Business Writing- Get to the Point | Elizabeth Danziger

Transcript, Business Writing- Get to the Point | Elizabeth Danziger

 

Alan
Welcome back. I’m here today with Elizabeth Danziger. She is the founder of worktop communications. Welcome to today’s show.

Elizabeth
Hi, nice to be here.

Alan
So Elisabeth communications is huge in today’s world, and how we effectively communicate will make a difference often in relationships. But give me some background of how did you move into the role that you have today to start immediately from school or what?

Elizabeth
I was a senior in college, I went to Pomona College in Claremont. And one day when I was a senior, I was walking across the quad. And I suddenly said to myself, next year, I’m going to be out of here, and I’m going to have to earn money. What am I going to do? And the little voice in my head said, write a book. And I thought, Okay, I’ll write a book. So I went to a party where I met a person, I said, Well, I’m writing a book. And he said, Oh, my friend is an agent, maybe you would like maybe she’d like to represent you. So that person represented me and I wrote my first book. After that, I wrote several more books. But I became a communications consultant in the business world, really, because of the birth of my first child, I have four children. And before I was a mother, I was a freelance writer, I wrote for glamour, self, new woman, Cosmo, Reader’s Digest family circle, all those magazines, and an hour at work was just an hour at work. But after I had a child, I realized that an hour at work was an hour away from the baby. And suddenly, I valued my time very, very differently. And I thought, I have to earn the maximum amount of money in the minimum amount of time because I don’t want to be away from my baby. And so that meant goodbye, Cosmo, goodbye, family circle. And I decided to go into business, I did a lot of research on writing and training and took courses and training, and put together a writing training, which I have been refining and delivering for the last mile, my son is 27 years old. So I’ve been doing it for a long time.

Alan
You know, in the in the world of freelance and I want to step back and look at this for a little bit. It’s it’s important that what you write sells the magazines. So typically in a free in the world of freelance writing, did you come up with the topics or the editors say to you, Elizabeth, here’s what I want you to do for this, this article? How did that come back? And what

Elizabeth
I would basically look at each magazine that I was targeting, and read several issues of the magazine, I would sometimes go to the library and just read like a whole year, not the whole magazine, but the table of contents of the magazines, and see what kind of articles they were buying, what kind of articles they were running. And then it really goes back to what I teach today, which is about analyzing the reader and analyzing your target audience, I would ask myself, well, what, given the kinds of articles that they had been publishing, what topics would be of interest to them, I would put together a list of four or five different ideas. And I was I live in Los Angeles. But I would go to New York several times a year, I had meetings with the editors. And I would just go and meet with the editors and say, Well, I got this, I got this, I got this, I get this, what do you have? And they would say I like that. I don’t like that. I like this. I don’t like that. And how about this. And we would do that. I also wrote query letters, which is a whole genre in itself, of pitching an idea to a magazine.

Alan
So in the in the typically after you’ve got the editor engaged you, you’re paid by the article.

Elizabeth
Paid by the article, they’ll say, we’ll pay you so much money for so many words. And the problem is that it is a flat rate. So what that means is that if you spend 25 hours interviewing people for your story, and another 20 hours writing it, then you can turn it in. And they have the right to say wow, you know, I like it. But I’d like it a little more blue, a little more green, a little more chartreuse, that I’m just changing a little bit. All the time that goes into revisions is doesn’t matter, you get paid the same whether you do one revision or 10 revisions. And then they have what they call a kill fee, which is after you’ve done all this work, if they finally even though they assigned it to you, and they knew going in what it was, if at the end they say Well, we’ve decided this isn’t the direction we want to go in. They pay you 10% of what they had promised to pay you. So there are certain magazines which were notorious for just having you do all the work and then paying you the kill fee of 10%. And that was it. So it’s not really a reliable, not so not so reliable.

Alan
So it was an inspiration to set out your own shingle and say I’m going to do work documenting Haitians and take more.

Elizabeth
Well I decided I was much more interested in business because business I mean, the community, the country runs on business. It doesn’t. I mean, the magazine business is a business. But I was just very fascinated by the opportunity to learn about many different businesses. And when people send me writing samples, I get the inside scoop on their, on their businesses. And I learned so much and I learned from everyone that I teach. So it’s a fascinating job.

Alan
I’m visiting here today with Elizabeth Danziger. She is a consultant in community business communications, and the founder of worktop communications consulting. Elizabeth, I need to take a quick break, and we’ll be right back after these messages.

Alan
Welcome back and visiting here today with Elizabeth Danziger. She is the founder of work talk, communication, consulting. And before that, we’re talking about how you got into the career, business consulting out of school, you did a lot of freelance writing for different magazines and then ventured out into your own business. But I want to talk about in the world of business communication, why does writing matter?

Elizabeth
Writing matters because because it is how we document our agreements with other people. It’s how we present ourselves to other people. And it’s the essence of business is that people don’t usually do business just on a handshake, they need to have something in writing, particularly, sometimes I laugh because I tell people, I teach business writing. And they say, I don’t do business writing, all I do is email. And that makes me laugh. Because today, email is business writing people make agreements based on email, they do everything they do in their email. So in a sense, even though supposedly, we were supposed to have the paperless office, it may be paperless, but it’s full of writing. So writing is is really the conduit of business today.

