Archive for category Author
How to Write A Speech: How Well Do You Know Your Audience?
I once had a Vice-President of Human Resources take a look at a speech of mine. This was after the company president had actually delivered it. She’d not been present at the speech but on reading it through, felt that it didn’t work. She commented that had a group of senior management heard the speech, they would not have approved it. I stressed that the audience consisted of the company’s sales team, and was designed to motivate them for the new sales year that had just begun. The president told me that he received a standing ovation. I pointed out to the VP Human Resources that had I been writing for an audience of senior management, the content, language and tone would all have been different.
I’ve rarely had a better example of writing for a particular audience. If you can, be there when a speech you’ve written is presented to an audience. It’s a first-hand opportunity for you to see whether the speech works or not. I sometimes cringe when I hear something I’ve written and it doesn’t work the way I intended. Or the audience doesn’t get it, or the idea goes right over their heads.
Instructions Should Be Clear and Easy to Read – Maybe Not
Almost everything I’ve ever read about writing instructions and directions emphasizes clarity, reading ease and legibility. This seems to be the accepted best practice for writing something that you want people to follow. But recent research suggests that these methods may not be best.
A recent study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology dealt with way-finding directions. The researchers had a group of people each write directions from one point in a city to another. A second group examined the directions and rated them, without actually using them. The rating was based on the things we assume to be typical, such as, clarity, easy to read and understand. A third group had to follow the directions. The resulting were surprising. The people who followed the directions that had received the worst rating actually got to the destination faster than the people following the directions rated as the best. There seems to be a gap between what people perceive to be good directions and what actually are good directions. It turns out that what appeared to be difficult directions, actually contained more information.
Tips For Writing Your First Book – Important Things to Remember About Books
Here are some facts about writing a book that you should remember.
Books require someone to read the book. If you don’t have a group of readers you don’t have anything except a bunch of paper with type on it. You have to find the group you will sell most of the books to and concentrate on them. You can’t be all over. If you look at T.V. channels they always are aimed at a specific group of watchers. Cartoon channels are aimed at kids and teenagers, the news channels at those who want to be kept up to date, science-fiction channels, etc. They concentrate on one group of people, because otherwise nobody will watch them; it is the same with books.
All books need to meet a need. A weight loss book helps to meet the needs of someone who is trying to lose weight, while a fiction book meets the needs of someone who needs to be entertained. Your book must do the same: it needs to give the reader answers or solutions, or at least help them find these answers and solutions to their needs.
-
You are currently browsing the archives for the Author category.
