The Write Stuff

I recently taught a writing course at NIRI’s Fundamentals Conference, which is mostly geared toward IROs who are relatively new to the business, as well as more experienced folks who’d like to brush up on the basics.

My presentation focused on the fundamentals of writing earnings news releases, conference call scripts and shareholder letters. The biggest challenge people said they faced is crafting a compelling story in what has become a template-driven world.

Following are some boiled-down writing tips from my presentation to help make that writing resonate:

Know Your Audience

Your written piece should address the following:

• What Information do they need?
• Why do they need it?
• What do they currently believe?
• What should they believe?

Plan & Organize Your Content

• Identify your key messages
• Create and work from an outline
• Use blocks of content to develop a sequence of thoughts
• Test your sequence for clarity

Draft Without Judgment

• Fill in the outline
• Work quickly – don’t agonize
• Read it out loud. Is the flow logical?
• Listen to your own ears
• Give it a rest and re-read in the morning

Revise for Power

• Punch up the opening and closing
• Change passive voice to active voice
• Strip out excess words, phrases and fluff
• Make it natural and conversational – should “fit” the company/spokesperson

— Evan Pondel, epondel@pondel.com