Alan
You know, in the in the world of communication, and, you know, in my life span, I’ve seen this, you know, the newspapers were a core of, you know, how communication comes in, then with the email and the, the internet communication has changed over the years, hasn’t it?

Elizabeth
It’s communication, media have changed. But people have not changed. People are still tuned in to their own favorite radio station. Wi I fm, which stands for what’s in it for me. People are interested when they read something they want to know, well, how does this relate to me? Why should I care about it? Why should I trust the person who wrote it? And what am I supposed to do about it? So email makes it all go faster. But the basic principles of communication are constant, they have been constant for 1000s of years.

Alan
You know, as as I look at these millennials, I have kids in this age span by call them on the phone, they don’t pick the phone up. It’s frustrating, isn’t it? Is it? Is it text me text me? It’s so how do you deal with the texting aspect of it? When, you know, we can put nice long emails, but they want to, they only want to do the short and you know, the acronyms and stuff is there.

Elizabeth
You know what I have a 20 year old daughter, and she asked me to text her and I call her?

Alan
Well, I think some things never change, I feel the same way as a parent. So. So if we if we go into web communication today, you know, how does when improve making their business communication effective?

Elizabeth
Well, one thing that you can do is use a tool that I teach in my business writing trainings called the three P’s. The three P’s are purpose, person and point, identify what is the purpose of this communication? And what results am I supposed to get from it? That’s purpose, what person am I writing to? And what is that person asking him or herself? And what are that person’s hot buttons person. And third is point. Very often people start to write and they are praying that in the process of writing, they will figure out what their point is because they don’t know their point before they start. So that’s one thing is to use the three P’s purpose, person and point. Secondly, write shorter sentences. Even a badly written short sentence is better than a badly written long sentence. So writing shorter sentences is an excellent way to improve your business communication. How do you get a reader engaged by reaching out and touching on their hot buttons and asking yourself, not what’s important to me? What’s important to my reader? What makes my reader care so for example, if an accountant wants their client to turn in their tax documentation on time, they could send them an email with the subject line. source information requested or they could send their an email that says, avoid late payment penalties. Source in information requested or reduce accounting fees source information requested. So by touching on what matters to the reader, it will make it a much more persuasive, persuasive document.

Alan
I’m visiting here today with Elizabeth Danziger. She is a communications consultant and the founder, we’re taught communication Elizabeth, I need to take a quick break. And we’ll be right back after these messages. And I want to get more into the persuasive writing how we go about that. Okay. We’ll be right back after these messages.

Alan
Welcome back. I’m here today with Elizabeth Danziger. She is a as a founder, we’re taught communication and business communications consultant, and Elizabeth, we were discussing before the break the three P’s. Purpose, person, person and point point, I always like to put the fourth one for me prayer, you know, trying set the right thing

Elizabeth
That’s a good one, too, that adds to purpose, person and point.

Alan
But when we go back to persuasive writing, now there’s I always want to feel that what I put out there is really going to influence the person to change or whatever my point is that they they understand this is why they need to do that. How does a person write persuasively?

Elizabeth
Well, the first secret is to analyze the reader, the better you can analyze your reader. I’ll tell you a story. My daughter Sarah came home from the first day in high school, and she said, Mom, I need a shirt from Abercrombie and Fitch. And I said, well, I need to not spend $60 on the shirt. She said, No, no, no, I need a shirt from Abercrombie. So we were going back and forth. And we were kind of at an impasse. Then her older sister Lily came home and overheard our discussion. And she said to her sister, her younger sister, well, why didn’t you get a shirt from American Apparel? And Sarah said, Oh, is that cool? And Lily said, yes, it’s cool. So Sarah replied, okay, let’s go to American Apparel. So she got the less expensive shirt, I didn’t spend $60. And Sarah got what she wanted. Once we figured out that what she really wanted was not a shirt from Abercrombie and Fitch, she wanted to be cool. Once we understood what her true need was, we were able to find alternate ways to to supply her need. So the first thing is to really analyze and figure out what how does your reader feel emotionally? What makes that person tick? And how can you align yourself with that person’s needs and desires. There are another few things you can do, you can when you write to the person identify similarities between you and that person focus on how you and they are similar, because then they feel more like you’re on the same team and you are working in the same direction. Another thing you can do is use similar linguistic patterns to the ones that the other person uses. So if they use a lot of of metaphors and images, you can use metaphors and images. If they speak very fancy, highfalutin complex words, then you write in fancy, highfalutin complex words. If they use very simple straightforward words, then you use simple straightforward words. So using the other person’s language, finding similarities. And another thing that’s very persuasive is to create visual images. If you look, I understand you. You mentioned prayer. If you look in the Bible, the Bible is full of visual images, things that happen that you can visualize and imagine them really happening. And it’s not an accident. There are many reasons why people read the Bible, but it’s gone on for 1000s of years. And one of the holds that it has on people which is that it holds emotional imagery, visual imagery. So the visual images are very powerful. And but the first thing, of course, is to analyze what the reader needs.

