How effective is your written communication? Do you know if it is making an impact, conveying your message clearly? Or is what you seeking to say getting ‘lost in translation’ due to writing which is poor, vague, muddled?
As a lawyer, having worked in different jurisdictions, and in a variety of different legal environments, from top tier law firms to senior and general in-house legal counsel roles, my ability to not only write clearly and coherently but also to adapt my written communication to suit the requirements of my particular audience, was critical in terms of my being able to clearly convey my message and advice, and therefore to inform, advise and persuade my audience.
Some of my key learnings in developing a clear and persuasive writing style were:
- Know what it is that you want to write about
Know the message, advice that you want to bring across. This requires a great deal of prior preparation, research and much drafting, re-drafting and again, re-drafting before you are ready to press the ‘send’ button.
- Know your audience
You need to know who you are communicating to, who will be reading and receiving your advice in order to ensure that you communicate in a way that ‘speaks’ to them and addresses their exact problems, questions, concerns.
Knowing your audience means that you will be better placed to tailor your writing in a way that they can understand – which means that they are more likely to listen to your advice.
- Be clear and concise
Do not write in obtuse, unclear legalese. Use plain, clear language and simple words. This does not mean write ‘simplistically’, or in a way that ‘dumbs down’ your audience – rather, it means avoiding overly long and complex sentences and words that add nothing to the message and advice you wish to convey.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough” Albert Einstein
- Be structured
Ensure that you write in a structured manner – eg: have clear headings for the different areas you with to address, use paragraphs to differentiate between different thoughts, keep sentences short and always have a clear introduction and conclusion to summarise the import of your advice.
“Good writing is clear thinking made visible” Bill Wheeler
