Talk Archives

Whose Fault Is Bad Writing?

I laughed at myself today, and the situation reminded me of bad business writing. Here it is: We have a high school exchange student from the Middle East living with us this semester. Her household chore is to empty the dishwasher and put the dishes away… continue reading

Working on a Writing Brand

In a Writing Tune-Up for Peak Performance class, a young African-American man (I’ll call him Edward) told us he was having trouble developing his writing “brand.” I wondered what he meant, and guessed (silently) that Edward was trying to figure out how to express himself professionally… continue reading

Talk

When “Customer Service” Letters Undercut Bankers

To whoever writes the customer letters for "Deposit Operations" at our large bank: Please stop writing letters that contain: Requests for documentation without saying what the necessary documentation is (especially when the customer has already provided documentation). 24/7 phone numbers to call, at which the service representatives do… continue reading

When Your Laugh = Someone’s Anguish

I was teaching a business writing workshop recently when someone teased another participant about being a Southerner (someone from the Southern part of the United States). The seemingly good-natured wisecracks were about Southern food and language. I stopped the comments politely by bringing us back to the… continue reading

A Tale of Two Emails

Yesterday I received two solicitations by email. One succeeded with me; the other failed. Notice what works in this message, whose writer gave me permission to share it with you: Subject: Visit Request Good Afternoon Lynn, On behalf of the Holiday Inn Seattle &… continue reading

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Dear Health Plan: Please Know My Name

I received a survey from my health plan this week. It looks as though it will take me about 10-15 minutes to complete and mail back to the corporate office. Usually, I am happy to complete surveys for my health plan, and I will probably do… continue reading

Talk

Dare to Be Different–Write a Letter

Near the end of the year, I read a Danny Westneat column in The Seattle Times, “Offline Deserves a Right On.” Westneat mentioned that a column he had written had inspired 700 emails and online comments in response–and one handwritten letter. He said he used to get about… continue reading

Talk

Thank You, Tiger–Now We Can Move On

I am grateful for Tiger Woods' admission of guilt and his apology to his family. Since the reporting of his car accident days ago, the Internet has been full of speculation about the accident and about his possible infidelity. People have been arguing, taking sides, and… continue reading

There’s No Excuse for Dear Sir or Madam

Update on April 4, 2013 When I wrote this post in 2009, I was reacting to the sales messages and email requests I was receiving that were addressed to “Dear Sir or Madam.” That greeting instantly told me that the writers were strangers who did not care… continue reading

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Think Like a Customer

In Washington State we changed to daylight saving time on Sunday morning, so yesterday I needed to set all our clocks back one hour. All of the clock changes were easy, except the one in our car. My husband was driving, and my job was… continue reading