My boss occasionally sends me very helpful writing and grammar tips. I am especially guilty when it comes to todays tip. While the tip was written mainly for a legal audience, the truth about effective communication in this essay is very applicable to general knowledge, too good not to share: “If you tell them, they will not believe you; if you show them, they have no choice but to agree.” The essay continues: “Lawyers allow opinion to slip into their writing as though offering incontrovertible facts for the reader to consider. For instance, “small.” Small by whose standards? Small compared to what? Says who? You, the lawyer representing the defendant? You expect us to believe you? Don’t waste words. If you are to convince others, you must show rather than tell, because nobody cares what you think; we all want to know how you got there. Here’s the problem with telling: When you “tell,” you give an opinion. Yours. Opinions are self-serving, conclusory statements, and conclusory words always have antonyms, which means they can be debated: We can argue “hot”; we cannot argue “118 degrees.” Unless you are writing an Introduction or a Conclusion in a brief, do not include your opinions, even if the facts support those opinions. Give the board, the agency, the judge, even your opponents, the facts that led you to your opinion; then let them draw their own conclusions. If you do that carefully, they will come to you. That’s called persuasion. -Gary Kinder, lawyer, New York Times bestselling author, and writing expert for the American Bar Association”
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 15:52:33 +0000
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