(361 words, 84-second read)

After saying those three words, the guy punched me in the stomach, slapped my head, and said, “Get this war criminal out of my sight.”

That conversation was my last with an instructor before heading to the POW camp.

Back story: Back in the early 90s, while in the Navy, I attended Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) school. All helicopter aircrew with security clearances had to attend.

The first week was classroom based. We learned how to survive in the unfortunate event we were shot down behind enemy lines. And, in the even more unfortunate event we were caught. At the end of the classroom portion, we were given details:

• Where we flew from.
• Where we were flying to.
• How many people were with us.
• What our “mission” was.

The second week started in the field, where we learned to live off the land and navigate from one point to another without getting caught.

Midway through the second week, it got real. We were captured by the enemy and sent to the POW training camp.

• Fortunately, they were not allowed to hurt or torture us.
• Unfortunately, those two things were loosely defined.

For hours – or what seemed like it – they asked me for answers to the question I mentioned above. I kept telling them, “I don’t remember.” They didn’t believe me. So, I made something up. And it got worse because I was lying.

After being smacked around, stuffed in a box, and water-boarded three times, the instructor finally broke character. He said, “You’re doing a good job of not telling us. But it is okay to tell us some of the information we asked for.”

• I looked at him and said, “I. Don’t. Remember.”

Why this matters: As I shared last week, we (humans) like stories. So, I could have told you that:

• I was in the Navy.
• I was a helicopter aircrewman with a security clearance.
• I attended SERE school in the early 90s.
• I have a really good memory…it’s just short.

But that wouldn’t have been as memorable. Would it?

One big thing: Whenever possible, wrap facts in stories. Your readers will remember them better.

Fun Fact: The first draft for this post was 330.

(105 words, 25-second read)

Just finished reading Rob Biesenbach’s Unleash The Power Of Storytelling.

Yes, and: It is clear, concise, easy to read, and has short chapters. And:

• It is heavy on the practical application of storytelling.
• It looks at storytelling through scientific and creative lenses.
• It gives lots of tips to structure – and deliver – your message through storytelling.

One big thing from this book is that studies show that people think about things in stories and remember stories better than raw facts. That means:

• We must get good at storytelling.
• We should apply the power of storytelling whenever possible.

Be on the lookout next week for an example.

Fun fact: The first draft was 257 words.

(275 words, 64-second read)

I read Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy’s post on the company’s website.

Here’s the link to the full article.

For Fun: I pulled a paragraph full of filler words and redundancies. My interpretation is below Jassy’s: (148 words)

As part of our annual planning process, leaders across the company work with their teams to decide what investments they want to make for the future, prioritizing what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses. For several years leading up to this one, most of our businesses added a significant amount of headcount. This made sense given what was happening in our businesses and the economy as a whole. However, given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount. The overriding tenet of our annual planning this year was to be leaner while doing so in a way that enables us to still invest robustly in the key long-term customer experiences that we believe can meaningfully improve customers’ lives and Amazon as a whole.

Likable Writer Version: (60 words)

What’s happening: Company leaders are working with teams to meet our goals of:

• Finding the best investment opportunities.
• Prioritizing our customers’ needs.
• Improving the long-term health of the organization.

What this means: Our organization has grown significantly to meet customer demands for several years. Growth and economic conditions have changed. This requires us to cut costs and personnel.

The point: Did it change the meaning? I think not. Everyone reading Jassy’s version knew what he was saying.

• But it was more direct, concise, and likable.

(199 words, 46-second read)

Prolific reader is not something I would have been called in high school. I was never good at it, and I had no desire to get better. I thought. I just wasn’t a reader.

Yes, but: Of course, this was a nonsensical excuse. I could read. What I needed was a plan to be a reader.

There are lots of plans, but this is the one that I used:

• Pick a book you might be interested in. I found Five Years to Freedom by James Rowe in the ship’s library. It looked interesting…and it was.
• Commit to reading for 10 minutes every day for three weeks.
• Bump it up to 15 minutes every day for two weeks.
• Bump it up in five-minute increments every two weeks until you get to an hour per pay.

In no time, your mind will be conditioned to read. A reader you’ll be.

• I know. It’s hard.

Why it matters: To become a likable writer, you need a lot of exposure to good writing…and bad.

It helped me. I hope this helps you.

Side Note: The irony is not lost that a 199-word post talks about the importance of deep reading for long periods.

Fun Fact: The first draft of this post was 207 words.

(214 words, 50-second read)

I really love Grammarly. In fact, I just got an email that says it has checked over 5.5 million words for me since December 2019.

HOW IT HELPS:

• It catches most of my speeling errors. 🙂
• It offers different words to avoid being repetitive.
• It helps keep my punctuation on point.
• It knocks down my natural tendency to be longwinded.

IN ACTION:

Yesterday, it asked me to change shoulda and coulda. But I intentionally misspelled them.

On Tuesday, while writing a discussion board post, I used the term 1 BIG THING four times in three consecutive sentences. To make a point.

Right now, it’s telling me to add a comma after the Yesterday above.

It’s also telling me to nix the really in the first sentence and in fact in the second.

