She's in public affairs for a Fortune 50 corporation and she needs your help. In a LinkedIn group for communicators, she writes:
How important is to have good writing skills? because I met lot of
people who are really good in public speaking; they are confident too
but they are unable to describe themselves in writing.
Same goes for me; I have all the attributes that one should have as a
good PR/Communications person and I've lots of ideas and I do manage
all internal and external communications at my work but when it comes
to writing; I am so scared guys that I cant express myself in
words…… even though I manage to write what was asked by my seniors.
But managing is not sufficient; I need to feel comfortable; until or
unless I dont feel comfortable I wont be able to enjoy my work and due
to all this at times I feel pretty underconfident. However, my boss
says that I am very confident and I am a good learner but I dont know
how to improve and specially improve my writing skills? whenever I sit
to write; I am blank….now as I am really dedicated to be the best in
Corp Comm Field, I have decided to apply in Gerogetown University for
MPA in PR/Corp Comm., and I am very hopeful that it will help me out to
improve my skills and broaden my vision.
As many of you out there are expert in this field, I really appreciate your input, please advice me, thanks a lot 🙂
people who are really good in public speaking; they are confident too
but they are unable to describe themselves in writing.
Same goes for me; I have all the attributes that one should have as a
good PR/Communications person and I've lots of ideas and I do manage
all internal and external communications at my work but when it comes
to writing; I am so scared guys that I cant express myself in
words…… even though I manage to write what was asked by my seniors.
But managing is not sufficient; I need to feel comfortable; until or
unless I dont feel comfortable I wont be able to enjoy my work and due
to all this at times I feel pretty underconfident. However, my boss
says that I am very confident and I am a good learner but I dont know
how to improve and specially improve my writing skills? whenever I sit
to write; I am blank….now as I am really dedicated to be the best in
Corp Comm Field, I have decided to apply in Gerogetown University for
MPA in PR/Corp Comm., and I am very hopeful that it will help me out to
improve my skills and broaden my vision.
As many of you out there are expert in this field, I really appreciate your input, please advice me, thanks a lot 🙂
I don't know how to be any more polite than Buddy Hackett's golf pro, who watched him swing a club and advised him to take two weeks away from the game, and then give it up altogether.
Can you be more constructive? (With a straight face?)
No. Oy!
(It would be bad, right, for me to message her privately and tell her to find a different job IMMEDIATELY, and never, EVER write anything except Tweets, again? That would be mean, wouldn’t it?? Ya, that’s what I thought. I’ll take Grandma’s advice for times when you can’t say something nice.)
Yikes, this is so depressing. The level of writing in the comms field is so unbearably LOW. I’d be happy to just have some decent writers. Good writers are gravy, and amazing writers are just a fantasy.
Let me hear an amen for this: If you can’t write well, you don’t belong in a communication job.
Amen!
@Amy: Here’s your first Amen!
I write well. I speak well. I have confidence in my ability to do both. Yet I was never able to secure a position in the PR/Communication field – why? Because I write well. I speak well. I have confidence. Yes, I was over-qualified for the position – only to find out later that the hiring manager was intimidated by my skill level. *sigh* These experiences occurred in the ’80s and ’90s in the Indianapolis and Louisville areas. Actually, I tried to secure a technical writing position in the Louisville area just a few months ago and was turned down; they hired a high-school kid for $9/hour. I hope I never have to use those user manuals.
(1) I wonder if English is Underconfident’s first language. Hope not.
(2) There are plenty of jobs out there for people who don’t write well. There are ten million jobs requiring good writing, and only 4,157 people who can actually write.
(3) Senior management is being taken over as we speak by a generation that didn’t take, like, grammar. So there is many things that is seen by them as being what they should of went with. They don’t care whether you can write properly.
(4) I would like to take the opportunity to point out that despite the above, a substantial majority of the aforementioned senior management personnel resources have been able to leverage opportunities to take on board and internalize a wide variety of bloated-language skills that they can utilize going forward. “Underconfident” might do better to learn to write in the language of her managers, since they don’t value the clarity she seeks.
Tim–
For literate people like us, the contest is:
Will we always have jobs because the current generations are semi-literate?
Or …
Will we be undervalued because the current generation doesn’t give two shits about good writing?
I’m betting on the former … but meanwhile wondering if I shoulda went to engineering school.