Writing That Works

Writing That Works Plot Summary

Introduction

In today's fast-paced business environment, the ability to communicate clearly and persuasively is perhaps the most critical skill separating those who merely participate from those who truly lead. Regardless of your role or industry, your ideas are only as powerful as your ability to express them. When executives complain that "too many communications are meaningless" or that written materials are "unclear, poorly written, or confusing," they're highlighting a universal challenge that affects organizations at every level. The digital revolution has transformed how we communicate, with emails replacing memos and slide decks replacing reports. Yet the fundamental principles of effective communication remain unchanged. Whether crafting an urgent email, preparing a persuasive proposal, or delivering a compelling presentation, your success depends on your ability to move people to action through words. This book provides practical, immediately applicable techniques that will help you express your thoughts with clarity, precision, and impact—enabling you to achieve the results you seek in every communication opportunity.

Chapter 1: Clear Writing: The Foundation of Business Success

Clear writing forms the foundation of all effective business communication. When your writing is unclear, your message becomes lost, your credibility diminishes, and your ability to influence others suffers dramatically. As one senior executive quoted in the book notes, "Too many of the communications I get are meaningless. They don't help me understand what action the writer wants me to take. They waste my time." The ability to express yourself clearly is not merely a nice-to-have skill—it directly impacts your professional success. Richard Marcus, former chairman of Neiman Marcus, demonstrated this principle perfectly in his response to a customer complaint. Rather than being defensive or evasive, he wrote: "I am astonished to learn of the shoddy service you recently received from our Mail Order Department, and there is no excuse for the lack of response and discourteous conversation you had with a member of our Mail Order phone staff." Marcus then detailed exactly what action he would take to remedy the situation. His straightforward, no-excuses approach preserved a customer relationship that might otherwise have been lost. The best communicators understand that writing well isn't about impressing readers with elaborate vocabulary or complex sentences. Churchill could have mumbled that "the situation in regard to France is very serious." What he actually said was, "The news from France is bad." This directness is what made his communication so powerful. Similarly, when the space shuttle Challenger exploded, Ronald Reagan spoke with remarkable clarity and compassion: "Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share the pain with all the people of our country. This is truly a national loss." Effective writing follows several key principles. First, be direct—don't mumble. Say what you want to say clearly and concisely. Second, use short paragraphs, short sentences, and short words. Third, make your writing active and personal rather than passive and institutional. Fourth, be specific—replace vague generalities with concrete details. Finally, edit ruthlessly, cutting out everything that doesn't serve your purpose. The goal isn't merely clarity, although that's important. The goal is effective communication—writing that works. This means writing that leads your reader to take the action you want them to take, whether that's approving your plan, responding to your email, or changing their mind about an important issue.

Chapter 2: Structure Your Message for Maximum Impact

The way you organize your communication can make the difference between getting your message across and having it ignored completely. People are busy and distracted. Without a clear structure, even the most brilliant ideas will be lost in the noise. Effective structure creates a pathway through your information that guides readers toward understanding and action. The Pyramid Principle, developed by Barbara Minto for McKinsey, provides an excellent framework for structuring complex communications. As described in the book, this approach organizes ideas into a pyramid where "the easiest order is to receive the major, more abstract ideas before the minor, supporting ones." At the top sits your main point or recommendation. Below that come the key arguments supporting your position, and beneath those come the specific facts, examples, and data that back up each argument. When Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center needed to develop an internet strategy, they used this kind of pyramid structure in their presentation. Their deck began with the objective (Internet Strategy), followed by background information about consumer interest in online medical information. Next came key facts about drivers of growth, then their conclusion about leveraging the internet to deliver their mission more broadly. Finally, they presented their specific recommendation: creating an authoritative website for cancer information. This structure works because it respects how people process information. As E. M. Forster famously asked, "How do I know what I think until I see what I write?" The pyramid approach forces you to clarify your own thinking before inflicting it on your audience. It also allows busy readers to quickly grasp your main point without wading through pages of background material. For shorter communications like memos or emails, simpler structures often work better. A numbered list of key points can be extremely effective—it organizes your thoughts visually, eliminates the need for connectives between points, and makes your memo easy to refer to later. Whatever structure you choose, make it obvious to your reader. Use numbered sections, clear headings, and signposts that indicate where you're going. Remember that structure isn't just about organizing your own thoughts—it's about creating a path of least resistance for your reader to follow. The easier you make it for them to understand your message, the more likely they are to act on it.

