Confident Writing

Create a connection at work: writing with 'Ohana

The more I read about managing with aloha the more convinced I become of the power of this way of thinking about, of looking at - or rather of being in the world... to transform the way we do business and the way that we work - including the way that we write when we're there.

This month Rosa Say has been exploring the value of 'Ohana.  Now the meaning of these beautiful Hawaiian  words is multi-storied and multi-layered and I'd be struggling to do justice to it here, but in essence it's a value that means this:

In an ‘Ohana are those who are family, and those you choose to call your family. ‘Ohana is a human circle of complete Aloha, and in managing with Aloha, ‘Ohana is recognized as the best possible form for the association of all stakeholders in a business.

When I first starting reading about 'Ohana I found myself wondering how this could connect to the way that we write - and in particular the way that we write at work.  But Rosa goes on to acknowledge that many people have a 'gut' reaction to the use of the word 'family' (or its Hawaiian equivalent) in a work context, teaching us to widen our understanding of the word and its associations.

So what if we set aside the word 'family' and used some different language instead.  The members of your team.  Not said glibly, without meaning, but with intention.  The members of a team who are in it together. People who work together with a common purpose.  No matter the grade or the salary:  these people are your partners in business.  Your business partners.   And if your aim is to establish a strong and powerful connection with those people who are "in it together" with you - what words can you use to tell them?

Of course words and language cannot change working relationships on their own (you need to walk the talk - and believe the coaching philosophy behind it) but writing with positive intention can reinforce the other things that you're trying to do - and let you down if you don't pay sufficient attention to the words that you use.

So what are some of the things you can build into your writing at work to create a connection - to build a powerful human circle?  Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Writing to create a sense of family doesn't mean you have to be over-familiar.  Not everyone wants to be familiar at work, and some people find an opening of 'hey guys!' inappropriate and grating, and lacking in respect

• Focus instead on the specific things that connect you together: shared experiences, common language, events that have been significant (good and bad)

• Think about how you use the words "we" and "you".  Are you clear which is which?  Do you know why you're using one rather than the other?

• Use the language of intention: breathe the values that drive your work into the words that you're using and it will become part of the shared currency between you

• Don't fake it: readers can see through fake and phoney messages from 'well-intentioned' managers and will spot insincerity a mile off.  You're better off not saying it than writing one thing and practicing another

• Write like yourself: the qualities of simple, honest writing will pay dividends here - writing with authenticity, demonstrating that you're human

• Be credible: as above, people will spot it if you're faking it.  Don't over-promise or over-hype.  Let people know when things don't turn out the way that you planned

• Don't waffle: that way people can form their own opinions on what you're writing about.  The more excess words you use the more people are likely to think it's camouflage for something else

• Be positive: let people know that you notice the good stuff.  Pay attention to the detail, be specific in your feedback and you'll be letting others know that you care enough to pay attention

• Focus on your positive intention: forget grammar rules, forget the writing style of other manager's (it's normally terrible, honestly), focus on the positive intention that you're trying to achieve and let that drive your writing.

And what do I mean by positive intention?  Well in this context I'd come back to another powerful Hawaiian value: kakou.  Over to Rosa for the explanation:

Kākou is the Hawaiian value of inclusiveness, and means “all of us,” we are in this together. Kākou is very unifying when applied to language, and all are taught to learn, speak, and practice “the language of we.”

Focus on that when you're writing and let it breathe life into your writing at work.  Practice the language of we.  Enjoy the powerful sense of connection that comes from knowing that at the end of the day: we are in this together. 

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One of my writing objectives is to learn more about the spirit of aloha and how we can breathe it into our writing.  There's no better way to learn than writing about it!  You can read my introduction to learning to write with aloha here.  My aim is to explore a value month by month as Rosa teaches them to us.

If you are interested in the values and philosophy of aloha I would urge you to read the work of Rosa Say, author of Managing with Aloha, currently writing about her coaching practice at Managing with Aloha Coaching, plus tons of fascinating back articles at Talking Story

You'll find a few articles on 'Ohana in business on these sites.  One of my favourites is this piece: The 'Ohana in business is a place for business partners

Explore the confident writing at work archive for more suggestions on business writing with confidence.

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Business Writing With Confidence: 6 week e-course with coaching and writing tips to help you write with authenticity, brevity, clarity and confidence at work.  Find out more here

Joanna Young, The Confident Writing Coach
Because our words count

An answer to blogging overwhelm

Well September is fast approaching and I'm looking forward to a more focused approach to my blog writing here.  I'm determined to find a way to write (read, link, comment) with a greater sense of purpose and direction in the future, and to use that purpose to drive my writing (and turbo charge my work). 

