And it is a good book for anyone who wants to become a better overall communicator.
One of the best parts is that it provides a lot of great examples which illustrate the principles that are being shared.
If you are struggling to get people to buy-in on your ideas, reply to your emails, pay attention to your presentations, or any other communication-related challenged, this will be a great resource for you.
It will also be a great resource for experienced writers.
Flow: 5/5
Actionability: 5/5
Mindset: 4/5
Some of My Highlights:
“One executive suggests a discipline – putting down first what you want the reader to do, next the three most important things the readers needs to understand to take that action, then starting to write.”
“If you are ambitious, it won’t hurt to make life easier for people above you.”
“It takes time to write well.”
“This kind of discipline sets aside the time for the truly important as opposed to the merely urgent.”
“Mumblers command less attention than people who speak up.”
“Summary: Make an outline; use your outline to help your reader; number and underline section headings; summarize.”
“The old rule is simple: Don’t use ‘like’ in any case where ‘as if’ or ‘as though’ would fit comfortably.”
“Take into account how much you can assume your reader knows – what background information, what facts, what technical terms.”
“If you must use abbreviations, define them the first time they appear in your paper.”
“The more technical the material, the less likely your reader will understand it unless you put it into the language we all speak.”
“You should develop a logical and easy-to-remember system for your file names.”
“There are times when nothing beats a conversation to solve a problem, or when courtesy calls for a nicely typed or handwritten letter.”
“Busy executives tune out, delete, or simply don’t respond.”
“It’s worth studying newspapers, particularly The Wall Street Journal, to understand what kinds of headlines convert scanners to readers.”
“Try to make clear at once which readers your message is for, e.g., Schedule for rocket-launch team.”
“Don’t automatically keep old titles on replies that have both nothing to do with the original subject, or on correspondence that goes back and forth endlessly with the same title, so it becomes impossible to distinguish one note from another.”
“If you’re sending several messages on unrelated topics, it’s often better to send separate e-mails.”
“But a greeting of some sort, especially if you’re originating the correspondence, can help start things on the right foot.”
“Reply all may be the most dangerous button on the screen. Count to ten before you unleash this plague on your victims.”
“Voice mail is often abused, with messages that are too long and repetitive yet not complete.”
“List names of those receiving copies alphabetically. If you list them in order of importance, you often run into complications.”
“There is no need for the written equivalent of small talk.”
“If you want to add a personal touch, make sure that what you say is personal, and something you mean.