Truth 5. To achieve your goal, look below its surface
Consider Andrea. She’s won an award and thinks it’s a good idea to let her boss know. So she writes:
Dear Joe,
I thought you’d like to know that I’ve been chosen as my local Chamber of Commerce’s Person of the Month. They’re holding a lunch in my honor on October 5th.—Andrea
Communicating this honor is a good move, but did Andrea do it well? Not really. She could have gotten a lot more mileage from it than she did. There’s a simple question she should have asked herself, and it’s the question you should ask yourself every time you write anything beyond a three-word message: Exactly what am I trying to accomplish with this piece of writing?
Put it in words—articulate it. Don’t write anything ...
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