My 15 tips to revolutionize your writing (Part 1)

By Divine Agodzo

I will be devoting the next few blog posts to sharing my top writing tips. You will hear or read about literally hundreds of ways to improve your writing, dispensed by various writing and communications pros, but which ones have the most ability to truly revolutionize your writing? How can you turn tepid or even good writing to compelling prose that wins hearts and minds? I believe the answer lies in these 15 tips, covering various areas of the writer's craft. I will be sharing these tips in batches of five. Try them and let me know if they don't revolutionize your communication. 

1. Make a professional judgement on the right tone for your piece and stick to it. Does the subject require a serious tone? Would humour be appropriate and effective? Do you need an objective tone of voice, as in journalism/news releases? Or, on the contrary, is a subjective approach similar to the style of advertising and marketing copy the right choice? Knowing the right tone and keeping to it is critical in matching your writing to the right audience and occasion.

2. In writing, structure is king so make sure your composition is well organized. Almost every type of writing needs a good introduction that leads the reader into the piece (tell them what you are going to tell them), a body (tell them) and a strong conclusion (tell them what you told them, with a call to action and a punchy, memorable close). This model may not apply to everything you write, but it is a time-tested formula that can provide the skeletal framework needed to hold up your writing.

3. Check each sentence to ensure that as a general rule it conveys a single, clear, complete thought or idea. Ask yourself, what is the key message or idea in this sentence and is it expressed clearly? Do I have multiple ideas or points in one sentence? Also, evaluate each sentence to determine how/if it may be misunderstood and if there is anything that may be unclear, edit or revise as needed.

4. Make sure your paragraphs are cohesive and that they convey only one key idea, developed through elaboration and examples. Properly structured cohesive paragraphs generally begin with a thesis sentence, which is a fancy term grammarians use to describe the main idea you want to get across. Each subsequent sentence should both build and hang on the “umbrella” idea in the thesis sentence. They may explain the thesis, elaborate on it, or supply illustrations that support the main point. In a cohesive paragraph, each sentence is a logical development of ideas in previous sentences and there is reasonable “flow” from one to the next. Revise or eliminate “hanging sentences” that don’t fit into this building block structure due to the fact that they don’t develop a preceding thought or idea.

5. Use well placed transitions to create unity of structure. In good writing, no sentence or paragraph is an island. Bridge words, otherwise known as transitions, help you link everything together in the audience's mind. Transitions may have different functions. For example, they can be used in a follow-up sentence to emphasize an idea expressed in an earlier sentence (in fact, indeed); to show contrast between earlier ideas and those following (but, however, although, yet, regardless); to express the development of an idea (additionally, further); to signal that you are clarifying or elaborating on thoughts in an earlier sentence (for example, in other words); or to indicate the next step in a process or the flow of time (next, finally). One caution: transitions are somewhat like salt -- you absolutely need to have them sprinkled through your writing, but overuse can defeat its purpose. Used well, transitions carry the audience along, without being overtly noticeable.

Check my next blog post for the next five tips, coming soon!

7 speech writing lessons from Costner's tribute to Whitney

By Divine Agodzo

If you watched Kevin Costner's eulogy to Whitney Houston, you'll agree it was quite moving. It was also a great speech, with all the key elements you learn about in speech writing class. Here is one speech writer's review of Costner's tribute and the seven ingredients that gave it impact.