It's not easy though.  I'm on a steep learning curve at the moment as I grow and develop my work, my writing, my understanding of technology and its applications and I keep on finding fascinating things to write about.  Connections I want to develop.  Quotes I want to share.  Links I want to point towards.  Ideas bubble round in my head, words start to form on the page, posts wake me up demanding to be written.  (Oh for the days of blogger's block!)

I've tried various techniques like keeping folders of paper based notes and scribbles.  I've tried using an electronic system so I can 'dump' words, ideas, pictures, links and organise them into themes, ready for me to return to once they've stewed and settled for a while. It doesn't seem to help. I still seem to have more material to write about than I have time to compose into a post, to keep within the parameters of my focus, or to check the flow so I don't overwhelm my readers. 

Then I read something by Lorelle at WordPress that helped me to understand what was going on.  Well the post she pointed us towards was written a while ago, but it's a perfect description of what happens when blogging overwhelm strikes... The link was included in a comment she made on a guest post by John Pozadzides on brainstorming ideas for your blog ('not more ideas!' I shout... 'please stop!')  This was the part that really resonated with me:

I still haven’t written 75% of the ideas and concepts I came up with. And they haunt me.  I want to, but finding time for all of them when work calls is tough

That's how I feel.  Haunted by words and ideas.

And there's something about the creation of a post - finding the words, constructing the piece, making the links, formatting the text, I don't know what it is but there's something about this process that allows you to... well exorcise would I guess be the right word for it.  Do what needs done to the words and ideas so they no longer haunt you.  And folders electronic or otherwise just aren't it.

Anyway, later that day I heard about tumblr. 

"Tumblelogs" (they say) are the refreshingly simple  new way to share anything you find, love, hate, or create.

Part of the idea is that Tumblr allows you to 'lifestream'  - put all the streams from your writing, your photos, your networks together in one place.  But it's also like a baby blog - quick, simple and easy to use, you can create a 'post' in moments with a link, a quote, a picture, a few bundled thoughts. 

So I'm giving it a try. It is dead easy to use, looks nice, and is a simple and effective way of processing stuff as and when you read it (think it, find it) rather than saving it for later. 

It's hard to put my finger on why, but posting something on tumblr feels more like I've dealt with it and can let it go than popping it into a folder to return to later ever did.  No matter that there aren't comments or interactions.  No matter even if no-one but me ever reads the darned thing.  It just feels done, somehow.

If you should happen to be interested you can take a look here: The Short and Sweet of Confident Writing.  That would be nice - but I'm not asking, expecting, looking for it (or checking the stats).

Because unlike a 'real' blog having readers is not not the most important thing. 

The most important thing is that it stops the ideas from haunting me.  And leaves me free to keep on writing here with a bigger, better sense of purpose.

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For more on blogging overwhelm check out  Lorelle on Too Much to Write About

If after all that you still want ideas on brainstorming you'll enjoy 16 tips for blog idea brainstorming by John Pozadzides guest writing at Lorelle at Wordpress

Some reactions to Tumblr from Liz Strauss writing at Blogherald and leelefever at Common Craft - both posts contain links to more on both concept and application

Joanna Young, The Confident Writing Coach
Because our words count

September theme: writing with authenticity

Just a quick reminder that I'm going to be moving to a more focused, themed approach to Confident Writing come September.  I'm going to be exploring the ingredients of writing with confidence on a month by month basis, starting with authenticity.

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback I've had so far - I've already had loads of ideas, comments, feedbacks, book recommendations not to mention offers to help write some material - and that's before we've even got started...(I'll be in touch soon to follow up on some of the practicalities for those who have offered to contribute directly)

Meantime I've chosen an image to link to the themed posts: it's this beautiful close up of an oak leaf in September, from Teo at Flickr.

There's an association with the time of year of course (for us in the northern hemisphere anyway) but it also made me think of - well lots of things really:

• the power of self-expression
• the lines of time, experience and truth that run through our writing, our narrative, our lives
• the beauty of each unique, perfect leaf
• how we grow when we're true to ourselves
• how writing with authenticity can help us to discover and express that truth

I wonder what it says to you?

