The Art of Writing Seductively

The words used in the title are definitely going to increase the traffic on this site but I am not talking of erotica. I am talking here about writing (in absolutely any form) that is so seductive and persuasive that the person writing the piece achieves what he/she wants from the person reading the piece.

How many of us have been able to actually harness the power of a well-written piece? I find that just spending some more time on my written communication, for e.g. on e-mails, putting myself in the reader's shoes and writing what the reader wants to read, (without being dishonest about what I want to say) usually achieves the purpose I have written the piece for.

I would not be able to reveal the strategies I use to compose such pieces of work but the next time you write, put some thought into seducing the reader to do what you want them to do by making them feel THEY want to do it :)

Makes sense? :-s

One of the best places to effectively use this strategy would be on your resume...you should be able to make a prospective employer feel that you are not the one looking for the job, but you are the one they have been missing all these years ;)

That again probably explains why I have been postponing writing my resume for 3.5 years now :( (err........prospective employers, come back, please dont go :p)

Sameera.

Editing makes me happy!

I have volunteered to edit the monthly magazine published by one of the departments at my company. And they have gladly accepted my services. Let us hope I am able to do a good job.

I love editing! Yipeee!!

TW blog recommendation 1

Today's post is only a blog recommendation.

Ben Minson blogs at http://www.gryphonmountain.net
I stumbled upon his blog from http://techwriting.alltop.com/

Ben is a technical communicator whose archives I am digging into now.
He is articulate and writes really well. You, as a technical writer, will definitely have something to learn from his blog, so give it a look.

-Sameera.

Engineered Writing

If you are an engineer and somehow magically also have a flair for the English language and do not mind other people asking you why you are not "coding", "testing" or doing such other wonderful things, you might want to consider documentation for a living.

I work in a Indian services company and we are trying to bag some new projects. And these new projects do not look very easy for a non-technical person to work on. They contain highly technical information and would require an in-depth domain knowledge on the part of the writer.

The tools we are expected to use are also getting complex by the day, though I doubt if one has to be an engineer to want to play around with tools. And Yes Sir, the clients also now insist on engineers to do their documentation.

So, all in all, it is a good time for us. But then again, recession and market slowdown do not warrant the recruitment of new talent. They want to use whoever is available :) and get the job done through them.

I haven't been in the technical writing long enough to say this but I already notice a paradigm shift in the expectations from writers. And I am very glad about it.
We do not want to be just typists with English knowledge, anymore :)

Good day to the one or two people who read this blog :p
Sameera.

I miss....

I miss having a role model at work. Someone who inspires awe in me and makes me want to grow professionally and aspire to become like them.

S was this person previously. He was sharp, smart and knew what he wanted and better still how to get it. He has left the organization now, creating a void.

I have met a lot of people who set good examples of what or who I do not want to become as I grow professionally. And thank you for the learnings, but it is demotivating not to have a role model.

When I meet people from other fields who seem to have got it all right or sorted out, it is their work-life balance that I am really interested more in. How they have (assuming they have) ensured a decent personal life without letting their success at work become an all encompassing addiction.

Last year, if someone had told me I would also one day become a work addict, I would have laughed in their face and complimented them on their sense of humor. Now, unfortunately not so much. :(

I hope to meet a role model soon. Maybe an online or distant role model is not such a bad idea.

Sameera.

P.S - My next post should be on documentation for large (size) projects.

Empty promises

Recently, I was promised something. I hadn't asked for it, so it came as a welcome surprise. And an unwelcome shock when they decided not to grant it after all.

It took me sometime to understand what had happened and why. Knowing them well, I should have been surprised if they had gone ahead and granted it after all!

Note-to-self for later on - If something cannot be done for someone and if the power of decision making is in my hands, let me not abuse the power.

If there is a real reason I think it shouldn't (needn't?) be granted, let me make it clear to the person involved. And let me give them hope by asking them to improve in certain areas. To me, that is a win-win situation.

Presentations: Keeping the audience interested

I recently attended a session, albeit telephonically, on how to keep your audience hooked to the topic you are presenting.

We all know that at any given time during presentations, half the audience is struggling to keep their eyes open. The other half is making notes on why this presenter shouldn't be promoted, in order to share their finding with their boss.

However, almost magically, when the presenter says, "Thank you. Any questions?" the sleeping member(s) are snapped back to reality, fervently hoping no one heard them snore or talk gibberish during their siesta. What they forget, at this crucial time, is that everyone else is also fervently hoping the same to even bother.

This (sleeping) is nothing but a waste of time not only for the presenter but also for the audience (err, i.e. if you are cruel and call stress-busting a waste of time!!) Only when the audience is able to gather something from the session, can a presenter congratulate himself/herself on a job well done!

To get back to the session I attended, we were handed printed hand-outs with the presentation material. The first look blew me away. The presenter guy (PG) had made a fabulous Powerpoint presentation. It was well formatted, neat, contained apt images on each slide (I love images! They make the dead come alive, if you ask me!) and contained sensible headings and matter. We could make out that PG did a great job with the slides.

However, there were a few shortcomings from PG's side:

1) Not pausing to ask the audience if they were at par with him. Equally irritating it is, when the presenter pauses at the end of each slide, to find out if the audience is following him/her.

2) Speaking so fast that it was at times difficult to make out whether PG was speaking in English or in the vernacular.

3) And the most crucial one: Not understanding the importance and duration of the audience attention span. My old manager once told me that 20 mins is the time that a typical audience can grant you to let you impress them with your presentation.

Let's make that 30 mins, if your manager is also sitting in the same room with you. :D. And 35 mins if the appraisal season is close.

Unfortunately, PG rambled on and on, forgetting that we wanted to be enlightened not burdened with excess information. The session went on for 60 mins (20 mins (since my manager wasn't there)* 3). That only meant it was three times as bad.

It was a pity that the images and PG's hardwork on making the slides, came to naught, due to excessive rambling! :(

-Sameera.