“Great seminar, and I was even able to use the approach to improve a presentation to management about recruiting strategies yesterday.”
Bill Oxley, Intact Financial

The Elephants in Your Office

A Wakeup Story

Today’s trainers are busy people. So busy they sometimes don’t see the elephants that are blocking their path to higher levels of productivity, satisfaction and engagement. Too busy to think about the risk of the elephants going on a rampage and destroying the village and crops.

Too Much Time is the biggest elephant, wasting many hours every day with emails that don’t get to the point. SharePoint, Twitter and collaborative tools will keep him growing.

Confused comes next, fed by people who rely on spellcheck rather than their brains. They write “I except your proposal” when they mean “I accept.” No wonder their team members don’t know what to do.

Then there’s Stay Away, who talks about “authority endorsement” or “synergy,”  ”extends best regards” or “cordially invites” and sprays other stuff out of her trunk to keep people at a safe distance.

While everyone in your office was focused on learning new apps, they didn’t notice how fat and mighty these elephants were growing.

Tame the elephants

Now that they’re too big to ignore, how can you tame these elephants? By showing your employees how to write concisely, precisely and nicely.

Through my book and workshops, they’ll learn how to keep Too Much Time healthier on smaller portions. They’ll concentrate on training Confused to move out of the way, instead of trying to teach all the old circus tricks. They’ll become elephant whisperers, appealing to Stay Away in a friendly tone with words that mean something to her. The elephants will soon be eating out of their hands.

In my 30 years as a business writer and communication advisor, I’ve come to know these elephants too well. I’ve observed how everyone who works on a computer has been feeding them.

Tired of fixing the same old problems, mole hills that have become mountains now that we write so much online, I’ve written a book, Write Like You Talk–Only Better, and developed workshops to help.

Staying power

The Write Like You Talk parts show people how to connect with others. Because it’s based on talking, everyone’s first and favorite way to communicate, learners remember. Only Better encourages them how to strive for results and respect people’s time by saying more with just the right words.

This clear, friendly style will help them connect, engage and collaborate online. Writing will become easier and faster. With the worksheets and checklists they can use back at the office, they will practice and keep getting better. Some will progress to storytelling and other advanced techniques from movies, music and other media.

Your choice

For motivated learners who enjoy reading, you can buy my book. You can preview the introduction here.

For those who need an intense focus, choose from my two-hour or day-long business writing training options. These will start them taming the elephants that stand in the way of productivity, engagement, satisfaction and many other organizational objectives.

Ask me how these workshops can be tailored to meet your needs.