I was thrilled to receive this email recently from a recent participant from a large organisation. She said:

Hi Shirley

I had a wonderful time at your workshop last week and learnt many useful tips. Recently, I added a human touch in my reply to a vendor, and his response was equally warm. Indeed, warmness generates warmness, and it really makes the sender and reader feel great. I’m also getting a quicker response to my emails now because the reader knows what action to take.

Thank you to Serene for emailing me*. It’s so wonderful to receive validation like this.

Do you want to receive similar results from your writing? Here are three ways you can make a huge difference every time you put your fingers on the keyboard:

1. Use conversational language

Decades ago, business writing was passive, wordy and formal. It put a distance between you and the reader, and that was fine in the 50s, because people built relationships slowly then. Today, we need to build relationships quickly, so it makes sense to use writing that’s as close as possible to spoken language.

Write as though you are having a conversation – because you are!

2. Write like a human, not a template

Let’s compare some template and human writing:

Template: Kindly find attached a copy of our latest catalogue for your reference and perusal.

Human: I’m attaching our latest catalogue, and I hope you find it interesting.

Template: Please contact us should you require any further clarifications.

Human: Please let us (or me) know if you have any questions.

Template: Thanks and Regards.

Human: Have a great weekend, or Many thanks, or Thanks for your help.

Let’s get rid of all the boring, template writing that’s spread like a virus all over the world.

Go through all your template emails, and transform them to human!

(And if you need help transforming your templates, please email me. It’s a service I am happy to provide – shirley@shirleytaylor.com)

3. Build relationships with your writing

Today’s world is fast-paced and high-tech. You need to come across as a human. Make your writing informal, friendly, warm, and add a personal touch. Good writing can help you build credibility, influence people, win more clients, and achieve your goals.

Help your readers get to know the real person behind the message. This will help make a big difference – to you, to your reader, and to the results you receive!

If you’ve seen any of my articles recently, you’ll know I love sharing my passion about the importance of our writing skills, particularly in emails. You may remember my recent article Don’t Write Like A Robot. Make A Human Difference. Well, something happened recently that made me think I may have to eat my words.

A friend I haven’t spoken to for ages reached out to me on Facebook messenger saying she would love a Zoom chat to discuss a potential collaboration. She said her assistant Clara would be in touch to schedule this. Here’s the email I received:

I replied to Clara, and very quickly received this response:

Closer to the meeting time, I realised I’d double-booked myself, so I wrote to Clara apologising and suggesting some alternative dates. Clara’s instant reply was:

When I eventually spoke to Gina, she shocked me when she told me that Clara is a robot. I’m rarely speechless, but this knocked me for six. My email conversations with Clara have continued, and I’ve shared the threads with some friends. None of us would ever guess she was not a real person.

So let’s face reality. This is just another example to show that AI is not just the future. It is here and now! Clara’s emails sound just like a real human. In fact, Clara’s emails are better than many emails I read from real humans.

Clara’s emails are simple, brief and friendly. Her language is natural and conversational. She uses short, clear sentences and everyday words. In her emails, I can hear the human voice, and I can feel the human touch.

This doesn’t worry me at all. But it might worry you. If you or your colleagues are still using outdated, long-winded jargon, passive voice and redundant phrases, there’s a lot we can learn from Clara.

So much for me saying, “Don’t write like a robot. Make a human difference”. I think I need to turn that around. Perhaps my job now is to teach people how to write like robots?

Clara’s emails make a real human difference. What about yours?

I’d love your thoughts. Please drop me a note at shirley@sttstraining.com.

Two of my recent articles seem to have really hit a nerve in many people. I’ve very glad to see so much discussion, particularly here on LinkedIn. Thank you to everyone who liked or commented on the articles. In case you missed them, here are the links.

Don’t Be A Robot. Make A Human Difference.

Are You Doing A Waltz Or Cha-Cha-Cha In Your Emails?

Thanks to the many people who have written to me personally about adding a human touch in our emails. One writer said, “I am appalled by the number of college graduates who cannot write a clear, concise sentence. This can just as easily ruin an organisation’s reputation, leading to customers losing trust in the company’s abilities to conduct business.”

I totally agree with this, and with what the writer concluded, saying surely we can be warm and provide the ‘human touch’ while also maintaining a standard of professionalism in our communication. Yes indeed, we can, and we must.

And there lies the key. As humans, we have the one quality that robots and A.I. don’t have, and that is the very quality that we are human!

Let’s face it, online every day we’ve all been asked to “tick the boxes showing which photos include traffic lights”. Other online forms get straight to the point and ask us to prove you are human.

