Barb Sawyers - Write Like You Talk Only Better

Write

Like You Talk

Only Better

The secret to pulling ideasout of your head and onto the page

Barb Sawyers

Write LikeYou Talk Only Better

BarbSawyers

Copyright2011 by Barb Sawuers

SmashwordsEdition

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DEDICATION

To all the people who want to make more ofthemselves and their world through writing

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to my daughter Maddy for goofproofing; Lee Weisser for listening; Mary Ann Cattral for herdiscerning eye; Lucia Kuzminski for insight on positioning; AmySept for the keen editing as well as Liza Magcale, Jim Pagiamtzisand other test readers for the honest sharing that took me fromhugging trees to embracing the forest.

Contents

Ill bet youve looked in themirror and said to yourself: I can be more than this.

That happened to me whenI turned 50.Sure, I had reached some of my life objectives, such as amazingkids, a nice house and loyal clients.

But there was more I wanted to do,more I wanted to become. I had only 50 more years to do it.Yikes!

It wasnt about crossing exoticdestinations off my bucket list. It was about seeing what I, theone and only Barb Sawyers, could do.

I couldnt say I was too busy withmy kids, now teens. Nor could I blame my stagnation on my parentslow expectations, my ex-husbands betrayal, obsessive mediaconsumption, chocolate, vulnerable interest rates or a fulldishwasher.

It was up to me.

I wanted to help people, but notby holding cold cloths on hot foreheads in refugee camps or mappingseating plans for charity galas.

No, I wanted to help all the poorpeople who were chained to their computers, cranking out emails,reports, dating profiles, posts and other written communication.Whats more, I wanted to help all the people stuck reading thatstuff.

I wanted to help people likeDeanne Kelleher, founder and director of Kaos Group. Aprofessional organizer, Deanne loves sharing her passion forimposing order on chaos, from transforming crowded cupboards tostreamlining digital files.

After a long day of making lists with clients,taking her kids to swimming lessons and struggling to meet thedeadline for her monthly online magazine, she decided to rest hereyesjust for five minutes. The next morning little Tess found herslumped over, asleep at her desk.

Deanne vowed to change. She could not stomachmissing a deadline. She hated the example she had set for her kids.She was desperate to balance her work with time to play with herchildren, fianc and friends. But how?

She could hire a professional, but only a psychicghost writer would be able to pull those ideas out of her head andsave all that much time.

Deanne figured she should be able to find anorganized approach for writing her magazine, blog and the othermarketing material she relied on to attract a steady stream ofcustomers.

I met Deanne when she was one of the facilitators ata small-business coaching group. The leaders kept telling us tofocus on what we do best and outsource the rest. But like Deanne,they insisted on doing most of their own writing. They wanted topull out and share all those great thoughts going to waste in theirheads.

Deanne became my most enthusiastic test reader forthe first edition of Write Like You TalkOnly Better. Assoon as she realized the book would help her write more efficientlyand effectively, the color-coded highlighting began.

She is still using the checklistsand worksheets for Organized LifestyleMagazine and other writing. Throughthis practice, shes keeping up with her writing without fallingasleep at her desk. Better still, Deanne is capturing thesugared-up Martha Stewart that people love in her live andtelevised presentations.

This book worked for Deanne; itcan work for you too.

In a world where you communicateso much online, where you need to stand out to be heard, writing isa means to many ends.

Writing to connect with morepeople can help you follow your dreams. When you look in themirror, youll be happier with your reflection.

Knowing Ive helped, Ill feelbetter about my reflection too, though you can bet Ill still bitchabout my failure to lose ten pounds.

So read this book. And giveyourself one more reason to look in the mirror and sayWow!

Itsnot themits you

Maybe its emails, tweets or collaborations at work;Facebook, texts and messaging the rest of the time. Chances are youwrite a lot.

If you are a digital native, you probably take itfor granted that much of your communication is written, not spoken.You probably use your cell phone more for texting than talking.

Despite how important and time-consuming yourwriting is, it may not accomplish what you want.

Perhaps people arent showing up prepared for yourmeetings. They arent grabbing on to your ideas. They arent buyingyour products. They arent responding to your dating profile. Theyarent giving you a job interview. They arent voting for youridea. They arent telling their friends. They arent doing what youwant them to.

Maybe you recognize yourself in some of thesescenarios:

Laurenloves writing. Too bad she doesnt show thelove to her readers by thinking about their interests, terminologyand time. Thats why her love is so oftenunrequited.

Cecilthinks he shows respect and abusiness-appropriate demeanor by peppering his emails with hollowformalities such as as per your request and warmest regards.But people dont warm up to him.

Melis so used to writing/chatting spontaneouslyonline that she neglects all the planning, improving, tighteningand other thinking that would take her essays and posts to the nextlevel.

Liproduces lots of white papers, but nobodyseems to remember whats in them. Most people dont remember Lieither.

Maria, BS, MBA, PhD, useslong words and sentences, many pages and lots of capital letters.Despite her obvious brains, she cant entice people to read throughher content. But how else can she become a thoughtleader ?

Asifrelies so heavily on spell check to find hismistakes that he often confuses sound-alike words, especiallyits and its. This makes his supervisor think hes sloppy andconfuses others. Too bad, because he deserves a betterjob.

Ethanchurns out number-filled reports about howwell his sales team is doing. After all, hes busy and its not amovie script. But the executives are not giving him the credit hecraves.

Sound familiar? Each of these people would progressfaster and farther in their quest for success if only they coulddownload a serious writing-skills update. But instead of tech shortcuts, it will take brain work for Lauren, Cecil, Mel, Li, Maria,Asif and Ethan to upgrade their writing. You too. Fortunately,pretty much everything you need to learn is in this book.

Dont blame your readers for not taking the time orbeing smart enough to get you. Dont fall for those no-workInternet success pitches. Take responsibility.

How to use this book

Writing is a skill you need to achieve your results.However, its not magic. By going back to your first and favoriteway to communicate, talking, you will remember the basics. Byreading this book and practicing, youll learn how to avoidwriters block and recall the few grammar rules that still matter.Youll progress to the next level.