Tapping out text or WhatsApp messages to family and friends is low-stakes writing. You don’t need to bother about a well-thought-out argument, grammar, punctuation and even spelling. No nuances.
But there may be subtleties. You could be trying to win approval, repair a damaged relationship or try to persuade someone to do something for you or help you.
Writing short and brief emails to colleagues as much as same. These days even CEOs spit out curt little messages with little regard to formalities. Some emails are chatty with smiley faces.
Then there are times when you need to write to persuade outsiders, customers, suppliers. You may need to write a proposal to your boss or I other superiors. A cover letter for an important job. A presentation to customers. An email to contacts to seek new business.
When you have an invested interest such as your career or making an income, your writing needs to be influential.
The stakes are raised. There are times when you’re writing is high stakes.
If you are not getting the results you want and your writing is critical to your future, then isn’t it obvious that you need to do something about it?
What can you do about it? You could carry-on doing what you doing. You could try harder. Maybe you want to do a Google search if you think that can help you. Perhaps buy a few boring books on business writing.
If you’ve read this far and you really want a solid solution, then contact us. I’m not sure if my coaching sessions are sold out or not for March but contact Sue Both who handles bookings. I think the first session free and R250 for an hour. Check with her. Both the free of charge and paid versions are worth it.