So shouldn’t this also apply when we put our fingers on the keyboard to write emails?

Proving we are human in our business emails means we must:

• write like a warm, friendly 2019 human being
• write appropriately for the situation and the reader
• be courteous and professional always
• keep messages simple, clear and understandable
• make messages easy to scan
• let readers know exactly what to do and how to reply

Proving we are human means we should NOT:

• write like a boring, monotone, 1920s template
• send rushed messages with poor sentence construction
• use jargon, acronyms and emojis in business emails
• write long-winded messages
• make readers hunt around trying to figure out how to reply
• leave readers wondering how to reply

In our fast-paced, ever-changing, high-tech world, it’s up to us as humans to make a human difference.

So… are you proving you’re human?

I’d love to work with you and your organisation to bring back the human touch in all your communications. Check out my popular signature business writing programme here. I can customise this training specially for you and do this as half-day, one-day or two-day. Just let me know what works for you.

Let’s work together to make a human difference.

I’m so glad to have received a great response to my message recent article ‘Don’t write like a robot. Make a human difference’. You may remember that I compared two different emails, one that sounded like a robot, and another that sounded like a human being.

This week, let’s explore the different styles of communication throughout history. Whatever the era, it seems to me that communication has always been rather like a dance.

In the first half of the 20th century, the wheels of commerce turned very slowly, so communication was a slow dance, rather like a waltz. People kept each other at a distance, they built relationships very slowly, as they moved around the dance floor… one two three, one two three, one two three.

And yes, when they wrote letters and memos, on their manual typewriters, they still danced the waltz, with their long sentences, formal language, and passive voice.

Today, we need to get to know people quickly, so we are more informal and friendly. Today our dance is like a cha-cha-cha. It’s lively, full of energy, a little playful… one two cha-cha-cha, one two cha-cha-cha, one two cha-cha-cha.

However, something strange happens when we put our fingers on our computer keyboard to write an email. Suddenly our writing becomes more formal, with passive voice, long sentences, and flowery words. We switch back to a waltz!

Today, many people have two voices – one voice for speaking and a different voice for writing.

Let me share an example from a huge organisation I worked with in one of the most modern countries in the world – Singapore. Their aims were to stand out from the competition with a customer-friendly attitude that’s approachable, warm, and caring.

If you called their hotline, you may hear a recorded message saying, “Hey, we’re sorry, we’re on another call right now. Hang tight and we’ll be with you very soon.” But then… when they emailed customers, they were writing things like this:

This email sounds like something that could be written by a robot that’s programmed to perfection.

What’s happening in your organisation?

Are your emails like a cha-cha-cha? Do they sound like a human voice, friendly and warm, with everyday language and active voice?

Or are your emails more like a waltz? Do they sound like a robot, cold, formal and distant, very monotone and template?

In business today, we need to get things done quickly, we need to connect, build relationships and create trust. This will happen quicker with the human voice.

I would love to work with you and your organisation to bring back the human touch to all your communications. Let’s encourage all our teams to make a human difference. Check out my popular signature business writing programme here. I can customise this training specially for you and do this as half-day, one-day or two-day. Just let me know what works for you.

Let’s work together to make a human difference.

In the past few decades, our whole world has changed in so many different ways. But there’s still one major area of our lives where many people are stuck in the past. And because of this, it’s wasting time, lowering productivity, losing trust, and ruining reputations.

Over the past 20 years, I’ve helped a lot of individuals and organisations with this challenge. And the great thing is, some simple changes can really make a huge difference.

So what is this one major area where many people are stuck in the past? Well, it happens every day when we put our fingers on our keyboards… to write emails.

But with so many advances in technology over the years, how much has our writing changed? Let’s compare two emails.

Email 1: Robot: The language here is very similar to what our ancestors typed on manual typewriters in the first half of the 20th century! This could be written by a robot that’s programmed to perfection! Sadly, this is typical of much of the writing being used in many organisations today. It’s cold, formal and distant.

Email 2: Human: This email is clearly written by a human. It’s warm, friendly, and there’s a real connection. We can hear the human voice, and we can feel the human touch.

Today, readers want to read messages that are simple, clear and understandable. Readers need to know exactly what to do and how to reply. Writers need to use plain language that’s easy to write, easy to read, and easy to understand. This involves using short, clear sentences and everyday words, in active voice, with no redundancies or jargon.

Good writing can make a huge difference. One company produced a clearer bill in plain English and they saw customer enquiries fall by 25% every quarter. When another organisation rewrote one letter in plain English, they received 11,000 fewer phone calls than in the previous year.