1. Stories
This is perhaps the secret sauce of great speeches. Costner's eulogy had many, including stories of his life growing up in church and getting into trouble on Sunday for various pranks. Probably the story that gets our attention the most is that of Whitney Houston's screen test for the movie, The Bodyguard, when Costner recounts the singer's self doubt and his efforts to beef up her confidence. No matter your speech, try to include a couple of anedotes that support your message.
2. Suspense
Perhaps it has to do with his skills as a Hollywood actor, but Costner was able to keep us on the edge of our seats throughout his speech. When he says, "The song 'I will always love you' almost wasn't," he immediately piques your interest. By setting up his story this way, he builds up curiousity about what follows. The best example of this is when he shares the story of Houston's first few minutes on the set of Bodyguard. The filming is suddenly stopped and Houston is ushered back to her room by Costner. But why? What had really taken place just before, while Houston was alone? Then Costner gradually does the reveal. Where appropriate, build a bit of heightened expectation into your presentation, but don't stretch it for too long and make sure it's worth the wait.
3. Literary flourishes
I must confess I am partial to literary devices and the use of poetic language and cadences in a speech. To me, this is what makes a speech an art form and distinguishes it from a regular business presentation. Sprinkled through Costner's speech were rhetorical questions ("So, what becomes of our broken hearts?"); use of contrast ("She's a girl, you're a boy. You're white. She's black. We heard you like to sing, but our sister could really sing"); and metaphor ("She said I just wanted to look my best. It's a tree we could all hang from"). Costner also uses apostrophe - the literacy device, not the punctuation mark - when he addresses Houston directly, "So off you go, Whitney, off you go escorted by an army of angels, to your heavenly father. And when you sing before him, don't you worry, you'll be good enough." Don't make every presenter into a poet, but when the occasion calls for it, don't be afraid to inject some rhetoric into your speech.
4. Humour
This is one that I'm always careful with, because I'm a communicator, not a comic. But used well, humour can be effective, especially as an ice breaker. It's even trickier because of the funeral setting, but Costner pulls it off, with his story about how the hot lights melted Houston's make-up, for example, and his joke about whether applauding audiences really loved Houston, or were simply scared of her mom. However, don't force humour where it seems unnatural or where your presenter doesn't carry it well. And if you are not a natural jokester, go for subtle humour, especially at the beginning of your speech.
5. Knowing (and writing for) your audience
Costner's references to his Baptist roots; his early years growing up in church; the fact that his mother and aunt were singers in the choir; and even his love for singing wouldn't have worked for all audiences. But it was perfect for his intended audience. He was literally "preaching to the choir" and he connected. Do you know and understand your audience? Are there things you share in common? You get extra marks if you can weave some of this into your speech.
6. Writing for the ear
A good speech has a colloquial voice that is quite different from text meant for print. In parts of Costner's eulogy, you could almost "hear" the cowboy talking: "One of the men snapped down a red line where the choir would be standing one day and said, have at it. As many nails as you want. All on this line." Speech writers call this "writing for the ear." The best way I know to be good at this is to listen to a lot of good speeches.
7. News
Let's be honest, not a lot of speeches contain news. You can have a good speech without news, but if you have an element of news such as conflict, or novelty, that's great. What was the news in Costner's tribute to Houston? We learned for the first time that Houston nearly didn't get the role of Rachel in The Bodyguard because she was black. That was news. Do you want that speech to be covered by the press? It makes a big difference if you actually have something news worthy to announce.

How an outline can improve your writing

By Divine Agodzo

I have heard some seasoned writers say you never need an outline while others swear you always need one to produce great communications. Neither of these positions is exactly right because it all depends. There are instances where spontaneity is helpful and the piece almost seems to develop organically as your write it. Highly creative, “inspired” writing (such as a poem) hardly needs an outline; in fact, it can get in the way of your creativity. Similarly, a short, non-technical speech on a topic you are conversant with, written for a speaker whose approach and preferences you know, may work fine without an initial outline. But for longer, complex pieces, make your task easier by spending time developing an outline of the content and key messages. It is especially critical to have an outline if you are writing for a client who likes to be closely involved in shaping the final outcome, as opposed to one whose approach is “just tell me what to say and I’ll say it.” If your speaker is heavily invested in the development of the content, skipping an outline can be a recipe for editorial disaster down the road.

For the rest of this article, let’s assume that an outline makes sense for your communication. How do you go about using it to shape your work? Imagine your communications assignment is a puzzle. You first need to know what pieces make up the complete puzzle before you can determine where and how they fit together to make sense. So you’ll need to spend some time thinking about what the vital elements are that you need to develop your speech, report, or whatever it is you’re working on. You can do this by interviewing the stakeholders to find out what areas they consider important to address. Also, put yourself in the shoes of the audience and ask yourself questions like, “What would they like to know or learn? What do they need to know? What concerns or questions might they have? The five Ws and H formula used by journalists (what, who, when, where, why and how) is helpful in exploring what to include in your content so make sure you have answered all these questions.

Now that you have all your puzzle pieces, so to speak, it’s time to organize them so that everything fits seamlessly and logically together. Broadly speaking, you need an introduction, body and conclusion, but the bigger question is what goes into these sections. There are various approaches to organizing content: cause and effect; problem and solution; chronological; topical; compare and contrast; or sequential, to name a few.  Most presentations combine two or more of these approaches. For example, if are making a presentation about an innovative new product, your outline might look something like this.

• History of the company and some of its past accomplishments (chronological)
• The consumer or industry need/gap that this product is designed to meet (problem and solution)
• How this product is different from the competition (compare and contrast)
• Step-by-step demo of how product works (sequential)

Last, but not least, I suggest having your draft content outline reviewed by the party you are developing it for, as well as any other stakeholders. Make adjustments based on their feedback and get their final sign off. You are now ready to begin fleshing out your communication.

One final but important caveat. An outline is a guideline, not a prescription. Sometimes, in the course of writing, the various puzzle pieces and the organization that you thought would work fine turns out to be not so great on paper. You need to be flexible enough to amend course, just as would if you hit road construction while following a trusted map. You will need to explain the reason for the change to your client, but better this than doggedly follow an outline that doesn’t seem to be working. If it’s a major overhaul of the outline (hopefully not), you may need to discuss the change with the client sooner than later to avoid surprises when you present your work.

Need assistance with your communications and public relations needs? Visit my website to learn how I can help: www.wordsmiths.ca