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By Dr. Laura Hills, Blue Pencil Institute, www.bluepencilinstitute.com

I’ve always been a good writer. My essays and papers were well-received in high school and college. However, my writing quality went through the roof when I had a writing experience early in my career that taught me how to be clearer and more concise.

I landed a job writing an eight-page monthly subscription newsletter for dentists on how to market and manage their practices. The publisher told me that my job as the sole author of the newsletter was to pack as much good, solid, useful information into each issue as I possibly could. A packed newsletter, he said, gives readers their money’s worth and a reason to renew their subscriptions. “Cut a line here, a word there, and say whatever you have to say in the smallest space you possibly can,” he told me. “Overstuff each issue, just as you’d cram a small suitcase. Use every scrap of valuable newsletter real estate to pack in more great ideas for our readers.”

I wrote that newsletter – every word, every issue – for seven years. And from that experience, I became masterful at trimming the unnecessary. The lessons I learned from this formative experience are these: A reader’s attention is precious. As writers, we have an obligation not to waste that attention. And, we become better writers when we stuff as much content as we can into the space we have.

What happens when your space is unlimited? Before you begin to write, imagine filling a small suitcase. No one wants to read text that rambles on. Write economically. Trim what isn’t needed. Pack light — only what you need — and use every inch well. Your reader will appreciate your brevity but more importantly, your writing will become clearer, better, and more concise.

Dr. Laura Hills is an author, speaker, trainer, and coach who specializes in personal and professional development for career professionals. She is the president of Blue Pencil Institute, www.bluepencilinstitute.com. This post is an excerpt from her latest book, They’ll Eat Out of Your Hand If You Know What to Feed Them: http://www.bluepencilinstitute.com/products/featured-product.html. Join her mailing list for updates about her latest books, articles, and programs at: http://eepurl.com/Owd55.

In my experience, taking minutes of a meeting is a thankless task. The only time you are likely to hear anything about the minutes you’ve taken is when you’ve made a mistake. Few people will sing your praises because you did a good job of taking the minutes. And let’s face it; taking minutes is not all that exciting. You’re there to capture what other people say, not to come up with your own ideas. You have to pay attention the whole time you’re at the meeting and not let your mind wander. While other meeting participants can sit back and relax, you can’t. And when everyone walks out of the room when the meeting is over, you still have a lot of work ahead of you. You have to review and edit your notes, complete the minutes, and distribute them.

I remember working in an organization some years ago where no one on our senior management team was designated to take the minutes of our meetings. We were supposed to rotate the task. But there were some members of our team who always had a reason that they could not take the minutes. They weren’t very good writers, they’d say. Or they were really busy. Or they were going to have to leave the meeting early. Whenever the question of who would take the minutes came up at the start of the meeting, which it inevitably did, they would rifle through their notes or jot something in their padfolios to avoid eye contact with the rest of us sitting at the conference table. And I must admit, too, much as it pains me, that a few of the older men on the team held fast to the idea that the task of taking minutes was more suitable for a female colleague.

The people who take the minutes of our meetings are doing an important and valuable service for us. If you’ve never had to take minutes, think about how different their experiences at meetings are from yours. Be grateful that you don’t have to be the one to take the minutes. Thank them for what they are doing to support you and your colleagues. Compliment them on their excellent minutes. And when you do, smile warmly and mean it. — Dr. Laura Hills, President, Blue Pencil Institute, www.bluepencilinstitute.com

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