Have you ever sat down write, then wasted an hour, typing and retyping one sentence?

Let’s talk about that.

There is a common misconception that soft skills, or coding, or videography are the most important job related skill.

But there is only one skill every single person needs at the work place.

You must be able to quickly and clearly communicate your thoughts in writing.

If you don’t master this seemingly basic skill, you are destined to be forever misunderstood, misquoted or worse, ignored by your peers.

🌊 If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.

William Zinser, Writing Well

Do you sit down at a typewriter and wish the words would appear as you think?

Everyone hopes and wants this kind of simple effective solution to writing.

It is no coincidence that the bast majority of the so called tedious and laborious tasks that people are pawning off on A.I. chat bots are written communication.

Emails, summaries, reports.

Articles, essays and resumes.

We have all written these documents before, and we’ve all struggled to make them do what we want.

The goal is to quickly and clearly communicate your thoughts into words.

But the key to success is differentiation. And that’s why A.I. hasn’t solved the problem, it’s only made it worse.

More of the same old crap. That is the opposite of a solution.

Somewhere in California Steve Jobs is rolling over in his grave.

It’s not a coincidence that the man who revolutionized personal computing was obsessed with the appearance of text and design of fonts.

The problem is that writing quickly and clearly takes years to perfect.

For most of you writing is not your primary purpose.

You are writing to communicate ideas from other areas and fields. This kills your motivation.

You don’t want to be a great writer. You want to effectively communicate your ideas on biotechnology and fibreglass and cloud computing.

but those pesky little words get in the way of your incredible ideas.

So what’s the trick?

How do you stop wasting hours of your time on a couple hundred words?

🌊 “Write quickly and you will never write well; write well, and you will soon write quickly.” Quintilian

Let’s start with a conversation.

Today at work pull someone aside, or DM a friend and ask a few simple questions.

Tell them it will only take 2 minutes. Maybe less.

First question: Do you use an outline when you write?

Not in college, not for essays, I mean now.

Now ask yourself: do you have bullet point list or a check list of the ideas you are trying to communicate before you start writing?

The majority of people start writing without knowing their desired outcome.

If you have no end goal, you will not succeed.

What is your message?

Start with a simple top 3.

If there are more than 3 ideas, you need to clarify your thinking before you begin.

There are lots of frame works or structures.

Here are 3 you can use today:

Beginning, middle, end.

Problem, solution, offer.

Yes-no-yes AKA The Crap Sandwich.

Tip #1. Organize Your Writing.

🌊 Examine every word you put on paper. You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose.

William Zinser, Writing Well

Second question: how many words do you use in a sentence?

It may surprise many of you to know, that most people cannot answer this simple question.

All of us spend hundreds, thousands of hours writing. But we have no plan for even the most basic structure.

You only need three words to get the job done.

Subject-Verb-Object.

Woman writes text.

Man reads words.

Get to the point.

After you word vomit onto the screen, go back and get rid of all the crap.

Tip #2. Keep it short. Short words. Short sentences. Short paragraphs.

Third and final question: do you think about who are you writing for?

This is the biggest problem in effective written communication.

You and I and your friend have all been guilty of this crime.

You sit down to write and there’s only one person you’re thinking about.

Guess who you’re thinking of?

You!

What should I say?

How should I say it?

How long will this take me?

The most important part of writing is knowing your audience.

The fastest and simplest way to figure out how to write is to know who you are writing for.

Your reader dictates language, vocabulary, tone and style.

All of the questions and hang ups we have about how we sound in writing can be answered by removing your ego.

Know your message and your reader and the rest will fall into place.

Think about how you differentiate your speech.

How do you sound when you talk to a child or a puppy?

And how do you speak to Immigration Officer at the airport?

Or a Tax Auditor calling you at the office?

If you do not have a specific reader in mind, you’re in trouble.

Make up an avatar reader, and pick a single person who you know well.

Now imagine explaining your message to an audience of one in a way they will understand.

Tip #3: Record yourself explaining what you want to say as if speaking to your reader.

Here are some general best practises in writing and communicating:

Be specific. Choose the right word.

Keep it simple and natural. Understate before you overstate.

But keep in mind what your reader does not know.

Finally, punctuate. Eliminate all errors. Make it perfect

🌊 My mission: I will teach you how to do LESS.

I believe everyone can learn to earn, save, and sleep well with financial freedom.

Thanks for reading.

I write copy & content. I teach courses. I show up everyday.

But I do LESS. Learn. Earn. Save. Sleep.