Improve your writing, happy hour style

<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]-->Do you communicate your ideas clearly and convincingly in print? Do you know how to effectively evaluate the writing that passes across your desk for approval?

Strong and effective writing is an invaluable skill in today’s business world, whether you’re drafting client letters, proposals and reports or reviewing and approving marketing materials written by others.

Unfortunately,too many business owners, executives and even marketing/PR folks— people who are fluent in basic grammar and construction— have a discomfort with writing that puts them at a disadvantage.

Maybe it’s time for a reframe. Think about the last time you attended an industry event or had drinks with colleagues or clients. In these situations, certain rules of the road apply. Many of them are applicable to good business writing as well.

1. Get your head out of the office. When you physically leave the office, you instantly take on a different perspective. You leave behind an internal company focus and see a bigger picture. Starting your writing (or reviewing) with this mindset helps create the distance and perspective that good writing requires. If you need to get up and go somewhere to make the mental shift, do it.

2. Remember, it’s not about you. If you walk into a business lunch more concerned about whether you want to be there and what others think of you, you're not going to connect.When you arrive willing to listen, open up and share something of value, your communication naturally works better. In writing, it's critical to separate your preferences and desires from those of your audience.

3. Loosen up a bit. Think about how you talk with clients or prospective clients about your services. Do you speak formally and continually refer to yourself and your company in third person? Or do you use words like "we" and"our"? Try relaxing your writing the same way. Bringing active,conversational language into your writing helps your message get through.

4. Stop talking about yourself already. Have you ever been trapped across the table from someone who is determined to sell you? Or someone who shares endless stories about himself, talking at you instead of to you? How different it feels when someone throws out a question that sparks good conversation among others, or when a person shows genuine interest in you.
Writing requires similar engagement. When you keep the focus on yourself,your audience walks away.

5. Watch the lingo. All industries have their language, and yes, your credibility hinges on being familiar with that language. But people's eyes will glaze over if you're talking like that all the time. Nine times out of 10, you can say the same thing better without falling back on industry jargon (or worse, your company's jargon). When you see this chance in writing, take it.

6. Prepare a couple of starters. You wouldn't necessarily start a conversation with the first words that pop into your head. Same goes for headlines. Brainstorm as many as you can think of, and then weed out the non-starters.

7. Make it easy. At a networking event, you want to be able to make quick decisions based on easily accessible information. You want it to be clear where to get a drink, how you get food, who else is there, what their names are, how much time you've got. In writing, can you say the same thing in bullet points? In shorter paragraphs? With a graphic or a chart?

8. Get specific. If you were at a cocktail party talking about your "leading solution" that "beats the competition hands down," chances are good that you would be asked how you do that and maybe even challenged on your claims. In writing, skip the canned phrases and illustrate your claims with the percentages, the budget numbers, the rankings, or the anecdotes that tell your story.