. The same applies to writing. The author Harry Evans. Now Sir Harry Evans wrote Do I make myself clear? Why writing well matters. It's included in the show notes, but he created a chart, six pages worth that shows us precisely why writing well matters. You want to omit needless words. For example, at this point in time should be now filled to capacity should be full in spite of the fact should be despite placed under arrest could be arrested take action on the issue acted will be the speaker at will speak. You'll notice it's a difference between an active word and a passive word. Other things that you should cut out Filler words when you write. People speak filler words a lot, but they use them in their writing as well. Also, words that are too long, sentences that are too long, complex words. Put down the thesaurus, subjective adjectives, adverbs, phrases like hey you guys or everyone. And the bonus, you should add contractions. I'm the same way. I'm someone that never wanted to use a contraction, but in the social space it's okay. Remember, character count is valuable real estate. You want as many spaces as you can and that's where a contraction fits in. Hack number three Stop writing. Inboxes are overloaded. Think about how many emails you get in one day. And if you're like most professionals, it's probably too many. Even worse, if you're communicating with a team or a client, the emails go back and forth in a never ending string of conversation. It's confusing and it's really easy to lose track of conversation and the things that need to get completed as a result. Your inbox is not where to communicate in many circumstances. Now. Sure, it's a great place to start a conversation with someone that you don't have a relationship with yet, but it's time to move out of email where you can now. Good options are Voxer, that's an app that I use with my team. It's a voice and text type app for conversations. And there's also Slack for written communications and document sharing. And there's a lot of project management tools as well like ASANA or Trello. My team rarely communicates an email. The only time we do that is if it's formally and we're introducing someone else in the mix. Every other form of communication is in an app like Voxer. Number four. Eliminate repetition. Eliminate repetition. Remember that five paragraph essay? How many times do you need to say the same thing in that essay? You're gonna be saying it over and over again. That will get you an A when you're in fifth grade, but it will not help you if you're a vice president of communication. Anything that you state once should stay only once. When you're writing a blog post, your website content, or a message to a colleague, stop repeating yourself. People thrive on stories, on conversations. They want to feel connected to you in a way you cannot connect in a five paragraph essay. People look at all those paragraphs and their mind just shifts more into a long, drawn out story and you already start to lose them. So if you're writing a sales page for a website or a brochure, tell a story about someone who's had success. Grab them right in the beginning. How you've been there, how you understand where your potential customer is and where they're coming from. They want to know you as a real person, not as a stiff or someone that can write a good fifth grade essay. Number five, Be mindful that people no longer have attention spans. So you want to write for people with limited attention spans. Microsoft did a very cool study and they found that the average attention span of humans has gone down from 12 seconds in 2000 to eight seconds in 2015. Now 2019, I don't even know, what is it, six seconds. And I'd argue that it's much shorter now. And it's shorter than a goldfish, by the way. And we're all there. It's not just young people. All of us have a short attention span. And it's likely because of technology. Now we're so inundated with ads and hyperlinks and all these flashy graphics. They're on our phones, they're on computer, they're on television. Did you ever try and watch a show on Netflix? You're already inundated with 20 choices just on one screen alone. So really nothing nowadays can hold our attention for long. And the same applies to writing. So the answer for you when you Write in the 21st century is just get to the point quickly. You've seen all the memes about meetings where people say, oh, we could have done this in an email, you know, or even better yet in Slack, people are really tired of feeling like their time is being wasted. You know, there's so many ways that we can simplify our lives. Amazon prime, you know, grocery delivery service, you name it. People feel the same way about their communications. They don't like long drawn out meetings and they do not like long drawn out emails. Just get to the point. Another way to hold the attention of your readers? Use subheaders. Use bullet points, bold text and numbered lists in blog points. And hint, it's a lot easier to write when you're writing in bullets. All of these things draw the eye to some of the most important information and if the reader finds it helpful, they will go back and read the rest. Also, introducing any type of graphic or infographic that will draw attention to your information as well. It also helps with search engine optimization. If you label it correctly, you're going to get your SEO up there as well. All right, number six Write for Social because social media is no longer your grandma's writing. Now. What do I mean like that? Social media is a place to be social. It's a place to be social about the here and the now. It's where people connect today and it's usually one of the first places they go when they are looking to make a decision to buy or to work with someone. That means you need to be present on social media. But how you write on social media looks a lot different from how you write in an