Here’s the scene. Two analysts have been tapped to address the San Francisco chapter of an industry organization. The rules are: you have ten minutes to speak, and you cannot use slides. The organization is for executives and managers of the cable television industry. One of the analysts is me. I analyze the television industry…
Can clear communication get truant students to come back to class? According to the results of a recent experiment, a clearly written letter was 40% more effective than the school district’s usual gobbledegook communication. The truancy experiment To succeed, students generally need to attend classes. Legally, a school district must inform parents of truant students…
I know if you’re going to be a good client in 15 minutes. I’m not prejudiced. I’m experienced. How I know Before our discovery meeting, I check out your LinkedIn profile and posts, as well as your web site if you have one. I can tell if you have something useful to say, or if…
It’s not just the things you should avoid in writing that are a problem. It’s the constant overload of those things. Too much passive voice, too much jargon, too many puns, too many exclamation points. If the reader is saying “Enough!”, the writer has made a mistake. I’ve written in this space before about the…
Writers and editors should have a sweet spot: the topics on which they know the most. They should also have a range of topics they are comfortable with. They also need a clear idea of what they don’t do. The T-shaped editorial skills profile A common way to describe the skill profile of any expert…
I am no football expert. But I am a student of leadership. And we have an excellent case study right down the road from me in Massachusetts: the long successful reign and ignominious end of 24-year Patriots coach Bill Belichick. There’s a strong argument that Belichick is the greatest NFL football coach of all time….
In the nine years I’ve been freelancing, I’ve chosen not to work with a number of potential clients. There were also a few I probably shouldn’t have worked with. I thought you might benefit from seeing why I say no to business. To be clear, these are a small percentage of the opportunities I see….
I’m disciplined and strategic about meetings. Reflecting on that, I’ve realized just how much it improves the quality of my client relationships and the work I do. For context, I’m a freelance writer and editor. But these principles may be helpful to you as a creative worker, regardless of what you create. Your meeting strategy…
It’s not so much about resolutions as it is about change. If you don’t want your 2024 to be the same as your 2023, there are two ways to do that. One, do something new. New job, new club, new role, new friends. If you want to do that, how are you preparing to identify…