“It takes a long time to grow young.” Pablo Picasso”

You can ‘t stay young forever, but you can be immature for the rest of your life.” Maxine Wilkie

“There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I’m old, there’s no respect for age. I missed it coming and going.” J. B. Priestly

“The older I get, the better I used to be.” Connie Hawkins, pro basketball player

“My health is good. It’s my age that’s bad.” Roy Acuff

“It’s a sobering thought. When Mozart was my age, he was dead for two years.” Tom Lehrer

“You know you’re getting older when the candles cost more than the cake.” Bob Hope

“There are three terrible ages of childhood–1 to 10, 10 to 20 and 20 to 30.” Cleveland Amory

“The invention of a teenager was a mistake. Once you identify a period of life in which people get to stay out late but don’t have to pay taxes–naturally no one wants to live any other way.” Judith Martin

“Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.” George Bernard Shaw

“Human being are the only creatures on Earth that allow their children to come back home.” Bill Cosby

Thanks to everyone who helped us select reading quotes for our bookmarks.

How does reading help improve your writing?

1. Strong readers know HOW to use words properly. Strong readers know the difference between homophones, or words that sound alike, such as site, sight and cite, because they see these words used in their proper context.
2. Strong readers have better vocabularies. They know more words and know how to use them. And even though we recommend you use plain words, especially in your business writing, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know big, interesting words.Words are cool!
3. Strong readers are better spellers.
4. Strong readers have better grammar.

What should you read? Whatever you like–just read widely, and try to stretch yourself sometimes by reading stuff that’s a bit challenging.

Good readers read with a critical awareness. Reading critically means asking yourself what you like or dislike as you read. Analyze the strategies the writer uses that delight or annoy you. See what strategies you can adopt and which ones you want to avoid.

Give your children the gift of reading:

1. Read to them when they’re small.
2. Make books part of the furniture in your home.
3. When they’re too big to be read to, make sure they see you reading. This shows them you really value reading and they’ll read on their own initiative, eventually.

Since I’m busy and the internet is a vast library of excellent resources, I joined a couple of LinkedIn sales groups and asked the experts for recommendations. The first responder was a bit jarring–she suggested that before I choose a CRM I should step back and analyze my sales process and see where the CRM could support it. Excellent advice, but not the shortcut I was looking for.

I had hoped to find a reputable CRM that came with glowing recommendations, which would tell ME how to structure my sales process. I was hoping to take the easy, but stupid, approach and avoid the tough, tedious job of charting the sales process, seeing how and where we could automate it, and identifying what kinds of reports we needed to extract from it. I had to think hard about something I preferred not think about at all. But doing the work helped me see that a CRM was just a start–ideally it would be linked to an LMS and  Quick Books. It also helped me clarify and define the sales process and I’m glad, in the end, that I did it.

My CRM experience made me think about using templates when we write. Lots of people think templates will save them time and make the difficult task of writing easier. Indeed in some ways they do help. Templates give you the confidence of knowing there are conventional ways of conveying different types of messages, such as giving bad news, making recommendations, or apologizing. Still, templates only show you roughly how to shape these messages and what they need to contain. They still need to be populated with your original thoughts, with the details of your situation. And not every template matches up with the reality of your message. And when your message doesn’t match the template, the template needs to yield to the message.

So use templates, but be ready to adapt them. Remember they can never substitute for thinking.

This has led to the displacement of speechwriters by movement and voice coaches, and many corporate presentation skills courses pay cursory attention to the message itself and lots of attention to how you present it.

In Ubiquity, Philip Yaffe debunks this rule, saying it’s based on a gross misrepresentation of two scientific experiments from the ’60s. Here’s a description of those two studies: In the first study, participants were asked to listen to a woman say “maybe” 3 different ways, reflecting liking, neutrality and disliking. Then they were also shown pictures of a face showing liking, neutrality and disliking. Subjects identified the correct emotion 50% more often from the photos. In a second experiment, participants listened to 9 recorded words–3 words were positive, 3 were neutral, and 3 were negative. Each word was recorded to reflect liking, neutrality and disliking and the tone was more influential in conveying the correct message of the words than the words themselves.

The statistical results of these studies morphed into the now-famous rule. But, as Yaffe points out, no rule can be based on only 2 studies. Further, the studies only concluded that when the words contradict the way they are presented, voice and body language do a better job of conveying meaning than the word itself.

If you’re ever had to create a presentation from scratch, you know that the clearer your message is and the better you know it, the more confident you feel. We believe that if you are clear about what you want to say, the rest is easy. Clarity gives you confidence, and the more confidence you have, the easier it is to be mindful of your voice and body language by making eye contact to engage your audience, modulating your voice to add interest, avoid distracting habits like jiggling your change, and add gestures to add emphasis.

