For last week’s public Better Business Writing class, I emailed four questions to attendees in advance. They were in list form, like this:
- What is your job?
- What do you write on the job? To whom?
- What do you want to be able to do better in your writing?
- In terms of how you learn best, what do you hope happens or does not happen in the class?
Just about everyone responded efficiently. They either copied the questions into their reply and answered them in list form, or they answered them inline in my original message, like this:
- What is your job? Project manager
- What do you write on the job? Technical documents, user guides, statements of work (SOWs), knowledge base articles
- What do you want to be able to do better in your writing? Be more concise, write effectively to varied audiences, feel confident that my work is professional
- In terms of how you learn best, what do you hope happens or does not happen in the class? No lecturing. Give me writing projects and exercises–then give me feedback on how I do.
Their listed answers were easy to find and consider. I was able to get a sense of each person’s goals and needs in seconds.
However, one person (I’ll call her Doris) ignored my list format when she responded. Instead, Doris replied in a 155-word paragraph.
I have nothing against 155-word paragraphs. But they bog me down when I am looking for quick information.
Here’s the good news: Change is easy. When I gave Doris private feedback, I told her how her paragraph had slowed me. We looked at it together, and she realized how much time it took to dig out the answer to “What do you want to be able to do better in your writing?”
Doris got it immediately.
If you write to people who ignore your lists or who make you dig out facts from swampy paragraphs, give them feedback. And tell them how easy and efficient it is to change.
Lynn