Don’t be a robot. Make a human difference

I would love to work with you and your organisation to bring back the human touch to all your communications. Let’s encourage all our teams to make a human difference. Check out my popular signature business writing programme here. I can customise this training specially for you and do this as half-day, one-day or two-day. Just let us know what works for you.

I was chatting to my good friend Nabil Doss* recently. He’s an expert in helping business leaders communicate effectively so they can inform, influence and inspire. Working in the movie business for so long as the French voice of Paramount Pictures in Canada, Nabil has mastered the art of putting together short, compelling messages – just like a movie trailer.

With my passion of helping people to write more effectively, a lot of the principles Nabil shares are the same as the principles that I advocate in my email and business writing training with corporate clients in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Social media has reshaped the way we communicate

The social media world is one where we are using fewer words, with more stories and images. Most people today have such a fragmented attention span, so we have a very short window to make an impression and to call for action.

Our world today screams for short snippets.

However, despite this, the corporate world has somehow still not caught up. Many organisations are still failing miserably when it comes to teaching their people how to write emails.

Why are we so long-winded in our email and business writing?

With limited time and so overflowing inboxes, readers want to read messages that are simple and clear. Readers want to read and understand messages easily. Readers want to know exactly how to reply. I’m sorry to say that I am still not seeing this happening in many organisations today.

Here are some questions to ask about the emails you receive:

• Do you want to hit delete because the message looks unattractive and overwhelming?
• Do you wonder why the writer is going round in circles and repeating him/herself?
• Do you have difficulty focusing because the content is all over the place?
• Does the message sound like a template instead of a human being?

Here are some questions to ask about the emails you write:

• Are you trying to impress your readers when you write?
• Do you start some sentences with ‘Kindly be informed’ or ‘Please find attached’?
• Do you have difficulty trying to get to the point so it ends up long-winded?
• Do your messages sound like a template instead of a conversation with a human being?

If you are guilty of any of the issues here, you are making your writing more difficult than it should be. And more importantly, you’re making reading much more difficult for your reader.

So, whose writing is worse? Material you write, or material you read?

When answering a survey question** about the effectiveness of what respondents read/write, the result (out of 10) was: Material I read: 5.4 – Material I write: 6.9

Interesting, isn’t it? It seems most people think their writing is better than it really is!

So what’s the answer, Shirley?

The answer is Plain English. I’m very happy to see that some organisations are simplifying their language in official business documents and messages by using Plain English.

Plain English is writing that’s fuss-free and ‘fluff-free’. It’s easy to write, easy to read, and easy to understand. Plain English involves using short, clear sentences with everyday words. Plain English contains no redundancies or jargon.

After producing a clearer bill in Plain English, British Telecom saw customer enquiries fall by 25% every quarter.

If your readers are confused or can’t focus when reading your messages, you could be missing out on countless business opportunities. Writing in Plain English will mean you can click ‘send’ with confidence, and your reader will easily understand what you’re saying. And that means you are more likely to get the right response.

When Arizona’s Department of Revenue rewrote one letter in Plain English, it received about 11,000 fewer phone calls than in the previous year.

Don’t get caught in the prison of the old corporate ways

Younger people in the workplace today were born with social media, so they know how to communicate concisely, using few words, images, emotion. It’s so sad if you lose that by getting caught in the prison of the old corporate way of writing long-winded, template-style jargon that bears little resemblance to a conversation between two real live human beings.

Tall order, yes! But not impossible!

My good friend Nabil, in talking about how he works with leaders and professional speakers, tells me: “Any speech, presentation or opportunity to share our ideas and visions much be as entertaining as an Oscars evening, as compelling as a documentary from the BBC, and as inspiring as a speech from Gandhi. That’s a tall order.”

Tall order, yes! But it’s not impossible. With the right help!

81% of respondents in a survey** said poorly written material wastes a lot of their time.

It’s also not impossible to craft a clear, concise, well-structured message that’s written with the reader in mind, with the right tone of voice.

Tall order, yes! But it’s not impossible. With the right help!

Don’t ruin your reputation with poor writing

Poor writing ruins productivity. Poor writing wastes time. Poor writing wastes money. Poor writing ruins relationships. Poor writing ruins reputations.

Want to know more? I’d love to help you and your organisation. Let’s get this sorted before it’s too late!

Email me: shirley@shirleytaylor.com

* Nabil Doss – www.nabildoss.com

* Josh Bernoff – www.bernoff.com

Did you know that most people today spend over 25 per cent of their time writing? The problem is, too many messages are unclear, long-winded and confusing. Employees are losing hours reading and re-reading messages, missing key information, and making errors.

