The second instalment of my diary about writing my book, Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector, is now on the PFM Board: pfmboard.com/index.php
The Articulate Accountant
I help accountants and auditors turn insights into impact by improving their business writing.
My professional diary at the PFM Board
In the run up to the publication of the 3rd edition of Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector I am writing a diary over at the PFM Board. The diary is the publication journey from original idea (in 2008) through to the updates and additions needed for the 3rd edition. The PFM Board is free to join. Take a look. pfmboard.com
BTW, WTF is a TLA?
Business writing is littered with abbreviations. They’re helpful for communication between people who are equally well-informed about their meaning. If you are going to use an abbreviation in a document or presentation make sure you explain it the first time you use it. A TLA is an abbreviation for three letter acronym but it is, itself, an initialism and not an acronym. An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word.
'Be short, be simple, be human.'
That’s a working definition of Plain English from a blogpost I read recently. It’s good, isn’t it? I (and many others on LinkedIn) urge writers to use plain language in their documents but how can you learn what that means. The Plain English Campaign happens to be based in New Mills, less than 8km from where I am writing this post. It’s mission since 1979 has been to fight for crystal-clear communication and fight against gobbledygook, jargon and misleading public information.
Use a style guide.
Even if your organisation does not have one. Here’s why. By style guide I mean a guide to the use of language in communications, especially public communications such as websites and published reports. I don’t mean the brand guidelines used by graphic designers to make sure that logos and so on are used correctly. Lots of organisations have a style guide. If yours does, you should use it. If your organisation does not have one it is no excuse for poor quality, inconsistent writing.
10 verbs to avoid in business writing.
These will help your writing be clearer and plainer. You will also avoid some awful consultant-speak. leverage — go with influence or use instead, unless you mean leverage in its financial sense. progress — use work on or develop or make progress. dialogue — use speak to or discuss. utilise — write use instead agenda — use plan instead. advance — use to improve or something more specific to the context (unless you happen to be writing about an army advancing).
More images, fewer words
Putting a lot of text on a slide and reading it aloud to the audience is the number one presentation killer. Especially if you turned your back on the audience at the same time. Always remember, you are the presentation, not the slide deck. The slides are there to support what you are saying. If someone can get your whole message by reading your slides then why should they bother listening to you?
The typesetter has sent the finished files for the 3rd edition of my #book to the printers. This is the cover. It’s published on 14 March but you can pre-order it now.
Some of my (typographical) pet hates.
I know the following are trivial and nitpicky but, still, they irritate me when I see or hear them. An ellipsis is three full stops in sequence; not two, or four, or ten. You can type three full stops in many text editing apps and they will be replaced by the ellipsis glyph. You can type the glyph directly using option+; in MacOS or alt+; in Windows. There should not be a space before an exclamation mark or question mark.
My top tip for 2023: ask for advice instead of feedback.
Are you a good writer? Are your presentations interesting and effective? How do you know whether what you have written or presented is good or bad? Sometimes you will receive unsolicited comments from your boss or a colleague but often all you will get are some suggested edits to your draft. If done well I suppose you could learn from the edits but often there is no explanation of why the change is being made.