email or a proposal. There's a lot of key indicators out there that I notice when people are not comfortable writing in the social space. When you post on social media, the way you write needs to look different depending on where you're posting. For example, LinkedIn obviously a professional network. People want to hear your tips, they want to hear feedback, they want to hear about business related topics, things you do with your business. Facebook obviously is more personal. You can hang a little bit looser there, but it's also important that you think about how you're presenting yourself. Of course, you know that's my jam that you have to present yourself in a good light, even if it's on your personal Facebook page. When you're sharing content on a business page, be sure to include any information that will draw the reader in or the scroller's readers in. Let them know why you're sharing something and the impact it had on you and the possible impact it could have on them. Now Twitter is a favorite social media tool for business and news minded people and journalists. So of course you do have a limited number of characters, 280 to work with. So brevity is key. With Twitter, so are the hashtags if you want to get noticed. But that will be a future podcast all on its own. Hack number seven, cut the jargon. Because jargon does not make you look smarter. In fact, for me, it annoys me when people use it. In our quest to stand out, a lot of very, very smart people will use industry specific jargon, but it actually does the opposite of what they're intending to do. They think they're getting to the point quickly, but what it's doing is confusing people because it makes information difficult to understand, it causes a gray area and a lot of people might just tune you out. And also it's very bad for media relations. I spent a lot of time working in media relations and I would have to speak with non communicators if they were doing an interview with the media or if I needed a quote to put in a press release. And I cannot tell you how many times in my emergency management career, in my cruise line industry career, where I was speaking to engineers, maritime types, former military, former, you know, emergency management, current emergency management. There's so many acronyms in the federal government and just in industry. And I would always need to deconstruct it. And so many times they had no idea why I needed to dumb things down. They didn't like the idea of dumbing down their words and their thoughts, but it wasn't about them. It's about the reader or it's about the viewer. And it's the same thing about with us busy, you know, business types, the word SEO, the term SEO, search engine optimization, B2B B2C. Most people know what they mean, but just be mindful that some people may not. Also, jargon can mean different things to different people. If you beef something up, does that mean make it larger or make it better? Forward planning. Can something be planned backwards? Productize. Someone said that to me recently, we're gonna productize. And I said, what is that? Is that a verb? Could you explain that to me? Also thought leader. Everyone is a thought leader because everyone has ready access to getting notice online. We could of course just use the word leader. Now I tend to default to thought leader all the time because I do think it works, but I'm trying to wean myself off of it as well. Okay, number eight is just right. Writing, as I said, is a skill that is important, but it does require a little mental muscle. The more you use it, the more you write, the better you're going to be. And if you don't write, you're just going to suck at it. It's as simple as that. If you've got a blank paper or a blank screen staring at you, it can be very, very intimidating. You might be tempted just to check your email or go to Facebook or get up and get a snack and start eating. Well, you don't want to do that because it's going to throw you off track and it's going to increase the intimidation factor. The key here is just start writing, start typing away. And when I know I really have to drill down, I will set my timer for 60 minutes and then I will write for 60 minutes. And it does not matter what you write. Just get your fingers moving. And once you get going, you get into the flow, the juices start moving. You're going to start writing all of your ideas down. Now, another tip here to add is that when you do write, do not write like an editor. Don't edit your work. I stopped doing that. And that made all the difference in the world. The first draft is your creative draft. And tell your kids this as well. Like when my kid. Now our kids use software. They use spell check, they use Grammarly. They use all these programs in Hemingway, you know, to edit their writing. We don't want to do that. And I tell them, don't use it, don't edit, because that stops the flow of creativity. Just put anything. And it doesn't even have to be in proper English because you're going to be your first editor. Version two is the edit. That's when you do the spell check. And that is key. The next hack, number nine, write with relevance. What does that mean? Writing with relevance means you Write for the 21st century. It means that you understand how to write as a 21st century communicator. And it implies all of the things that I said in the previous hacks about writing quickly, about being writing with brevity. It's like when you do write a story, write a story like you're speaking with your grandmother. You want to be a good writer. When you write of the moment. Now, specifically like the use of emojis, that's very 21st century. That is a question that comes up in a lot of my trainings. And I tell people when you use an emoji, you want to use them sparingly. Okay? It's so an emoji is if you don't know what emoji is. That's, you know, the smiley face. You'll see at the bottom of your