Two Simple Tips to Help You Become a Better Writer

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So here is the story. You’re having an argument with your partner. Exasperated, you say something like: “I’m feed up! You always do this!” Then he or she replies: “Really? Give me an example!”

And then your stuck. Oh man, you’re stuck. You know there are plenty of examples out there. You know it.

That’s the whole idea behind your point. You wouldn’t have said ‘always’ otherwise. You just can’t find a single example right now.

It would have made your point so much stronger: “Remember the last time we went for dinner at my parents’ place? Remember the evening we spent with Jack and Jane? Remember our trip to New York last week? Well, you did the exact same thing!” In your face! Kaboom! Case closed!

But well, it’ll be for another time since nothing comes to your mind right now.

Examples and stories do help you get your message across. They add weight to your arguments and ensure that your audience gets the point. It’s a simple lesson of effective communication. Why then do we so often forget to include some?

Let me give you some examples: (Guys, I’m walking the walk here in case you didn’t notice. I’m walking the walk.)

1. The Art of the Deal
Let’s say you are writing an article on travel in China. Full of good intentions, you tell your readers that they should negotiate aggressively when buying souvenirs since the Chinese will tend to sell their items to foreigners ten times higher. That’s a nice advice, but what if you added a concrete example?

Let’s say you may want to buy a nice painting during your visit to Suzhou, the Venice of the East. You may be told that the painting is worth 1000 yuan. Most of the time, that’s because you’re a foreigner and that there’s a price (read much higher) for foreigners. We suggest you start negotiating at 100 (The Chinese salesperson may start laughing at you but do it anyway) and show willingness to raise your price slowly but surely. Let’s say to 200, then 300 yuan. Usually, the Chinese will reciprocate and lower the price until you get to a reasonable deal for both.

Isn’t’ clearer than just saying to your reader that they should negotiate aggressively? It gives to your reader a pretty concrete idea of what to expect.

2. The Art of Teaching
If you want to teach someone how to sell, examples and stories are even more important. For instance, when someone tells me I should instill in my potential customers a sense of urgency so that they buy now rather than think about it, I say: “sounds good, but how do I do that?” I studied the history of international relations not commerce. With concrete examples, the whole story changes.

Dave Navarro, the launch coach, does a really good job at this, especially in one of his Ebooks.

“If you’re feeling that action-killing fear around creating a product, you are being self-centered. Your fear is selfish because you are withholding solutions from people who have problems that need solving.”

“If someone on the street had pneumonia and you had a truck full of antibiotics, would you feel guilty about selling your stuff to them?”

Any questions? Doubts? Examples and stories will help you to sell, convince, and encourage people to take action.

3. The Art of Not Dying on a Chinese Train
Let’s get back to our article about travelling in China. Let’s say you want to tell your readers the importance of booking their train tickets in advance, especially if they have to travel during the Spring Festival. Cool. Thanks for the advice. Don’t you think we could add more punch to the advice if we recounted a true story?

In October 2005, I was travelling back from the city of Kaifeng in Henan Province with three friends of mine. Our destination was Nanjing, where we were studying Madarin. Since we booked our tickets at the last minute, we ended up in the second-class wagon with ‘hard seats” and people standing up in the aisle. The train was completely jammed pack as most Chinese were traveling during the one-week National Holiday.

When we got close to our stop, we stood up, managed to get our luggage and, just like all the others who wanted to get out, started pushing toward the exit. Since nothing seemed to move, people grew increasingly nervous and began pushing harder. I saw some young Chinese woman being crushed on the bathroom door while another fainted for lack of oxygen.

My friends and I all made it safely through the exit. Yet, the experience was a bit scary. Some people seriously panicked.

If you’re a cool dude backpacking throughout China, you may want to experience the feeling of being literally trapped in a train and having to crush the fellow human beings surrounding you to get out at your stop. If you’re travelling with your wife and two kids, I guarantee you, you don’t want to try it out. So book your tickets in advance and buy first-class seats if you’re travelling during the holidays.

You get the point?

Examples and short stories give your advice a whole other meaning. They add clarity and bring life to your message. Wisdom without context and tangible examples is somewhat wasted. Don’t let that happen to yours.

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Photo by karindalziel

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Tagged as: Content Creation, Effective Communication, message

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