And it says to get rid of the stick figures. I’m just kidding.

Often, I will make the change without much thought. But other times, I say I meant to write it like that.

BUT SOMETIMES: Changing it will…

• …alter my meaning.
• …not sound like me.
• …miss the point I’m making.

1 BIG THING: I’m writing for my reader to understand my point…in the way they’re used to me giving it to them – no matter what Grammarly suggests.

• I don’t have to change it.

FUN FACT: The first draft of this post was 277 words.

(121 words, 28-second read)

I am a member of my community’s homeowner association (HOA) board. That’s not a flex. If it were, I would have led with I’m the board’s secretary. That’s a flex.

INSIDE SCOOP: As the board’s secretary, my job is to sanitize long-winded meetings that shoulda been emails…into emails. I record who said what and when. And I note the resolutions or next steps. For example:

• Our last meeting was a mind-numbing one hour and thirty-seven minutes.
• It’s now a 258-word, 60-second read for the homeowners who couldn’t – or were smart enough not to – attend.

THE BOTTOM LINE: As likable writers, it is our job to save our readers time. Our jobs are to write emails that coulda been meetings.

FUN FACT: The first draft of this post was 189 words.

194 words (45-second read)

I’ve mentioned that I freewrite for 30 minutes in a journal every morning. Handwritten. In cursive.

SET UP: The handwriting and cursive parts have neurological and psychological effects. But let’s focus on the outward value. Likability.

• We have a pretty good BS sniffer and can tell when someone is being who they are. We like authentic people. Don’t we?

WHY IT MATTERS: Even if we disagree with a person, if we believe they’re authentic, we can still like them. And they can still like us.

WHY JOURNALS WORK: In my humble but accurate opinion – something I would say in my journal:

• A journal lets you use the words in your head instead of a dictionary, thesaurus, or Grammarly suggestion.
• A journal lets you write like you.
• A journal lets you express your authenticity.

I KNOW: We can’t let everyone see our freak flag. All the time. But try getting as close to writing the way you journal the next time you send an email, post on LinkedIn, or respond on the discussion board.

You’ll see, people will like you because you’re authentic.

FUN FACT: The first draft of this post was 451 words.

I was sharing classroom strategies with an instructor. He stopped me when I got to my announcements. “Tell me about that,” he said.

THE BACKSTORY: I had just finished reading the book Smart Brevity. I Smart Brevitize my announcements as the book suggested (and like this post).

• I explained an idea from the book. We have 26 seconds of attention.
• The authors argue this formatting helps with that.
• It makes sense to me, so I tried it.

THE REACTION: “I vehemently disagree with that,” he said in a derisive tone. “But let’s say I concede that point,” he went on, “it’s a ridiculous notion that we change the way we deliver our lessons.”

OKAY, MAYBE: It’s an interesting debate. And he might be right. It might be ridiculous.

• But my goal is for the student, client, coworker, or boss to walk away with ONE thing.

Ultimately. You tip the scale.

…I create a template, checklist, or both.

This is my productivity rule.

And it has saved tons of time on the things I do regularly.

Why it matters:

It takes 2 to 25 minutes to transition from task to task depending on who we believe. How many tasks – emails, calls, texts – did you do today? Do the conservative math. That is a lot of time.

Yeah, so?

So. What if you had a template for the next task you had to do? You wouldn’t need to start from scratch. Just grab the template and dig in. Here’s a simple example of an announcement I send my class each week:

One or two sentences about the one big thing we’re covering this week.

What happened: One or two sentences about last week and…

• Three
• Key
• Takeaways

What’s next: One or two sentences about this week and…

• Three
• Learning
• Objectives

Worth watching: One or two sentences about the live session tonight and…

• Reasons
• To
• Watch

If you need help: I give them my contact information.

And I do that in less than 201 words.

Maybe yours doesn’t look exactly like that. Or maybe you need 219 words. But it will save you time.

Take a deeper dive:

• Make your writing scannable
• Make your writing sing
• Focus on the reader

On a good day, tapping out 1,000 words is easy.

Editing, on the other hand. Not so much. It seems to take FOREVER. That’s why I’ve been working on it.

Here are a few tips I have picked up:

Take a break: I am horrible at this. When I start something, I have to finish it. But after finishing a draft, I force myself to take a break. A few hours, a day, or even longer if possible. This allows me to look at my writing with fresh eyes. This makes spotting the flaws easier.

Read out loud: I am horrible at this too. The chasm between my eyes, brain, and mouth is like the Grand Canyon. But reading out loud helps find awkward phrasing, grammar errors, and typos. It’s also a great way to hear the rhythm of my writing.

Break each sentence out: This one was awkward at first. Separating sentences felt like I was removing the context. But, after watching two editing courses use the process, I tried it. It lets me focus on the sentence’s structure, meaning, and flow.

Cut unnecessary words: I have become obsessed with this. Every word has a job. A word that doesn’t clarify, provide context, improve readability, or make it more likable gets axed.

If you can do the process faster, I’m jealous. If not, you’re in good company. Either way. I hope these tips help.

Thank you for hanging out with me.