Public Speaking : 10 tips to help you pack more power into your business writing
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10 tips to help you pack more power into your business writing
2. Identify your target audience and get to know them very well. No matter how beautifully structured your message is if it doesnt take into account the real circumstances and needs of the audience, it wont work. Align your messages objectives with these circumstances and needs.
3. Study the media youll be using; be aware of how people will receive your message and where your message will be competing for their attention, use your common sense and creativity to make it stand out in the crowd. (Or if the crowds too big, reconsider the choice of media if thats within your power.)
4. Now develop your message based on these issues, and add in the final magic ingredient whats in it for them? Successful business messages are always based on benefits for the target audience either actual or implied. Ensure you know the difference between features and benefits, and how to convert features into benefits.
5. Research the way your target audience speak and communicate, and phrase your message in their language which may not necessarily be yours. Avoid corporate pomposity and unnecessary jargon. Talk to you, not some vague third party, and keep your English as simple as possible, especially when your message is going to people who originate from other cultures.
6. Traditional grammar and even spelling mostly have been thrown out of the window. However there are still a few grammar rules you need to follow if you dont want your message to look amateurish. Your knowledge of the audience and how they communicate will dictate your writing style to a large extent. Dont let catchwords, internet-speak,
emoticons, etc. obscure your message or its benefits.
7. Time pressures and the influence of the internet have made us into a world of browsers, even when were reading brochures and other print. Unless its very short organise your offline text so readers who are browsing get the key points very easily. Always separate technical detail and other lengthy data from the main text so readers arent obliged to plod through it unless they want to.
8. Never be tempted to transplant text written for print into an online environment. Online text is as different from offline text as a PC screen is from paper. Because reading from screens is so unfriendly, online text must be very short and crisp and must make it extremely easy for readers to absorb the key points. Dont let web designers talk you into flamboyant graphics that could inadvertently swamp your message.
9. When you give a speech, make sure you write it for yourself and your natural way of speaking not your (or someone elses) idea of how an important business person should speak in public. Use a tape recorder to get an objective view of your voice, style, weaknesses and strengths. Keep sentences short with only one idea in each. Avoid telling jokes unless youre naturally funny. And rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
10. If you think you may be out of your depth with a business writing project (e.g. a TV commercial, major direct marketing campaign, complex video or business theatre script) youre probably right so call in a professional writer. Dont risk embarrassing yourself or your organisation with an attempt thats amateurish theres no shame in admitting you can't be an expert at everything!
About the Author Canadian-born Suzan St Maur is an international business writer and author based in the United Kingdom. Read more - and check out her free biweekly business writing tips eZine, Tipz from Suze, - at her website, SuzanStMaur.com Suzan St Maur 2003-2005