Sure, it’s important that your voice and body language reflects your confidence and credibility. Like bad grammar, annoying presentation habits can get in the way and distract your audience. Still, the message counts more. Need help with your presentations? Check out our Presenting with Confidence and learn how to clarify your thinking, sharpen your message, and speak like a pro.

You’re not tired because of any physical exertion, since writing is sedentary, but rather from mental exertion resulting from having to make multiple, constant decisions.

Roy Baumeister and John Tierney in Willpower call this phenomena decision fatigue. They explain that people who make a lot of decisions deplete their willpower quickly. And as your willpower becomes depleted, you’re less able to make decisions. To conserve willpower, you avoid or postpone making decisions.

Turns out there are lots of decisions you need to make when you write.

But what if you have to write that business plan, website, feasibility study or briefing note? Here are some strategies that Baumeister recommends that can help:

1. Watch for symptoms. Is it getting harder to make decisions? Do you feel stressed? Are things bothering you more than they should? This is a sign of depletion and the best thing to do is eat something healthy, something that contains protein.
2. When you experience a moment of calm, pick your battles. Articulate a goal and break it into manageable chunks. Trying to write a book? Plan a series of blog articles, each one part of a chapter. Like a to do list, this eases the demands on your willpower because you’ve made a lot of the big decisions already—at a time when you had plenty of willpower.
3. Take care of the basics. Make sure you eat, diet, exercise and drink enough water. Order in your environment eases your brain and makes it less of a strain to maintain self-control. Devote 20 minutes a day to tidying your desk and cleaning up your inbox.
4. Set aside a block of time to write. This is great if you’ve got an important document that must be written. If you find you can’t write, do NOTHING.
5. Keep track of your accomplishments. Writing a large report? As you finish the chunks check them off the list.
6. Reward yourself often.

What about you–do you have any other strategies for overcoming the need to sleep instead of meeting a writing deadline?

Before:

Should any vacancy occur on the Board, such vacancy shall be filled forthwith by the appointment of a nominee by the Shareholder who is not then represented by the nominee to which he is entitled.

The prize goes to Melissa Reiter, who writes

If there is an opening on the Board of Directors, it is up to the Shareholder who lacks representation as a result of the vacancy to choose and appoint a new board member to fulfill that role.

The differences

Keep your process to yourself and share results only. A client looking for help doesn’t want to see your internal dramas, the glitches in your process or the sloppiness of your team. They don’t want to know how you scrambled for them, all the steps you took or the people you contacted. They don’t want to hear your internal bickering, finger pointing or complaining. They only want to know that their problem is fixed.

Sure, every business messes up sometimes. You might expect your reader to cut you some slack. But it doesn’t work that way. I give you my business because I want you to solve my problems so I don’t have to. That’s what I’m paying you for.

Mind your grammar. Your team might know you’re rushing and can’t take the time to edit. Since they know you can write perfectly when you need to, they won’t judge you if you are a bit sloppy sometimes. But external readers are different. Sure, you might have a solid enough relationship with certain clients who will permit one or two little mistakes. But people do judge you when you use bad grammar , so when writing to someone external take a few extra moments to proofread.

Use a full signature block
Inside readers only need to know your name and extension–maybe your title too. But outside readers might need all your coordinates: mailing address, phone number, fax number, full title. Have two signature blocks and use them accordingly.

The similarities

While there are some things that you want to be sensitive to or do differently when writing to external readers, there are far more things that you should do consistently.

Know your audience—especially their prior knowledge and needs. If your intent is to inform, be aware of what they already know and build from there. Not sure? Assume ignorance but not stupidity. If your intent is to get buy in, persuade them by conveying how your proposal will help them achieve THEIR goals.

Get your facts right. Check and double check your accuracy. Your professionalism and credibility relies on this.

Structure your message for busy readers. Get right to the point, and make it easy for your reader to extract key information. Make your message scannable if it’s complex. Remember that all readers are busy—internal and external.

Be clear, concise and readable. Every reader deserves this.

Help your reader take the next step. Knowing what your reader will need to do next helps you see what content you need to include and how best to organize it. All readers appreciate this.

Writing always boils down to two simple issues—what’s your purpose and who’s your audience? Writing to your CEO to pitch an idea? You’ll be as careful and fussy as when writing a proposal to a prospect. Writing a quick response to your direct report? They need an answer fast and will forgive small mistakes. Dashing off a quick note from your handheld to a client you socialize with? They’ll forgive typos that result from your clumsy thumbs and be grateful for your responsiveness.