phone when you're writing or texting. They're also in newer computers as well, or just Google emojis and you'll see them. I tell people to use them sparingly because you don't know how that emoji is going to reflect on you. You don't know how the other person feels about emojis. However, I think they're very important to use when you want to communicate something quickly. And most important, I use them when I want to get out of a conversation. Here's how it works. You're speaking to someone through text or through email. You might go back and forth once or twice, and then you want to get out of that conversation. You want the email to end. I find the use of a well placed emoji in that last email works. And I usually use a thumbs up or a smiley face. And that indicates, at least for me, that this conversation is over. We're not talking about it again. So that's when I like using emojis and it lightens up a conversation as well. So if you are a good writer and you're a confident writer, I think you can use emojis more. But if you rely on emojis, that's when you're getting into a dangerous territory. The other key indicator of a millennial compared to a non millennial might be how they write a sentence, specifically how they write their period. Anyone that listens to me speak or in my podcast knows this about me. I am a single spacer after the period, and I do not understand why people still use double spaces at a period after a period. But I do recognize that there are people that are very committed to these double spaces and I understand it. I don't tell them that they're wrong to do it, but I do tell you this. It's a key indicator that you're old. If you use double spaces, it tells me that you are likely over the age of 45. Why? Because you were taught that way to add two spaces after the space bar on a typewriter. It's not an Apple computer, it's not a Mac, it's not a phone. You use typewriters because that's how they were set back then. Now I get it. Some of us are just wired to be double spacers. But think of it this way. The double space was set that way because it's used in a typewriter, because we couldn't see the spacing. That need now is eliminated. The second piece, and this one is a biggie. As I've mentioned on the podcast before, the real estate on social media is valuable. You want every character space that you can get. If you're going to waste it on a double space again, that's another indicator that says you really don't know how to write. For social, or at least for the 21st century, try and eliminate it. If you're a double spacer and the double space is something that most people assume is not used. I've seen it as an example with parents like those double spacer die hards. A friend of mine was telling me on a trip recently that her son was accused of cheating. Because my friend went back into her assignment when she was helping edit her son and she changed all the single spaces to double spaces. And the teacher accused her son of cheating because clearly his mother got her hands in it. And recently I gave a workshop and one of the participants gave me an example. At a college, it was the same thing. Students who hand in essays with double spaces, they are viewed and looked at differently and marked differently because it is assumed that a parent or someone over the age of 45 got their hands into the document. That's what it means to write with relevance. My last hack, and this is an easy one, but it's important. One, tell yourself that you're a good writer. The only person who truly thinks that you're a bad writer is you, and you need to stop. If you tell yourself you can write, then you're a writer. And how will people know that you're a good writer? By writing. Sometimes it's just the act of writing that will tell people that you're a good writer. And if you don't, and if you're someone that has all these excuses for why you don't want to write, remember your staff, your employees, they see right through it. They know you don't want to write. Okay, so let's go back to the list. Number one, cut the fat. Number two, omit any needless words. Number three, stop writing. Number four, eliminate repetition, eliminate repetition. Number five, remember that people no longer have attention spans. Number six, social media isn't like writing to your grandmother, where you tell her every single detail of what you're doing. You get straight to the point, you tell a story, you connect with your reader. Seven, cut the jargon. Eight, just write. Just do it. Nine, write with relevance. And ten, tell yourself that you're a great writer. And you will be. Writing is a pivotal way to communicate today, but it needs to be done right. Millennials and Generation Z, they probably have a leg up on how to communicate today, but that doesn't mean that Gen Xers and baby Boomers have to be left out. So many of us are missing the mark when it comes to being effective in our communications and in our jobs and our businesses depend on us doing it right. So that's why I created a Power Speak Printable. It can help you get rid of that weak language in your communication that helps you become more seen, heard and relevant in every part of your life. These tips are for how you can speak with power. But if you write how you speak, then this Printable is going to help you become a better writer. To get your hands on your copy of this Power Speak Printable text Power Speak all one word Power Speak P O W E R S P E a k to 345345 that's power speak to 345345 and do not write this down while you're driving. And please don't do it while you're driving or wait until you're off the side of the road or if you're at home. But go ahead, send the text and I will send you a link to that download. Okay, that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. Now go out there and start writing. You can do it. And why? Because you are an awesome writer. Bye for now. Sam.