Issue No. 439 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting features a refresher on improving your writing—with the assist of four grandkids on a first-ever “Zoom Review.” And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and click here for my review of eight movies and videos—some eligible for your lifelong learning goals, including the two-hour 2019 film, Harriett.
4 Grandkids Join Me for a Zoom Review on Great Writing!
Zig Ziglar writes, "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily."
Ditto the art of writing. Perhaps eons ago, you devoured a book on the craft of writing—but maybe your passion has now plummeted. Time for a refresh?
Trust me—no decent book on great writing would dare bore you. So in this Zoom Era, I invited (motivated, cajoled, and/or incentivized) four of my five grandkids to join me in reading and reviewing The Art of Writing: Four Principles for Great Writing that Everyone Needs to Know, by Peter Yang.
Click here to enjoy this YouTube video, a 23-minute lively conversation and commentary on four principles of great writing, featured in this 84-page writing-refresher book!
• Principle 1: Economy
• Principle 2: Transparency
• Principle 3: Variety
• Principle 4: Harmony
Note: See below for the other books and links mentioned in the video.
Pop Quiz! What are your four principles of great writing? I doubt you would land on the author’s fascinating four: Economy, Transparency, Variety, and Harmony. (Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant!)
Gratefully, Peter Yang has come to the rescue with an easy-to-read book that checks all the boxes: motivating, inspiring, fun to read, new nuances, and great reminders (but not preachy!)
My favorite phrases:
• Crush Your Crutches
• Write with Conviction
• Write in the Positive
• Write to the Layman
• Save the Best for Last
• The Error of Arrogance
There’s so much more, including “Stop Making the Reader Do Arithmetic” and why you should take writing breaks. I urge you to read and savor this refresher course in great writing.
And THANKS to the four scholars who shared their colorful commentary on today’s video! Way to go, Grandkids!
To order from Amazon, click on the title for The Art of Writing: Four Principles for Great Writing that Everyone Needs to Know, by Peter Yang.
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
1) Peter Yang says that “Writing is about prioritizing the reader, not the self! Never lose sight of your purpose in your writing. Doing so is the ultimate form of indulgence.” Assignment: read two or three pages on our organization’s website. Are we prioritizing our readers/customers—or are we indulgencing ourselves with hype and selfies?
2) If you could write a book on any subject, as an influencer, what would the book be about? What would you title it? Who would buy it?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Punch Line of Great Writing
Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook
One of the big ideas in the Printing Bucket (aka the Communication Bucket) is to “elevate the power of the written and spoken word and leverage communication tools to create synergy and alignment between our mission, BHAG, strategic plans and programs.”
When is the last time you’ve invested one or more hours on improving your writing and speaking? We mentioned these resources in the Zoom Review (above):
[ ] PUNCH LINE. Keys to Great Writing, by author and writing coach Stephen Wilbers, notes: “Think of the last part of a sentence as a punch line to a joke: It counts more than the beginning and the middle. Your success—both as a writer and a comedian—depends on it.” (Read my review.)
[ ] BUMPER STICKERS. Joey Asher, author of 15 Minutes Including Q&A: A Plan to Save the World From Lousy Presentations, says your talk should have three big ideas and your three points should be like bumper stickers: short and memorable, supported by stories. “Great speakers [and great writers] use lots of stories.” (Read my review.)
[ ] BELIEVABILITY. “The most important dimension of communication takes place not at the conscious level, but the unconscious level. We’re talking about trust, believability and likeability—the emotional connection.” That’s from Bert Decker, who coaches and trains politicians, Fortune 500 company CEOs and thousands of other people in effective public speaking. Must-read: You’re Got to Be Believed to Be Heard: The Complete Book of Speaking…in Business and in Life. Listen to the audio at Libro.fm—just 5 hours and 8 minutes. (Read my review.)
[ ] FACTS = BOREDOM. In his 107-page quick-read, How to Deliver a TED Talk: Secrets of the World’s Most Inspiring Presentations, Jeremey Donovan warns: “If you would like to bore people to tears until they tear out their hair and claw their eyes out, then hammer them with facts for the entire 18 minutes of your TEDTalk.” (Read my review.)
[ ] PAINT A PICTURE. Which sentence grabs you? “Deficits will badly affect the economy,” or “Deficits will spread a subtle, devastating poison through the economic bloodstream.” Even if you’re not interested in deficits, the “poison” picture has arrested your curiosity. That’s from the “Paint a Picture” chapter in Milo O. Frank’s 128-page power book, How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds—or Less. (Read my review.)
Note: We also mentioned two other books and a WSJ article on the Zoom Review:
[ ] MY IDEAL BOOKSHELF. This is a gorgeous coffee table book for your office or home by Thessaly La Force (editor) and Jane Mount (illustrator). One hundred people share their ideal bookshelf in two-page spreads: narrative and color drawings of the book spines. You’ll treasure the art and the wisdom, including this from writer David Sedaris: “Sometimes I meet ministers, and I always say to them, ‘If I had a church, I’d read a Tobias Wolff story every week, and then I’d say to people, “Go home.”’” (Read my review.)
[ ] Europe from a Backpack: Real Stories from Young Travelers Abroad (From a Backpack series) by Mark Pearson and Martin Westerman.
[ ] “Arnold the Grammarian,” column by Jason Gay in The Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2020.
For more resources and books, visit the Printing Bucket (aka the Communications Bucket).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Is your communication strategy one-size-fits-all or precisely targeted to these four niches: the Info-Sponge Customer, the Just-the-Facts Customer, the Heartfelt Customer, or the Share-Meister Customer? Read REBRAND: Workbook + Coloring Sheets for Ministry Branding, by Jason Pearson, a fun and creative starter kit for nonprofit ministry and church marketing teams. Millennials will appreciate the fresh approach (a coloring workbook!) and marketing veterans will have a good laugh and a new coaching tool. Plus, check out the innovative work from Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video).
___________________________________________________________________________________
Your Weekly Staff Meeting is emailed free one to three times a month to subscribers, the frequency of which is based on an algorithm of book length, frequent flyer miles, and client deadlines. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. PRIVACY POLICY: Typepad, Inc. hosts John Pearson's Buckets Blog. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform for Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews. By clicking (above) to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy policy here.
Comments