Getting to the point with cartoons

As someone considered ‘hopeless at art’ (by herself and others) I’m always amazed by the talent of people who can illustrate their writing, or combine the power of pictures and words to create a cartoon (And that’s not just any old words – effective cartoon captions are always concise and to the point…)

One of the outstanding new bloggers I came across yesterday is Lis, who writes About Every Little Thing.

She illustrates her writing with stick men cartoons, like this one – part of a day in the life series, highlighting how exciting her life is.

"Now it's 1p.m. and it's way too exciting to leave my desk (300 emails down, 701 more to go) so I'm eating my exciting McDonalds lunch here."

Thanks Lis for making me smile - and reminding me of some of the worst office excesses that I have now thankfully escaped from.

I discovered recently that one of our regular readers here, Brad Shorr, is a dab hand at writing cartoons (now that’s word power for you). 

Here’s one that he’s created with illustrator Mark Hill (click to see it at full size).

Another great resource for cartoons is We Blog Cartoons.  Here’s their Facebook cartoon – you might have seen it before but it’s a classic (and reflects some of my current frustrations as I try to fathom my way into the world of the social networks…)

Some of you might be wondering how this can be considered getting to the point - if it isn’t a distraction from my stated blogging purpose… well I guess it is, but I wanted to highlight some of this great material...

Maybe it’s also a way of reminding myself of the discipline that will be needed to get to and stay on the point!

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Facebook cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Transparency cartoon from Word Sell Inc

Thanks from a new blogger

The Confident Writing blog is just over four months old. It feels like an old and trusted friend (? Can you be friends with your blog?) It feels like something I’ve been doing forever, but in relative terms I am very new to blogging - and know I still have so much to learn.

Blog writing – and all the other stuff that goes alongside it - can be really hard work and it’s great when you get encouragement along the way, whether that’s suggestions and words of advice; steady growth in the number of your readers; positive, interesting and constructive comments; or links from other sites.

Oh and it’s also brilliant to be given an award (especially the ones that come with shiny buttons) so I’m saying a big thanks to Troy Worman at Orbit Now for including me in the first batch of awards for the ON Blogs – Outstanding New Blogs.

The other nominated blogs are:

• About Every Little Thing by Lis
• Angela Maiers by Angela Maiers
• The Road Map by Ron Bland
• Wendy Piersal by Wendy Piersal

Troy is challenging a hit list of ‘supreme connectors’ to recognize at least one Outstanding New Blog with this call to action: recognise someone!

You remember what it was like when you first started blogging; Links were hard to come by and readers harder still; No doubt, many outstanding blogs have died on the vine for lack of recognition or readership; Others have survived, but without plugging-in to our community or engaging in our larger conversation; Others still have both thrived and plugged-in, but have yet to be recognized for their valuable contribution.

I’m looking forward to seeing what other amazing bloggers end up on his ON blogroll…

Meantime I just wanted to say some thanks once again to all of you who read, follow and contribute to this blog, and to three particularly amazing blogging mentors Robyn McMaster, Rosa Say and Liz Strauss – you’ve all really helped me on my way.

UPDATE: If you're a new blogger and are looking for resources as well as recognition... check out the blogger's toolbox that Drew McLellan has just finished putting together. 

The toolbox points you to blogs that:

• Are chock full of practical tips    
• Act as a living lab on how to write compelling blog posts    
• Demonstrate how to build a community    
• Teach marketing tools    
• Are welcome wagons - bloggers who spotlight newbies

 

Why do you write?

Apparently more people in Britain dream of being a writer than any other job.  Unless they're also people who want to be broke there must be something else that lies behind this yearning, this desire to write.  Because most of us aren't writing for a living - but we are writing as part of the way that we live.  Writing to help us define and create the way that we want things to be.

All of which got me thinking about what it is that we get from writing - what drives us, what motivates us to write.  I've been learning about what it means for some of you already. 

Maybe it means writing not to hear yourself talk - but to hear yourself think (Robert from Middle Zone Musings)

Perhaps, like Jon at Levite Chronicles it's part of how you come to know, how you figure out what is going on.

For Jean, the Cheerful Monk (I paraphrase slightly): it's writing from the heart, writing that moves you, writing to connect with kindred spirits, writing to contribute, and being changed as a result of your writing.

Or maybe like Karen at The Clearing Place it's those moments when we find the words, the courage to spill our spirits and make a connection: when writing "allows our spirits to grow and learn and connect"

For me, it's something to do with the power of connection: the connections we can make with other people, the connections we develop between our own ideas, making sense of our experience, pulling together spaghetti strands of random thoughts and creating something new, connecting back to our roots and our selves and coming out with a stronger sense of who we are.

