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Michele’s manifesto |
MICHELE’S
MANIFESTO News you can
use.TM What kind of news do people find useful? The
answer is simple. Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself: What
information do I want and need to do my job better? “I want to know what’s going
on.” People want
to belong and feel needed. That’s human nature. In the workplace,
people want to know how their job relates to the rest of the organization.
They want to know “the big picture” so they can see how they fit
into it. When people
feel like a part of the company, they are more likely to care about the
company’s overall success and to do what they can to help it succeed. A
full range of corporate news for all employees at all levels benefits
everyone. “My manager doesn’t always
share what he knows.” People
generally receive information they need from their managers. Yet managers do
not always share what they know. Some bosses may hoard information in an
effort to retain power. Others may forget to keep staff informed, omit details
they think are unimportant to staff, or simply possess poor communication
skills. Whatever the
reason, people need a number of internal communication channels (including
the office “water cooler”). No single method works for every
situation. “That’s not what I wanted to
say.” Unlike traditional journalists,
corporate news writers rely heavily on employee cooperation and expertise for
story ideas and technical accuracy. Getting people’s thoughts on paper accurately
and respectfully can involve a lot of “back and forth”
communication and multiple rewrites for even very short articles. Patience and diplomacy are essential
for retaining people’s goodwill and encouraging ongoing cooperation.
Corporate news writing is a collaborative effort. “What’s a slam dunk?” A Romanian
woman once asked me, “What’s a slam dunk?” Her American
boss had used the term during a staff meeting in reference to an agenda item
at her Sweden-based international company. “This is a slam dunk,”
he said, then moved on to the next point. Few, if any, of the people in the
room knew what a slam dunk was, but no one had the nerve to ask. When writing for an international
audience, every word, sentence, and thought must be screened for simplicity
and clarity. Avoid slang, idioms, and cultural references that may be
confusing or incomprehensible to people for whom English is a second, third,
or fourth language. (So what is a slam dunk, anyway? In
American basketball, players sometimes smash or “slam” the ball
against the backboard before jamming or “dunking” it through the
hoop to score. Slam dunk generally means something that’s beyond
doubt—a sure thing.) “This reads like alphabet soup!” Sometimes a client says,
“It’s good enough. They’ll know what I mean.” Those
who do this are fooling themselves, especially if they’re using a lot
of acronyms or assuming special knowledge on the part of the reader. If
something is hard to understand, no one will read it – let alone a
colleague halfway around the world. Proofread everything from an
outsider’s point of view to eliminate hidden assumptions and
unnecessary corporate jargon. “I don’t have time for long
articles.” When it comes to news, most people have
neither the time nor desire to read long articles about the company and its
products. Yet inexperienced writers, often under pressure from their
information sources, occasionally cram too much information in what is
intended to be short news announcement. Keep news articles as short as
possible (around 4-5 sentences) and provide contact names and sources where
readers can get more information if desired. For longer articles, other
venues are more effective than internal news channels. |
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Copyright
© 2010 |
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