So use your judgment and remember that it’s more useful to consider readers individually than to think of them as either internal or external. Every reader is your client. Remember this, and you’ll make the right choices.

We are rebranding, which includes redoing our bookmarks. Why bookmarks? To remind our learners that reading more means writing better, we hand them out at the end of every course . We are looking for new quotes to print on them. Here’s the long list–how to choose?

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” Groucho Marx

“A person who won’t read has no advantage over the person who can’t read.” Mark Twain

“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.” Voltaire

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” Steven King

“Think before you speak. Read before you think.” Fran Lebowitz

“From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend on reading it.” Groucho Marx

“Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators.” Stephen Fry

“One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.” George W. Bush

Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.” Anne Herbert

“I intend to put up with nothing that I can put down.” Edgar Allan Poe

“Reading… a vacation for the mind….” Dave Barry

“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.” Edmund Burke

“You have to remember that it is impossible to commit a crime while reading a book.” John Waters

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book—Groucho Marx

“Everyone probably thinks that I’m a raving nymphomaniac, that I have an insatiable sexual appetite, when the truth is I’d rather read a book.” Madonna

“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” P.J. O’Rourke

“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”  Mark Twain

Which ones do you vote for?

Time required: Ten to fifteen minutes

Size and kind of group: A group of managers, one facilitator

Procedure:

1. Divide the managers into small groups.
2. Have each group assign a secretary. Give each group five to ten minutes to generate a list of things that drive them most crazy about email. Have the secretary record this list.
3. Once these lists are generated, have each group organize their list items from most to least annoying.
4. Then, moving around the room, ask each group for its biggest beef first. Transform these complaints into protocol. For example:

They say: We can’t stand messages written in all caps (Yes! This still happens) or all in lowercase.

You write: Write all messages in upper and lower case.

They say: Don’t cc people if you require action from them.

You write: Only cc people who need to know about, but not act upon, your message.

Continue collecting ideas from one group at a time until all ideas are recorded. Turn the complaints and beefs into positive actions.

Have someone type up the protocol and distribute it company wide.

Voila! It’s easy and costs you only a few minutes. Of course to make it stick, you need to reinforce it, make it part of orientations, catch people doing good, and correct writers who slip up.

I recently lost my kid brother in a fatal bicycle accident. He’s left a terrible hole in my life—please please please make sure anyone you love wears a helmet.

I’ve been thinking of all the ways he inspired me, especially in the early days when I was creating this business. Back in 1996 he was doing graphic design. He liked a transparent writing style in the copywriters he used. He also had a passion for typography. He explained fonts to me, showed me how a smaller font could work with the right kerning and leading. He taught me how to layout course manuals to make them clean and consistent.

He also gave me a small volume of quotations, called The Writer’s Quotation Book: A Literary Companion, edited by James Charlton. I loved it and put quotations on every page of the manual. People love the quotes, so I kept on collecting them. I put them in every newsletter and every new course manual.

Here are some quotes from that book I think he would especially like.

“Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other folk have lent me.” Anatole France

“When I was twenty I was in love with words, a wordsmith. I didn’t know enough to know when people were letting words get in their way. Now I like the words to disappear, like a transparent curtain.” Wallace Stegner

“I used to be adjective happy. Now I cut them with so much severity that I find I have to put a few adjectives back.” Frank Yerby

“I try to leave out the parts people skip.” Elmore Leonard

“When I write, I aim in my mind not toward New York but a vague spot a little east of Kansas. I think of the books on library shelves, without their jackets, years old, and a countryish teen-aged boy finding them, and having them speak to him. The reviews, the stacks in Brentano’s are just hurdles to get over, to place the books on that shelf.” John Updike

“People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy—and I keep it in a jar on my desk.” Stephen King

“It’s not the most intellectual job in the world, but I do have to know the letters.” Vanna White

“I don’t enjoy writing and I certainly would not do it for a living. Some people do, but some people enjoy flagellation.” Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

“Read over your compositions and, when you meet a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.” Samuel Johnson

“It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.” Robert Benchley

‘I think I did pretty well considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.” Steve Martin

“When you read a biography, remember that the truth is never fit for publication.” George Bernard Shaw

“Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.” Samuel Johnson

“Listen carefully to first criticisms of your work. Note just what it is about your work that the critics don’t like—then cultivate it. That’s the part of your work that’s individual and worth keeping.” Jean Cocteau

“No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter some else’s draft.” H. G. Wells