Alan
I think it’s somewhat of a gift though, being able to analyze another person and say, Well, this is what I, I feel that they’re looking for. Would you say that’s true, or

Elizabeth
I think it is a gift. But it’s also something that you can practice, you can really think about it and ask yourself, what does that person need, it is a gift, but it’s also a skill.

Alan
It’s a proper way to write a request, if you’re out there trying to get somebody to do something for you, is there a trick of the trade.

Elizabeth
You can put what’s in it for them. So for example, going back to the going back to the accountant, if you want, in order to avoid late payment penalties, we need to receive your documentation by March 1. In order to file your return on time, we need to receive your documentation by March 1, we request that you send in your whatever it is, because this will help us get you what you want.

Alan
Now, I jumped back to grammar I remember my English classes in college and, you know, let’s talk about verbs. You know, are they important in the way that we’re beings are

Elizabeth
very important verbs are the motors of language. By definition, nouns just sit there until they encounter verbs. Verbs are the motors of language, they make the words take life. So the more verbs you can use, more powerful, vivid, don’t just use is our am. But real, vivid, powerful verbs. There are so many verbs that create pictures, these are the verbs to use and use plenty of them.

Alan
In the in writing an intensive active versus passive, what’s a better approach, in general,

Elizabeth
It’s better to use the active voice. And just to remind people say the manager wrote the report that’s active, the report was written by the manager that’s passive. So the passive voice creates distance, it makes the person at arm’s length, it blurs accountability, and it’s not the most potent form of writing. So the active voice is much more connected, much more authentic, more sincere. Now, having said that, there are a few times when you can use the passive voice, which I go into in the writing training. So it’s not always wrong to use the passive voice. But you generally, if you’re looking for connection, you want to use the active voice.

Alan
And then have you delivered bad news was, is there a technique in writing?

Elizabeth
First of all, people are most impacted by the first thing that they read. So if you lead, if you have bad news, and you put your bad news at the beginning of the document, the person is not likely to read the rest of your document, they’re going to read that bad news, they’re gonna feel upset, they’re going to throw the document down or delete it or close it or something. And they’re not going to get the reasons behind your bad news. Because if you had bad news, there was probably a rationale that explained why that bad news had to happen. So it’s important to in general, you want to leave with your main point. But if your main point is likely to upset your reader, then don’t leave with the main point. Start with the reasons and it goes back to an old Torch Song, break it to me gently let people know gradually what’s coming so that they can come to that conclusion themselves. Now, it still goes back to the three P’s. There are people who want their bad news upfront straightaway, they want to get it, absorb it and move on. So if you’re dealing with one of those people, then you can just leave with your bad news. But most people prefer the Brexit to me gently approach.

Alan
I’m visiting here today with Elizabeth Danziger. She is the founder of work, talk communications work. It’s work we’re talking we’re talking communications consulting, Elizabeth someone wants to get a hold of you. How would they go about doing that? They would

Elizabeth
Go to Liz D at work talk.com Or just go to www dot work. Talk wo RK tlk.com. Send me an email. I’d be glad to talk to them. lives it.

Alan
Thanks for being on today’s show. Thank you so much.

 

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These transcripts may not represent exactly what was said, as they are software generated and occasionally edited for concision and clarity.

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About Elizabeth Danziger

Elizabeth Brenner Danziger, founder of Worktalk Communications Consulting, enables people to achieve success through better writing. Improved writing means greater productivity, better customer service, quicker adoption of internal initiatives, fewer misunderstandings, faster completion of key work, and enhanced relationships.

Danziger gives clients the tools and techniques to deliver their message straight to their readers. She trains clients in powerful business writing techniques through customized on-site programs, offers solutions to email overload, and works directly to write or improve vital documents or templates.

She has trained business people from throughout the United States and has worked with executives from many major corporations. She brings 28 years of experience to her work.

Danziger’s clients include a wide range of businesses, including professional service firms such as Sullivan and Cromwell; Nixon Peabody; Ernst and Young; Prager and Fenton; RBZ; CohnReznick; Miller, Kaplan, Arase, and others. She has also served business-to-business companies such as Vulcan Materials Company, REM Eyewear, and TL Drum Company.

Retail clients include Starwood Hotels and Brighton Collectibles. Utilities include Southern California Edison and The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Financial service clients include Wells Fargo Foothill Capital, Wescom Credit Union and Answer Financial. Her other clients span many fields.

Ms. Danziger’s clients develop a keen insight into their product or service and see how to convey their message clearly. They learn techniques that help them build more powerful relationships through the written word. In addition, they learn practical ways to get to the point and write successfully.

In email seminars, participants master three elements of effective email: clear writing, good judgment, and efficient productivity.

Ms. Danziger received her B.A. from Pomona College in Claremont, California and holds a Certificate of Executive Education from the UCLA Anderson School of Business. She has written four books, the most recent of which is Get to the Point!, which was originally published by Random House and is now in its second edition. Her work has been published throughout the world.