Chapter 3: Email Communication That Gets Results

Email has revolutionized business communication, enabling instant connection across time zones and organizational hierarchies. However, this convenience comes with a challenge: the overwhelming volume. Most executives receive between 50 and 400 emails daily. As one consultant quoted in the book reported, he had 900 unopened emails accumulated over just ten months. The fundamental problem isn't writing email—it's getting your email read and acted upon in this tsunami of digital communication. Christie Hefner, CEO of Playboy Enterprises, captured a common frustration: "Because it's just e-mail, people think they don't have to be grammatical or spell things right or take the trouble to write well. It's very annoying." Slapdash writing comes across as slapdash thinking, regardless of whether it appears on paper or on a screen. Your email represents you to people who may never meet you in person—it reveals how your mind works. Terri Dial, who ran Wells Fargo in California, developed a pragmatic approach to managing the email flood: she simply deleted one-third of incoming messages without ever opening them. To avoid this fate for your own messages, start with a clear, compelling subject line that gives recipients a reason to open your email. "Status of proposal" will be passed over in favor of "Winning client approval" every time. The most effective emails cut ruthlessly to the point. Manny Fernandez, Chairman of the Gartner Group, observed, "I have never seen an e-mail message too short—most effective e-mails are short and very much to the point." HBO executives are instructed to keep emails "brief, but complete—meaty, concise, and to the point." This approach respects the reader's time while still providing all necessary information. When John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, found his staff drowning in excessive email, he issued guidelines that have become a model of email discipline: avoid using "Reply to All" unnecessarily; don't join "email circuses" with never-ending threads; avoid broadcast emails; and follow the rule that unless you're imparting new information, responding to a request, or asking a question, don't send anything. He concludes: "I know many of us get the shakes if we do not send an e-mail every few minutes, but take a deep breath and try to get over it. We'll all be happier." Remember that email lacks the nuance of face-to-face communication. Brief comments can come across as abrupt, terse questions as angry. Consider your tone carefully, and when in doubt, add a friendly greeting or closing to convey your intended spirit. Most importantly, pause before hitting "Send" on any message written in anger or irritation—once sent, it cannot be unsent, and the record remains permanently.

Chapter 4: Persuasive Writing: Selling Ideas That Matter

Persuasive writing is the art of selling ideas through words. Whether you're recommending a new strategy, proposing a solution to a problem, or seeking funding for a project, your success depends on your ability to convince others that your idea has merit. This isn't about manipulation or trickery—it's about presenting your case so compellingly that others choose to act on it. When seeking to persuade, remember that you are, in essence, selling. The strategy that guided Harry Truman's successful presidential campaign in 1948 began with a clear statement of purpose: "The aim of this memorandum is to outline a course of political conduct for the Administration extending from November, 1947, to November, 1948." It then acknowledged the challenge: "The basic premise of this memorandum—that the Democratic Party is an unhappy alliance of Southern conservatives, Western progressives and Big City labor—is very trite, but it is also very true." By starting with this frank assessment, the memo established credibility before presenting its recommendations. Similarly, when a management consulting firm needed to persuade the board of the New York Botanical Garden to adopt far-reaching recommendations, they began by establishing their thoroughness: "Reviews with the staff of major programs and functions; analysis of financial records, interviews with Board members; visits to three other botanical gardens..." This background information gave weight to their subsequent proposals, demonstrating they weren't offering quick fixes but well-researched solutions. Effective persuasion also requires anticipating and addressing potential objections. When Ogilvy & Mather recommended an expensive campaign of text-heavy newspaper ads, they knew the client might object that "nobody reads long copy in advertisements." Rather than ignoring this concern, they tackled it head-on, citing specific examples where long-copy ads had produced exceptional results: "A single British Travel Authority advertisement with over a thousand words attracted 25,000 responses... An all-type campaign for International Paper drew a thousand letters a day." The Brooklyn Youth Chorus demonstrates another essential element of persuasion in their fundraising proposal: urgency coupled with credibility. Their letter begins with accomplishments: "The Russian tour was an absolutely great experience for the Choristers and we are now starting our season with a wealth of scheduled appearances." It quickly moves to ongoing improvements: "We completed our strategic plan, increased enrollment, hired a Children's Voice Specialist..." This combination of proven success and continuous improvement makes a compelling case for continued support. Remember that persuasion ultimately answers the question "What's in it for me?" Make sure your writing clearly articulates the benefits of your proposal to the reader, not just to yourself or your organization. By putting yourself in your audience's shoes, you dramatically increase your chances of winning their support.

