I’ve had it on my iPhone for weeks now and only started using it last night started. Wowza! This is the electronic swipe file application I dreamed up in my head in the late 80s. Seriously.

Now there’s no excuse not to start and keep a swipe file. And Evernote makes it far easier to sort and find that little piece of information you just know you put somewhere.

I refer to my swipe file several times a month but I recently purged my office and made the mistake of purging some things I hadn’t used in years — just to save file cabinet space. Had I scanned it and put it on Evernote, well, you see where this is going. I would’ve had what I needed.

That’s it. Just wanted to make you aware of Evernote if you weren’t already. I’m off to start filling up my own Evernote swipe file …

© JanO for , 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: business, business writing, communication, copywriters, Evernote, iPhone, swipe file, writers, writing

Possibly related posts

• Use Twitter to practice writing more concisely (0)
• Survey: What do you do with what you learn? (0)
• Lessons learned from being burned: How to hire a freelancer or consultant (0)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

My guest blogger, Mike McKay, first described these strategies and examples for communicating clearly and effectively through email two years ago today. His well-appointed advice still applies to everyone who sends even one email a year. Read on for some great advice from this accomplished tech writer.

BACKGROUND:
Email is one of the most common forms of communication today, but is often ineffectual because of poor structure. It doesn’t matter if all of the information the audience needs is in there if it isn’t presented well. Some people get hundreds of emails every day, and need to be able to read, understand and get the information they require in a matter of seconds.

EXAMPLE 1:
Look at the poorly “designed” fictional email below. Hidden in the middle of the paragraph is “important information you need to know.” Sometimes the vital information is in the third or fourth paragraph of large, uninterrupted blocks of text.

Dear Reader,

Road construction near our East New York office location will continue through September or October, depending on the weather conditions. Fifth Street is closed between Central and Overview. North Blvd will be restricted to one lane of travel in each direction for road resurfacing. The South parking lot will be closed until the Fifth street construction is completed. Employees should consider using the West New York office for meetings, due to the increased traffic near the East office location. Please observe the new traffic patterns and signs, and drive carefully in the construction areas. Adjust your schedules to accommodate the expected increased commute time.

Warmest Regards,
Someone Who Should Know Better

HOW TO FIX IT:
Use the strategies below to improve your email communication skills.

Grouping – Put similar types of information together in a paragraph. Types of information could include: Background, Introduction, Action Required, New Policy, How To, What To, Where To, Who To and Important Information About.

Portion – Put information into small, manageable paragraphs. Large blocks of unbroken text turn off readers. Subdivide any large group of information. For example, the block of “How To” information in this section has been subdivided into four sub-groups; Grouping, Portion, Priority and Labels.

Priority – Put the important information up front. Highlight it, capitalize it, underline it, italicize it or make it bold if it can’t be in the first sentence. State the essence of the email right in the subject line. For example, “Subject: Important Notice – Meeting Location Changed.”

Labels – Label your paragraphs when communicating to a group with differing informational needs. For example, your audience in California may not need to know about road closures affecting the New York location. Labels offer readers cafeteria-style access to information. Labels are optional, depending on your audience. As always, consider your audience when communicating through email.

EXAMPLE 2:
Here’s the email from the first example, reworked using the strategies described above.

Subject: Important Notice – Parking and Meeting Changes for New York Offices

PURPOSE: This email describes the temporary changes to parking and meetings at the New York offices due to road construction.

CHANGES TO NY MEETINGS: Use the West NY office location for all meetings until further notice.

EAST NY OFFICE PARKING: Personnel at the East NY office must use the North parking lot until further notice. The South parking lot is closed until road construction on Fifth Street is complete.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Commute times will be longer. New traffic patterns and signs will be in place. Adjust your schedule accordingly, and drive carefully.

DURATION OF THESE CHANGES: Road construction affecting the East NY office is expected to be complete in September or October, depending on weather conditions.

ROAD CONSTRUCTION DETAILS: Fifth Street is closed between Central and Overview. North Blvd will be restricted to one lane of travel in each direction for road resurfacing.

Warmest Regards,
Effective Emailer

WANT TO LEARN MORE? Take a technical writing course. Look for offerings from your local college or take a web-based class. The Information Mapping folks have an online course specifically designed for email communications.

Mike McKay is an engineer, tech writer and instructor for a telecom gear maker. Send Mike an (effective, well designed) email at: cliomichmike@gmail.com.

© JanO for , 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: advice, dialogue, email, great copy, hate to write, how to write, ideas, non writers, self-publishing, shortcuts, typing, writing mistakes

Possibly related posts

• Common writing mistakes (almost) everyone makes (1)
• Writing as a process (0)
• What Carmelo Soprano knows about your audience that you should know (0)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

So I created this image on a site called Wordle.

It “read” my blog and created the image. It’s unfortunate that it picked up words like “tartar sauce,” tho. Guess I should be careful what I blog about!

© JanO for , 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blog, content, copy, copywriting, wordplay, words, writing

Possibly related posts

• Where’s the information? (Web content mistakes and how to avoid them.) (0)
• Big copy challenges we don’t talk enough about (0)
• 8 Ways to Help Your Copywriter (0)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

• the negative experience of a colleague whose integrity was called into question as a result of a poorly written newsletter article; and
• a tweet from @ProBlogger who created 29 Tips, Tutorials and Resources for New Bloggers.

Following are my links and fast-read tips to improve both written and spoken communication. Please note that while I may reference “writing” or “interactive copy” in some of these tips, you can easily substitute “communication” (the word and the concept) for each.

Read on … I promise you’ll learn something new or at least be reminded of something important.

1. A friendly reminder about good communication
2. Know who you’re talking to. Ask yourself these questions: Who is my audience? What do they expect to hear? What do they need to hear? What kinds of words will they respond to?
3. Simple tip for audience insight
4. Get to the point. Say what you have to say clearly and concisely. If it helps, pretend you’re talking to a child or explaining something to your grandmother.
5. Common writing mistakes (almost) everyone makes
6. Stop communicating to impress. Ditch the name-dropping, jargon-popping speak that characterizes much of American conversation.
7. Lose the unnecessary words
8. Do not repeat yourself or go on and on and on by saying the same thing multiple ways. In other words, lose the redundancies (like this one!).
9. Find some new words
10. Pause. It gives the reader or listener time to process what you’re saying. Hint: Punctuation is your natural pause in the written word.
11. How to make your everyday email more effective
12. Choose your words carefully. “He stepped down as CEO” sounds like the person quit or was fired; whereas “He completed his three-year term” sounds like the person achieved something.
13. Such a post a this should be made more clear via editing
14. Get personal, when appropriate. Speak “to” people; not “at” them.
15. Why good writing is a lot like being in love
16. Think before you communicate. Write your copy, set it aside and go back to it before sending or posting. In conversation, simply pause before continuing.
17. Short and sweet
18. Clarify vs. defend what you write or speak.
19. How to write conversationally
20. Skew toward the positive. Negativity rarely prospers.
21. Become a storyteller
22. Avoid clichés, jargon and buzzwords.
23. How to replace blah, blah, blah language
24. Keep the “who, what, when, where, why and how” in mind. Always.
25. Stop sleepwalking through your copywriting
26. Listen, listen, listen. ’Nuff said.

Want more? Sign up for monthly tips, insights and shortcuts or ask about 1:1 coaching

© JanO for , 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audience, blog, buzzwords, communication, copywriting, editing, how to write, shortcuts, Twitter, writing, writing mistakes

Possibly related posts

• Why you should rework "fine" copy (0)
• What great web copy is NOT (0)
• Common writing mistakes (almost) everyone makes (1)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh