Are You APT to Write it Right?

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APT, audience, business writing, communicate, communications, conventions, effective, engineering, marketing, PR, purpose, sales, technical, technical writing, technique, writing

I’ve seen it hundreds of times. The Boss walks in, says, “I need a report/memo/presentation. It’s due tomorrow afternoon, so give me something to look at by end of day.” Before he’s even out of the room, the team is off and running, crafting sentences and messages, and laying out the work.

That’s when I apply the brakes. Stop!

Sometimes I am faulted for asking many questions on a project, but I prefer the “safe rather than sorry” route of writing. Who is going to receive this information? Where will it be placed? Having as much information as possible at the start creates an effective process to construct the right material, rather than having to scramble and conduct major rewrites in the eleventh hour, turning in a less than polished piece of work or having an unhappy client.

In business writing, it’s key to establish three important components before beginning a project. This doesn’t matter if you’re in PR, Engineering, Sales or Marketing. Begin each project by identifying the APT – Audience, Purpose, Technique. Basically, for whom are you writing? Why are you writing? How will the writing be used?

Audience – Give thought to the audience

• Who are they? What do they value? What words will affect them?
• Make sure you have a solid grasp on the target audience(s).
• What might they know about the subject?
• How much time is available to read your work?
• Choose an approach that is appropriate for your audience

Purpose – Why are you writing?

• To explain
• To persuade
• To entertain
• To express yourself
• Ultimately, you are Selling something – an idea, a product, a corporate value. What will convince each target audience to buy? What do you want to happen?

Technique – Each project may be a different medium, so know the ins and outs to be effective.

• Look at ad formats (left side or right side placement?). Blog formats. Proposal formats. Feature news article formats.
• Look at sentence structure.
• What works for that medium?
  • Do ads use complete sentences or fragments?
  • What kind of language works?
  • What needs to accompany the language?
  • What will catch the eye?

Understanding the Audience, Purpose and Technique lays the groundwork for the project and puts you on the path to effective writing from the start.

Death! Murder! Read Me!

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attention span, audience, blog, business writing, communication, connection, context, death, Happy Birthday, hook, murder, purpose, reader, setting, social media, sound bite, technique, Twitter, writer, writing

Hooking the reader. This has become one of the most important elements in writing, especially in an age of abbreviated attention spans. Social media has upped the ante on being interesting and relevant. Tweets are 140 characters. Most blog posts are between 300-600 words. News segments are edited to :30 sound bites.

In teaching writing to my students, they learn ‘hooking the reader’ is one of the first components under setting context. The hook could be your title, your first sentence or a thought at the close of your first page. Wherever it is, the hook needs to come within the first 30 to 90 seconds of your reader’s attention.

Reader’s do not read your work if they lose interest.

If you don’t capture a reader’s attention immediately, s/he’ll turn the page, click on another link or look elsewhere. So how do you set context and keep a reader in an age where attention spans that are shorter than length of the Happy Birthday song?

You want to provide a connection between the writer (you) and the reader. You can do this by bringing the reader into a piece of writing at the onset and directing one’s attention throughout the piece. How do you do this?

• analyze the audience and tailor the message to that audience;
• bond with the reader;
• use terminology the reader is familiar with; and/or
• create a tone and style the reader will respond

You will most likely find success if you address the reader directly (as an individual or a group) with an interesting thesis, cause and effect, or compelling fact/opinion in the first paragraph.

And remember, if you’re bored with what you write or can’t find the hook, there’s no doubt your reader will have the same problem.