Chapter 5: Edit Ruthlessly: Make Every Word Count

Editing is not just the final polish on your writing—it's an essential part of the writing process itself. As Jerome Kern's collaborator Oscar Hammerstein II noted about Kern's melodies: "Smoothness is achieved only by scraping off roughness. None of his melodies was born smooth." Similarly, no first draft is born perfect; editing is what transforms rough ideas into compelling communication. Mark Twain once suggested that writers should "strike out every third word on principle," adding: "You have no idea what vigor it adds to style." This advice applies particularly well to email, where brevity makes your message pop. The first draft of almost any document can be cut by at least 20 percent without losing meaning—and usually with significant gains in clarity and impact. David Ogilvy, founder of advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, demonstrated the power of collaborative editing. He sent drafts of all important papers to several associates with the handwritten injunction: "Please Improve." The result of this practice was so beneficial that, as the book notes, "he lived his last twenty-five years in a sixty-room castle in France." While you might not end up in a castle, inviting trusted colleagues to review your important documents almost always results in improvement. When editing your own work, start by asking "What can I get rid of?" Cut unnecessary words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. Then check for mumbling—have you chosen verbs and adjectives that express your meaning precisely? Are you using concrete language rather than vague abstractions? Next, examine your order and logic. Is there a better sequence for your points? Are there any holes in your argument? Also verify all facts, statistics, and quotations—a single error can undermine your credibility entirely. Two simple editing practices can dramatically improve your results. First, let time elapse between drafts. Print a clean copy, set it aside overnight, and return to it with fresh eyes the next day. Imperfections that were invisible before will suddenly become obvious. Second, solicit opinions from others. Almost everyone will spot something you overlooked, even if it's just a single point that isn't clear. The book shows a striking example of editing's power with a chapter excerpt from an early draft compared to the final version. The first draft was more than twice as long as the polished version—and far less effective. Remember that editing isn't just about fixing errors; it's about distilling your message to its essence. As Churchill demonstrated when faced with the challenge of rallying Britain during World War II, powerful communication often comes down to a few perfectly chosen words. The goal isn't perfection—it's impact.

Chapter 6: Design Your Document for Easy Reading

The visual presentation of your writing plays a crucial role in its effectiveness. If your document looks formidable or messy, readers will brace for an ordeal before reading a single word. Conversely, if it appears inviting and well-organized, you've already taken a significant step toward engaging your audience. Consider the striking contrast between two versions of the same legal document shown in the book. The first version presents a dense paragraph of text with nested clauses, parenthetical remarks, and confusing numeration: "(1) approves (a) the compensation... (b) the total award... (c) (i) the grants of Nonqualified Stock Options..." This format makes comprehension nearly impossible. The second version presents identical content but uses spacing and indentation to clarify the structure, transforming an impenetrable block of text into a document that can actually be understood. To make your documents inviting and accessible, start with a clear heading at the top center in capital letters. This immediately orients your reader to the subject. Keep paragraphs short—whenever you see a long paragraph, break it into two or more shorter ones. This practice is particularly important in email, where screen-length paragraphs are virtually unreadable. Use typographic devices judiciously to highlight key information. Italics work better than underlining for emphasis within text. Indented paragraphs effectively set apart important ideas. Numbered or bulleted points help readers follow your thinking, especially when they're formatted with the numbers or bullets hanging in the margin. Break up large blocks of text with subheadings. Type them in a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, perhaps with underlining or boldface, and leave plenty of space above and below. This creates visual "resting places" that make your document less intimidating. Use single spacing between lines and double spacing between paragraphs—this looks neater than indenting the first line of each paragraph. When working with numbers, be consistent in your approach. For charts and graphs, consider whether they belong in the main text or would work better as appendices. If you include them in the body, make sure they're oriented properly—readers shouldn't have to turn the document sideways. And always number your pages, even in early drafts, to make it easy for readers to find and reference specific sections. Remember that your document's appearance creates an immediate impression that either invites or repels engagement. By applying these simple design principles, you can ensure that your readers' first reaction is "This looks interesting and manageable" rather than "This looks like a struggle I'll tackle later"—which often means never.