Here are three ways you can make a huge difference every time you put your fingers on the keyboard:

1. Use conversational language

Decades ago, business writing was passive, wordy, and really boring. It put a distance between you and the reader, and that was fine in the 50s, because people built relationships slowly then. Today, we need to build relationships quickly, so it makes sense to use writing that’s as close as possible to spoken language.

So write as though you are having a conversation – because you are!

2. Write like a human, not a template

Let’s compare some template and human writing:

Template: You are required to attend the above-mentioned meeting to report on progress that has been made since last month’s meeting. Kindly advise your availability.

Human: I would like you to attend this meeting to report on the great ideas you mentioned last month. Please confirm that you can join us.

Please, get rid of all this boring, template language that’s spread like a virus all over the world.

Go through all your template emails, and transform them to human!

3. Build relationships with your writing

Today’s world is fast-paced and technology-crazy. You need to come across as a human instead of a robot. Make your writing positive, interesting, and add a personal touch. Good writing can help you build credibility, influence people, win more clients, and achieve your goals.

So aim to connect and build relationships with every email you write.

In all our writing workshops and in all my books, I recommend that after you’ve drafted a message, don’t hit ‘send’ immediately. First, it’s important to take off your head! Yes, take off your head! And put on the head of… the reader!

Put yourself in your reader’s position. Imagine how the reader will feel as your message pops up on their screen and they read your message. When you read it as though you are the reader, it can make a huge difference.

As you check through your message, wearing your reader’s head of course, here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Is your message clear and concise?
2. Could anything be misinterpreted?
3. Is it organised and structured logically?
4. Could you break anything down into numbers or bullets?
5. Have you used any old-fashioned words or redundant phrases?
6. Have you used an appropriate tone?
7. Have you clearly stated the action required?
8. Have you used language you would use if you were speaking to the reader?

When you read out your message carefully, you may decide to revise certain parts of your message. You may decide to break some points into bullets. You may tighten up your sentences and remove redundancies. You may restructure it so the message flows more logically.

When you do this, it will help your reader and it will also help you – because you’re more likely to get the response you want.

In all my years of teaching business writing skills, I’m often asked, “Why don’t they teach us this at college?” Yes indeed, why not? There’s a huge difference between academic writing and business writing.

So let’s look at the differences between academic writing and business writing:

1. Students write to demonstrate learning

Schools, colleges and universities exist to share knowledge. The writing that students produce can best be described as “writing to demonstrate what you have learned.”

Students write to discuss and explore different topics, to argue a case, to demonstrate what they have learned. Students need to persuade readers of a particular theory or develop information gained from research. They need to prove they can think about and apply what they have learned.

The writing that students hand to instructors indicates how their minds work, how much they know, and what they think and feel about particular topics.

In academic writing, students write to demonstrate learning – to impress!

2. Business writers write to get things done

In the business world, we write to share information, to solve problems, to propose new strategies, to negotiate contracts, to report progress, and so on. So writing in business can best be described as “writing to get things done.”

When we write in the business world, we need to give clear, concise information, and explain what we’re going to do, or what we want others to do. Business writers often recommend specific courses of action to their readers. The key here is clarity, and this should be the main focus in all business writing.

In business writing, we write to get things done – to express!

Do you think you’ll impress readers by using big words?
Do you use phrases like Please be informed? Kindly find attached?
When you put your fingers on the keyboard, do you think, “What should I write?”

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be making your business writing much more difficult than it should be. And more importantly, you’re making reading much more difficult for your reader.

The Key Is Plain English

Today’s busy readers want to read messages that are simple and clear. They want to understand messages quickly, and know exactly how to reply.

Plain English means easy to read, and easy to understand. It means using short, clear sentences. It means using everyday words, and no redundancies or jargon.

Tips for Writing In Plain English

1. Get straight to the point. Delete any redundant phrases, like Please be informed, Kindly be advised, I am writing to inform you.
2. Use everyday words. Instead of disseminate, write share or distribute. Instead of concur, write agree. Instead of kindly, write please.
3. Focus on active verbs. Replace long phrases with a simple active verb. Instead of come to a conclusion, write conclude. Instead of make an improvement, write improve.
4. Avoid jargon and buzzwords. Examples are think out of the box, moving forward, deep dive. Keep your sentences crisp and clear.
5. Remove redundancies. There are so many words we don’t need, like in these phrases: 3am in the morning, advance notice, basic fundamentals, in accordance with. Using unnecessary or redundant words just makes your writing weaker.
6. Use lists. Bullets and numbers will help you simplify your message and make the information scannable so it’s easier for your reader. It’s win-win!