But then again maybe it's that thing I call realising: the sweet, slow dawning of realisation.  Recognising the things that you always knew to be true.  Recognising - with a jolt - your self in your words.  Realising the power of your words, and taking responsibility for their power and impact: on yourself, on other people, on the world.  Grounding yourself with the specificity of words.  Validating your experience with words which are not real - but can make us feel that our experiences are.  Allowing ourselves to be changed by the words that we write.  Watching how:

• the more you write a sense of place, the more you feel it
• the more you write with all your senses, the more you are fully alive
• the more you write with clarity, the clearer things start to become
• the more you write to establish connection, the more connected you feel
• the more you write from your own power source, the more powerful (deep, calm, peaceful power) you will feel

I can't argue with the practical advice from the Guardian:

So, by all means, write, if you enjoy it. But, if you value your sanity - and that of any readers - keep it to yourself. Keep the dream; just don't give up the day job.

But in a sense, they're missing the point. If we're to keep going with the day job perhaps we need more than ever to have the outlets for learning, for sharing, for connecting, for creating a different sort of reality.

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Writing tops poll of ideal jobs - Guardian Unlimited
Don't give up the day job - Guardian arts blog
People in Britain dream of riches - YouGov poll

Thoughts on writing are from readers commenting here on 'blog writing with a purpose', writing with authenticity: the September theme at Confident Writing, and 'when writing means spirit spilling' with grateful thanks to you all for the inspiration

Joanna Young, The Confident Writing Coach
Because our words count

An introduction to Confident Writing

One of the challenges of running a blog-site (rather than a conventional, static one) is that it's constantly moving.  This is one of the joys too of course - but the challenge part comes in describing what's going on for new readers and providing some decent signposting so people can find their way through your site. 

As part of my revamp of the Confident Writing site I've recycled some of my older posts so they're more findable, made better use of the sidebars to explain what the site's about and the work that I do and created some 'sneeze pages' that bundle together relevant posts and point readers towards the places they want to go.  I'm learning all the time about how to maximise the power of a blog site but for now I'm pleased with the improvements I've made which include:

1. A page dedicated to "how to" posts, for readers who are looking for writing tips
2. A page that's all about how to write with confidence at work, and a selection of the best posts on that topic
3. A clearer explanation of how you can work with The Confident Writing Coach  (that's me!)
4. A page for readers to check out some of my blog policies to aid transparency - still to add something on links, but it's a start
5. An up-front explanation of the ingredients of confident writing that underpin my work
6. Highlights of the ingredients on the sidebar and brief explanations of the terms, like this one on authenticity
7. A monthly focus for my writing, starting with authenticity.  (Still to work out a visual way of highlighting this)
8. A new page to supplement 'about me', highlighting some random things about me that I've shared (and learned!) through various writing challenges
9. A sidebar link to the other places where I write, including Coaching Wizardry and Joyful Jubilant Learning
10. Use of a categories cloud in the sidebar, as a visual pointer for readers of what the site is about, and a mechanism for me to check that I'm still blogging with a purpose

Do let me know if you've other ideas and suggestions for things I could do to explain things better or signpost readers more clearly. 

And if you're a blog owner, any experience to share on the tips and techniques that have worked the best for you?

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This post is a contribution to the recycling meme that was kicked off at Logical Emotions.  The challenge is to find ten posts that explain what your blog is about, that provide an introduction to your site. 

"The best way to figure that out is when you’re looking at one of your old posts, imagine someone asking you “Is that what your blog is about?” - YES answers go into the meme, NO answers you can save for another time… "

I was tagged by Laura at Writing Thoughts to take part.  Thanks Laura - I'm not sure I've entirely followed the rules though by pointing to pages that bundle posts together... but I think it was in the spirit of the exercise, and a useful bit of housekeeping for me to highlight too.

I'll tag five new commenters here to take the challenge: identify the ten posts that explain what your blog is about.  That's: Kerri Arista, Jean Browman (The Cheerful Monk), Carol at May Dreams Gardens, Sylvia from Sylvia's Insight, and Karen Wallace at the Clearing Space. Thanks for your readership and support.  Feel free to join in if you think the meme will be helpful to you (it's quite a useful exercise) but no obligation! 

By the way I think anyone can join in - you don't need to be tagged - just link back to the original post to help the meme going

If you're interested in finding out more how to make use "sneeze pages", check out this post from Darren Rowse, part of his 31 days to build a better blog project.

Joanna Young, The Confident Writing Coach
Because our words count

Learning to change the world

I don't know if it's the shift from summer to autumn but there's a feeling of change in the air.  September looks like being a big month for learning to change... and changing to learn...

First off there's a special challenge from Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings.  It's a writing project with a difference because this time we have to change something too.

Your challenge, should you decide to accept it, is to a) make a change (big or small, no matter - as long it gets you out of a comfort zone), then b) write about your experience (sure, you just started, but so what?)

There's also going to be a celebration of learning at Joyful Jubilant Learning in September as the learning community there (a group I've just joined) gears up to celebrate their first birthday.  The theme for the learning fest will be "make a difference!"

JJL has become quite a global community in our first year, and we are eager to see how learners everywhere are dreaming about, and committing to make a difference for themselves, for their families, in their work’s passions, as they volunteer in their neighborhoods, and as they plan to impact our world.

The invitation is to join in, to share the learning, to stand up and be counted.  It's easy to take part - just check out the invitation here.   As they say:

This learning we do is powerful stuff. We know it. You know it. Let’s make a difference.

Writing with authenticity: the September theme at Confident Writing

"Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about" (W H Auden)

Authenticity.  The thing that writers should always aim at.  But what is this thing called authenticity?  How do we achieve authentic writing?  How will we know when we're writing with authenticity?

All these questions (and more) will be explored during the month of September, the first of the 'themed' months at Confident Writing.  This is all part of my intention to write (comment, link, read and learn) with a greater sense of purpose, and to link my writing back to the core ingredients of confident writing.

As I'm a writer I couldn't help but work through the list alphabetically... which means starting with A for authenticity. 

I've got some ideas bubbling away already, and have already jotted down some thoughts on what authenticity in writing means...but the experience will be so much richer - and let's face it, more fun - if it's informed by your ideas, learning and understanding too.  I hope there'll be lots of room for good conversation as we go along but I'd love to hear from you now (to help me plan the month) if you'd like to contribute (as a guest writer) with:

• examples of writing with authenticity - your own or other people's - that you think we could learn from
• thoughts on what authentic writing means to you - not just the dictionary definition, but what changes (has changed) when we write from the heart
• tips and suggestions on how we can reflect or demonstrate authenticity in our writing

You get the idea - but I'm open to suggestions (pointers for good resources, books to read etc) and creative possibilities!  Either leave a comment in the box or drop me an e-mail (to joanna@confidentwriting.com) to let me know if you're interested in taking part - beyond reading, linking and commenting in your usual lovely way!

Choose your words with care

Words are powerful things.  Just think for a moment about the impact other people's words have had on you, for good or ill - or what you might read into the words that someone else has written, however quickly and casually they might have been penned. 

This matters as much if not more when we're writing on the net - the immediacy of the medium can lull us into a false sense of security that we can be casual or unthinking with our choice of words, forgetting that the traces of those words linger - and who knows where they may end up being read.

Some thoughts to bear in mind when you're writing:

1. Be conversational yes, but don't use that as an excuse for sloppy or vacuous writing, or writing that is 'loosey-goosey' (what a great word - thank you Dawud!)

2. Add some variety into what you're writing.  You might be interested to learn that the top 15 words used by bloggers are: blogger, blog, stupid, me, myself, my, oh, yeah, ok, post, stuff, lovely, update, nice, sh*t

3. That doesn't mean going crazy with a thesaurus - unless you really know what you're doing you can end up with the wrong word - and in any event you're likely to baffle readers with a complex word when an ordinary one would do.  I like Terence Denman's advice: "A thesaurus is full of treasures: the treasures of the English language.  But, as with all treasures, spend it wisely.  In other words, don't use a £5 word when a 5p one will do."

4. Use words that are positive.  Lynn Gaertner-Johnston at Business Writing reminds us that

if we want our readers to have positive experiences when they read our documents, we have to do more than just leave out the negative words. It's not enough to simply strike complain, you forgot, you failed, cannot, won't, and "company policy." Deleting negatives can't create a positive feeling. Positive feelings come from words with positive associations.

5. To make a really positive, powerful impact: be specific.  What specifically did you like about something - someone's work, something that happened to you, an idea you had, something you learned or read?  The more specific you are the more the powerful your connection will be (oh and the bigger the serotonin hit will be too!)

Which just goes to show - it's worth spending those extra few minutes to choose your words with care...