Chapter 7: Presentations That Engage and Convince

The business world increasingly relies on presentations—often in the form of "decks" with bulleted points—to communicate important ideas and drive decisions. Whether you're proposing a new strategy, reporting results, or pitching for new business, your ability to engage your audience and convince them to act is crucial to your success. McKinsey consulting firm, renowned for their presentation effectiveness, aims not to give clients reading material but to "reduce the issue to its pulsing essence." As described in The New Yorker: "The client team comes into the room, you distribute the deck, and crisply, calmly, rationally, brilliantly, you make your 'clunk points,' marching through them inexorably to the one unerring strategic conclusion." This approach focuses on clarity and decisive action rather than overwhelming detail. Successful presentations begin with careful planning. Start by developing a clear theme—a simple message that gives your presentation unity and direction. Open with this theme, using a headline to state it boldly: "DOUBLE YOUR SALES," "CUT YOUR COSTS," or "NEEDED: A NEW BALLPARK." Then show an agenda that outlines the structure of your presentation and indicates how long it will take. Throughout the meeting, refer back to this agenda to keep your audience oriented. One of the biggest mistakes presenters make is starting with their own credentials rather than focusing on the audience's needs. The authors learned in the advertising business that the most effective new business presentations began with research into the prospect's market. "Even small-scale studies riveted the audience from the start. These insights into the prospect's problems set up the agency's recommendations. Our credentials came at the end, and were often not needed. By then, we had made the sale or not." Use headings on slides or charts to tell the audience how to think about the information you're presenting. Rather than labeling a chart simply "Trends," use a heading like "Low price competition is gaining." Instead of "Why Acme?" try "Our edge is service." These interpretive headings guide your audience to the conclusions you want them to reach. David Ogilvy was famous for adding drama to his presentations. To emphasize the importance of hiring excellent people, he gave his directors sets of Russian nesting dolls. Around the smallest doll was a note reading: "If we hire people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. If we hire people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants." This memorable visual reinforced his point far more effectively than a simple statement could have done. Finally, don't let a presentation drift off into trivia. Close with a summary and a strong restatement of your proposition or recommendation. Keep your promise about timing—running longer than promised shows a lack of discipline. Leave time for questions, which give the audience a chance to get to know you better and could tip the decision your way. When well-executed, a presentation doesn't just inform—it inspires action.

Summary

Effective communication stands as the critical bridge between great ideas and meaningful results. Throughout this book, we've explored how clear, purposeful writing transforms business interactions and drives success. As CEO Jack Welch articulated in his vision for General Electric: "We want GE to become a company where people come to work every day in a rush to try something they woke up thinking about the night before... We want a company where people find a better way, every day, of doing things." This kind of energized, purpose-driven organization depends on communication that connects, clarifies and convinces. The principles we've examined work across all formats—from brief emails to comprehensive proposals, from informal memos to formal presentations. They work because they focus on fundamental human needs: to understand quickly, to find relevance easily, and to take appropriate action confidently. Whether you're crafting a simple request or architecting a complex strategy, remember that your success depends not just on what you communicate but how you communicate it. Start today by reviewing one recent important communication and applying these principles to strengthen it. Your ideas deserve to be understood, your recommendations deserve to be followed, and your audience deserves the clarity that only thoughtful, disciplined communication can provide.

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Kenneth Roman

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