© Elliot Essman 2005. All rights reserved.

These pages contain the complete 2005 revised text of Building Yourself, public speaking trainer Elliot Essman's guide to living the successful life.

Elliot Essman Public Speaking Training
Building Yourself Table of Contents
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• Hot lead can be almost as effective coming from a linotype as from a firearm. John O'Hara (1905–1970)

Writing is a precise, challenging skill. When you write something to someone else, you're trying to communicate ideas in a perilous environment where your thoughts can easily be misinterpreted. You cannot simply put your oral speech into written form.

You can learn good writing by taking a three‑part ap­proach. First, read a wide variety of material, both fiction and non‑fiction. This will greatly enhance your sense of word use and sentence and paragraph structure. Next, write as much as you can, in as wide a variety of contexts as you can. The variety of experience is as important as the intensity.

The third method of learning good writing is through a mentor, someone who can guide you and give you feedback. Good writing involves many subtleties. Responsible feedback can be enormously helpful in learning to write well. Just be careful to take control of your training so you can mold it to your own purposes, rather than to someone else's set ideas and preconceptions.

There are many books on writing. Each author has his or her own particular theories about what constitutes good writing. The “experts” may disagree among themselves. Use these materials on a pick‑and‑choose basis to build your own, highly effective personal writing style. Listen to and respect what the experts have to say but adapt their ideas to your own situations and needs.

Good writing is more than showing off your advanced vocabulary. It takes discipline, restraint and care. As any professional writer will tell you, it almost invariably requires editing and rewriting. In business situations, the best writing may almost seem transparent; nobody notices it. What they do notice is what you have to say.

While it's impossible for me to predict precisely what types of writing you'll be called upon to do in your accelerated path to success, I am certain that you will have to at least write letters. Letter writing is a skill that was once widespread, since people in non‑business situations communicated by writing. The telephone (and pre‑packaged sentiments like greeting cards) killed all this, yet letters are still critical in business. Ever get a business letter you couldn't understand? Happens all the time, doesn't it? Don't make the same mistake yourself. Pick up a few good books on letter writing and perfect the art. Later, when you end up writing letters in a critical situation (where you're usually asking for something), you'll stand a greater chance of getting what you want. Your personal correspondence is a good way to practice letter writing. Instead of picking up the telephone or grabbing a greeting card, communicate with family and friends by writing long letters. Everybody likes getting them.

When email became widespread, some people hoped the act of typing words would increase general literacy. As we well know, this hasn’t happened; most emails are sloppy. I work on my own emails with great care, checking for grammar and spelling, and almost always shortening my original draft, using plenty of white space for purposes of clarity. Once I hit “send” I’ve used up my only chance at a first impression. The last thing I want is for my readers to have to work to ferret out my meaning. To many, you are what you email. Apply the same rules to your web sites and blogs.

With all forms of writing, spend a little time (an evening or two) brushing up on form. There are standard accepted forms for letters, memos, business plans and most types of day‑to‑d­ay writing. It takes only a minimal effort to familiarize yourself with these standards. If you get into the habit of using proper form, your readers will concentrate on the content of your writing. Word processors make everything look neater and more professional and allow you to revise without having to type everything over again.

It doesn't take much imagination to see how good writing enhances and accelerates success. But there is a deeper value to writing that relates to self-knowledge, creativity, and intellectual development. When you write, even if you yourself are the only reader, you put your brain into gear. Your goals and plans become solid things. Your accomplishments move into the realm of reality.

A blank piece of paper is a great responsibility. Trees have to be sacrificed to produce it. Don't let it go to waste.

A Note to Students: I've always found it a poignant waste, for example, to see otherwise bright students fret over a term paper. Term papers and theses can really teach you how to write. You'll do research, write, edit and rewrite. This is the great chance you've been waiting for! What are you in school for anyhow? You can drink all the beer you want later, and afford the better brands.