Writing: An Art.

In our personal, career and business or workplace journeys, there is one skill that is essential for success - ability to communicate effectively. In fact, recruitment consultants globally, human resource experts and behavioural scientists continually seek out effective communication skills (in addition to technical skills).

Broadly, there are two ways to communicate: speaking and writing. Many people think communication is better accomplished through speaking because according to a study by Mehrabian and Ferris in 1967, apart from your words (and presentation of them), which make up 45 percent of your communication, 55 percent of your communication (by speaking to your audience) is made possible by the visual aspect of your communication - something that is conspicuously lacking when you put your communication down on paper.

In many cases, you are writing because you are unable to go across whatever the divide is to deliver the message you have to the recipient by yourself. Hence, the need to send across your words in written form. Writing gives you the opportunity to announce yourself even before people set their eyes on you. Since you will not be there to deliver those words yourself, it is very important for you, especially in a fast-paced world, to send those words in a manner that will present your ideas, thoughts, and information in the simplest and best way possible.

Many times when I read some emails at work and some articles online, I struggle to understand what the writer is trying to pass across. It can be nauseatingly frustrating to read a line (or paragraph) many times and still struggle to pick the point the writer is trying to make. Writing is an art and is actually not a difficult one; it just needs its basic principles to be obeyed - just like any other art form.

When writing, it is important to note that the message should be concise and unambiguous. Do not forget that many people are either on the move or have many other messages to read and attend to (especially people in the corporate world), so do not force them to read longer than they are supposed to. Keep your paragraphs tight and short. For longer messages and official reports, it is recommended that an attachment be used to deliver the fuller details.

However, in a bid to keep it short, do not abbreviate or send one-word emails. It will suggest to the reader that you lack courtesy. Talking about courtesy, DO NOT TYPE IN CAPS. Did that last line jump out at you? That is because my typing in caps suggested to you that I was shouting at you. So unless you absolutely need to, avoid typing in caps.

I deal with emails a lot. What determines whether or not I will give my attention to an email is the subject. If I cannot at a glance guess what the information or request in the body of the email is, I am very likely to skip to the next email and at the back of my mind, come back later to figure out the content of the earlier email. You guessed right - most of the time, I am never able to come back. So if the person does not send a reminder or do a follow up, it is very likely that email will not be opened again. In essence, be direct and specific in the subject line.

Because we want to, as much as possible, ensure that the message ‘sinks’, we tend to put down our words exactly as they sound in our heads. When some people write, it is as if they are having a regular day-to-day conversation with you. While it has its own place, it is generally not the clearest or most effective way to convey your thoughts. It is easy for you to start to ‘talk’ to the person in an informal way. To remain formal and professional, do not write the same way you speak.

There is a reason they say “the internet never forgets”. That is because any material that makes its way to the internet can almost never be removed. Even in the safest of work environments, your email is not confidential. It can be retrieved and read by a third party so write what you can comfortably defend. Before you hit the ‘send’ button, check again to be sure there is nothing in your email that will cast any form of doubt or suspicion on your person or character.

Finally, it is very important that you proofread what you have just written. If possible, by a second and/or third party. Typographical and grammatical errors are enough reasons to make people not bother to continue with reading your email.

For those outside the corporate world who do not deal much with emails but still write and desire to write, (in blogs, personal diaries, researches and so on), we will take a look together at what the writing process needs to be effective and pleasing. I will see you in my next post.