Facts Schmacts—What’s the Story?

In her thought-provoking book The Story Factor, author and consultant Annette Simmons drives home what I talk a lot about in my writing seminars when she writes:

"People make their decisions based on what the facts mean to them, not the facts themselves. The meaning they add to facts depends on their current story. People stick with their story even when presented with facts that don’t fit. They simply interpret or discount the facts to fit their story. This is why facts are not terribly useful in influencing others."

As I’ve said in this blog before, it’s not the content language that persuades people; it’s the context language—the interpretive information—that makes the facts relevant to them. If you’re thinking, “So much for bullet points, PowerPoint slides, and the like,” you may be overdoing it. After all, if the boss wants bullet points, you’ve got to deliver them. Just remember to set the reader up with a brief introductory statement about why the bullet points are relevant to your readers.

Simmons does a fine job of describing why storytelling is so essential a skill in influencing and persuading audience, and then she systematically lists the types of stories we need to tell and the situations that inspire them. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to be a better persuasive speaker—and with a little imagination, business writers will find how to apply her ideas to their composing process.


To purchase your copy of The Art of On-the-Job Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=14&products_id=144

To purchase your copy of The Art of E-Mail Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php/cPath/53/products_id/196

You Can Always Ask Oxford

Just in case Dictionary.com and MerriamWebster.com are not enough for you linguaphiles out there, you’ll get plenty to browse at the Oxford online site. Bookmarking www.AskOxford.com is a sure way to get answers to a lot of your language questions. Once there, you can simply use it search engine Oxford English Dictionary to look up that puzzling word. You can also get tips on letter writing, grammar, spelling, and more on the Better Writing tab, and numerous links are available for the clicking on the World of Words tab. Parents of school-age children will find several helpful educational links at AskOxford as well.


To purchase your copy of The Art of On-the-Job Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=14&products_id=144

To purchase your copy of The Art of E-Mail Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php/cPath/53/products_id/196

Countering Reader Indifference

In Mindmapping: Your Personal Guide to Exploring Creativity and Problem-Solving, author Joyce Wycoff explores the value of mindmapping as a creative tool in many endeavors, especially project management, meeting management, presentation planning, note taking, and writing.

Wycoff explains that since no one wants to read or will remember most business writing, writers of memos, reports, and proposals should develop a sound composing strategy, which includes:
1. determining whether the message should be written at all
2. using headlines (e.g., “Company Benefits,” “Action Plan”) for maximum impact
3. inserting visuals wherever helpful to the reader
4. preferring the short document, the short paragraph, the short sentence, and the short word


To purchase your copy of The Art of On-the-Job Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=14&products_id=144

To purchase your copy of The Art of E-Mail Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php/cPath/53/products_id/196

Grammatical Guidelines, Part 7: Agreeable Nouns and Pronouns

Making pronouns agree in number with their antecedents is a tricky business. The following sentence has an agreement problem because the word writer is singular and their is plural:

A good writer knows how to punctuate their sentences.

Here are three fixes, from least to most favored:

1. Use his or her to agree with writer:

A good writer knows how to punctuate his or her sentences.



2. Make the noun plural to agree with the plural pronoun:

Good writers know how to punctuate their sentences.


3. Best of all, delete the pronoun in the name of conciseness:

A good writer knows how to punctuate.


To purchase your copy of The Art of On-the-Job Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=14&products_id=144

To purchase your copy of The Art of E-Mail Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php/cPath/53/products_id/196

Grammatical Guidelines, Part 6: Agreeable Subjects and Verbs

The main exception to consistent usage in tense is the third person singular in the present tense. The pronouns he, she, and it, as well as the nouns they represent, get a verb ending in s only in the present tense. Examples:

I write reports, you write proposals, and Bill (or he) writes procedures.

We describe objects, they describe events, and the report (or it) describes the protocol.

I have a car, you have a boat, and Yvette (or she) has a plane.

Notice in the past and future tense how the verb forms are consistent:

I wrote the article, you wrote the chapter, and Jill (or she) wrote the book.

We will read the analysis, they will read the report, and Paul (or he) will read the claim.


To purchase your copy of The Art of On-the-Job Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=14&products_id=144

To purchase your copy of The Art of E-Mail Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php/cPath/53/products_id/196