Month: June 2019

“Typing” a book…

- Joel Heffner

Almost forty years ago I wrote a book about wedding photography. It took about a year to write. Today, it probably would have been finished in 30 days. Yes, days.

The problem back then was that I was using a typewriter. With a typewriter I had to be very careful about what I said. Making a mistake was a big deal. Eliminating or changing a word, sentence, or paragraph was a nightmare. I remember retyping a page or worse yet retyping a chapter…because of an edit I made.

It doesn’t matter what computer you’ve got or what word processor you use…making a change is really easy today.

Trying vs. Procrastination

- Joel Heffner

Many writers have a bad habit. They write and then look at what they write…for an hour, day, week, month, year, and sometimes decades. Being the expert critic that they think they are they “know” that it’s just not ready or just not good enough. Maybe. Maybe it’s just procrastination.

Trying to get your work published should be an integral part of writing. Trying is much more productive than procrastination. There’s probably a study that proves it.

Are you in the minority?

- Joel Heffner
“If you’re looking for a job, being able to write makes you part of a special minority.“

— Seth Godin

There are many minorities. In business, one of the worst to be in is the group of people who can’t write.

The good part is that if you are in this minority you have a huge advantage over the others.

If you can’t write…learn how starting today.

If you can write…take advantage of it. People will notice.

Here are six tips that will help you improve your writing.

1. Spelling counts for emails, memos, tweets, everything!
2. Before you send it read it over again.
3. Be brief. Other will appreciate it.
4. Avoid using lines like “I’m going to tell you….” Just say it.
5. Keep away from jargon so everybody knows what you are talking about.
6. Before you send it read it over again. [I know, it’s important enough to repeat!]

The Ideal Presentation, Speech, or whatever you call it…in 4 easy steps.

- Joel Heffner

It’s easy to create an ideal presentation. Here are the essential 4 steps.

1. Tell a story that illustrates your key point. [Stories make things memorable.] 2. Explain your key point. [They may not get the point of the story, so tell them.] 3. Answer questions. [Give them a chance to ask questions.] 4. Sit down. [This is a very important element. Nobody ever complained about a speaker who spoke for less time than possible. Everybody complains if you speak for more time than they give you.