Wednesday, March 28, 2007

March Meeting Recap - Peggy Jordan and Business Writing Basics

It was an intimate, yet engaging crowd in attendance at Tuesday’s TVCNet meeting where Peggy Jordan of Working Words Communications presented Business Writing Basics. We heard a great presentation from a prolific writer and communicator based here in the Treasure Valley.

Business writing, on the surface, may not seem like a hip and cool topic. Nevertheless, it’s still important especially to consultants and business owners who rely on the written word to demonstrate and communicate their thoughts and ideas to their target audience. Whether the purpose is to market or to inform, words are an essential tool for doing business and providing services. Lacking basic writing skills can make the most brilliant person sound like a buffoon. In the midst of the Web 2.0 world we live in, practically everything we consume is content driven and we need to take advantage of this to reach out to our audience and establish ourselves among the many independent business professionals in the workforce today.

Here is what I think are some of the key takeaways from Tuesday’s meeting:

  1. When it comes to the written word, it only takes 7 seconds to make a good impression on your audience.
  2. Know your audience. If you don’t know who you are trying to communicate to, what is your purpose in writing?
  3. There is a lot of value in being brief and to the point. “Spend every word as if it were 5 dollars.” Thanks for quote Kathy Martin!
Peggy had so much more to talk about regarding this topic. I was sorry I had to cut her off due to time constraints. Perhaps we can have her back again to go into greater detail on a particular subject surrounding business writing.

Our words are what help us connect with others. If we concentrate on making a good first impression with our writing, clarify our target audience, and be succinct in our word choice and usage, I believe consultants and business owners will be able to stand out from the crowd and reach the people we want to do business with.

No comments: