Here\u2019s a true story.<\/p>\n
A good friend of ours runs a small marketing consultancy.<\/p>\n
A little while back, his firm was pitching against several much larger rivals for a contract to help launch a new courier service.<\/p>\n
As the days went by, the courier company shortened the shortlist and then shortened it again. Eventually, the list was down to just two firms: our friend\u2019s firm and one other.<\/p>\n
The MD of the courier company phoned our friend. \u2018I\u2019d like to give you the business,\u2019 he said. \u2018But your Terms of Trade document is eight pages of what looks like dense legalese.\u2019<\/p>\n
Our friend tried to reassure him that it was pretty standard stuff.<\/p>\n
\u2018It may be,\u2019 the courier company boss said. \u2018But I\u2019m not going to sign something that I haven\u2019t read. And I have better things to do with my time than to try to make sense of your guff. So here\u2019s what I want you to do. Send me your terms, in plain English<\/em>, on one side of an A4 sheet. If I understand them, and they\u2019re not unreasonable, the contract\u2019s yours.\u2019<\/p>\n So our friend sat down and wrote a one-page, plain English version of the eight-page document. Then he showed it to the lawyer who had written the long version.<\/p>\n \u2018Does this one-pager say the same as the other one?\u2019 he asked.<\/p>\n \u2018Well \u2026 yes,\u2019 the lawyer said cautiously. \u2018But obviously not in as much detail.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018But does it say the same thing?\u2019 our friend asked.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s not the way a lawyer would write it,\u2019 the lawyer said.<\/p>\n Our friend took a deep breath. \u2018But does it say the same thing?\u2019 he asked for a third time.<\/p>\n The lawyer read through the one-pager yet again. \u2018Yes,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n An hour or so later, our friend personally handed the document to the boss of the courier company \u2013 who read it on the spot.<\/p>\n \u2018Fine,\u2019 he said. And the two men shook hands on the biggest contract the small consultancy had ever won.<\/p>\n The reality of most business writing is that the reader is pressed for time. This is true of colleagues. It\u2019s true of customers. And it\u2019s true of suppliers. Whether people have the time and inclination to read what you write will largely depend on how well you write it.<\/p>\n If you write good clear prose, it stands a very good chance of getting read and understood. If you write dense obfuscatory prose, your intended reader will probably find something better to do with their time.<\/p>\n It really is that simple. \u2013 Jack Scrivano<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here\u2019s a true story. A good friend of ours runs a small marketing consultancy. A little while back, his firm was pitching against several much larger rivals for a contract to help launch a new courier service. As the days … Continue reading