How to describe your vision so it leaps off the page

My dad was a pilot, which meant he was always watching the sky with a pilot’s long-range vision. On family road trips, he could see sights his passengers never even glimpsed. “Did you see that hawk just circle above those trees? It was right over [...]

Two Easy Ways to Structure a Vision Statement

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Three essential elements for communicating your vision to colleagues and investors

It’s not just in fairy tales that gifts often come with curses. Like Midas with his golden touch, who ends up turning his daughter into a metallic statue, leaders can possess great strengths that come with hidden dangers. One of those strengths, believe it or [...]

For people and organizations struggling to find their writing voice

In the business world, the primary purpose of writing is seldom to impart information or even to convey a point of view. It’s to connect with your audience so that they come to know, like, and trust you. Because they won’t buy from you otherwise. [...]

Shift Your Scholar Mindset

If you’re an innovator with an academic background, then this video is for you! Here are some communication tips I’ve learned as I’ve transitioned from the world of scholarship to the world of business. Number one tip: it’s never about dumbing down your complex ideas [...]

Business Writing Tips from a “Recovering Academic”

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of delivering a webinar on “How to Write in Layperson.” (Thanks to Springboard Atlantic for hosting this event!) The audience included researchers, entrepreneurs, industry liaison officers from Atlantic universities, and students. As a former professor, I felt very much at [...]

If you’ve written an email today, you’re a designer

This past December, I had the pleasure of facilitating my first design-thinking session for a group of about a dozen project stakeholders. When I first took on this task, I felt intimidated. Who did I think I was to mess with this trendy design-thinking stuff? [...]

Add Alliteration

Did you know that all writing has musical qualities, which you can use to draw attention to your words and make them memorable? Here’s one super-easy technique to try. [...]

Six lies your brain tells you about your writing

We’ve all had times when we’ve felt like the cartoon character with the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. That was my predicament the day after I baked the most recent batch of birthday cupcakes. In the one ear: “Go ahead, [...]

Try the freewriting challenge

Boost your writing productivity by trying this 10-minute experiment… and then repeating it over a week, a couple weeks, or a month. This simple technique has transformed me from someone who used to struggle with chronic writer’s block to someone who routinely produces 1,500 to [...]