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The vast majority of business communications are written: daily e-mails, memos, reports, and letters that business people will read before they ever meet you. So chances are the first impression—and most lasting—others will have of you will be based on your writing. "Writing is one of the most important and time-consuming things I do," continued Olson. "That's a scary thought, because what I write represents me, and I want to look smart on paper to my peers and bosses."
Managers See Immediate Improvement
Olson discussed her concerns about writing with several colleagues and quickly learned that many felt the same way. At the end of their conversation, Olson and four of her co-managers decided to seek professional writing help. "Business writing was an integral part of our jobs, and with our short deadlines, it was no longer feasible to outsource our writing projects. We had to do it. The five of us felt we needed to improve our skills to keep up with the demands of our jobs, and that's when we contacted Kevin Ryan of The Executive Writer. Kevin is a professional freelance writer who did projects for us in the past, and we really liked his style of writing. I knew he owned a writing-training company, so we thought, Who's more qualified to teach a business person how to write than a professional business writer?"
Olson and her colleagues expected The Executive Writer workshop to follow the typical writing-instruction format: a class centered on the writing rules they had learned in college but had since forgotten. They were in for a surprise. "I've taken business-writing seminars before," explained Olson, "and they didn't teach me anything new. They were basically grammar reviews. The Executive Writer tutorial presented a different approach to writing that was practical and easy-to-understand. Best of all, I saw immediate improvement in my writing skills."
A Unique, New Approach That Works
Olson and her colleagues were unanimous in their evaluation of The Executive Writer course. "Kevin doesn't take a cookie-cutter approach. His curriculum addressed our writing needs. In addition, Kevin's interactive teaching style kept our interest and was even entertaining. Best of all, his methods gave me confidence in my writing and allowed me to think outside the box and work through my writer's block."
A Professional First Impression
"I teach businesspeople how professional writers write," explained Ryan. "While learning how to write well is not an overnight process, it's not as complicated and mysterious as most textbooks and writing instruction imply. What experienced, professional writers learn is that writing by the rules doesn't work. What they discover on their own is that writing rules are flexible guidelines that can be modified if the end result is clear, concise writing. Experienced writers develop a healthy, always-curious, always-questioning writer's intuition that guides them every time they write."
"Kevin taught us that writing is a problem-solving process," noted Olson. "That really turned on the lights for me. I do problem solving at work every day. It's a trial-and-error process with no fixed rules—just like writing. The Executive Writer teaches a whole new way to view writing, and everything we learned in Kevin's seminar we could apply immediately to the writing projects we had on our desks. His approach really works, and I highly recommend it to businesspeople who struggle with the written word and want to give a smart, professional first impression to everyone who reads their work."
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